Forum Discussion
5G home internet keeps dropping
I'm having a problem with T-Mobile 5g home internet that has not been resolved despite many calls in to the help line. I've had T-Mobile 5g home internet for almost a month now, and the short version is that every so often the gateway drops the network. When I say "drop the network," I mean to say it throws everything off of the Wifi that it's broadcasting, and anything plugged in via ethernet says "no network found. (To elaborate this point, cell phones switch to cellular data because wifi is gone for them, and computers hardwired into the gateway think that they are no longer plugged into anything.) Turning off the gateway and turning it back on resolves the issue, but doesn't prevent it from happening again. Whatever is happening doesn't seem to affect our connection speed/strength when the gateway IS providing signal to devices in the home, but due to the nature of our work, we need a connection that won't just disconnect randomly.
To address this, T-mobile has so far run a bunch of tests on their end, and seem to have ruled out a tower issue (which makes sense, as the tower shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not the devices on the gateway's wifi or ethernet connection get thrown off of the network.) They've sent me a replacement gateway, which is experiencing the exact same problem (3 times in the last 36 hours, in fact). I've noticed that the device gets pretty warm, so I set up a computer case fan as a cooler to force air through the device, thinking that perhaps it's an issue with the device overheating. However, while the gateway is notably cooler than it was without the fan, it has not prevented the issue from persisting. The last thing that I can think to do (and my most recent attempt at resolving this issue) is to plug a router into the gateway via ethernet, and allow the router to handle the wifi/connections w/ devices in the house, and to disable wifi from the gateway all together. Maybe the gateway is simply too overburdened with connections and gets somehow overwhelmed and shuts down, and having the router handle the "heavy lifting" of taking care of all of the individual device connections will resolve it? I don't have a great deal of faith that this will fix the issue (as the gateway also kicks ethernet things off of the network when it experiences this problem), but I'm running out of options/ideas of what to do in order to just get a stable, constant internet service.
Is anybody else having this issue, has anybody resolved this issue, or does anybody have any advice or feedback regarding how I might get this resolved so that I can get back to having stable internet?
We had the same issues with our 5G gateway device. We had only 2 bars which was supposed to be enough for a signal, however, when we had a signal our service was extremely slow and it was constantly dropping completely. We contacted customer support, went through all the troubleshooting with engineering (checking the signal, switching towers, moving the device around, etc). Finally, requested T-Mobile reactivate our previous device (the 4G LTE small white box). Solved the problem instantly, strong signal, good speed, no drops, no problem streaming. After reactivating and connecting the 4G LTE Gateway the tech essentially admitted that the new 5G service is essentially a work in progress and isn't up and running smoothly. He said they are working on it and would contact us to upgrade our hardware to 5G when it was functioning properly in our area. Hope this is helpful.
It appears there are many people who commiserate with your issue but nobody has a resolution. Even T-Mobile has no resolution. I've been a phone user for more than 5 years and have been very pleased with the service. I finally made the decision to "cut the cord" and dropped my cable in favor of the new internet gateway. We do not have 5G service in my area but I don't blame that for the CONSTANT loss of signal. I've had to reboot my gateway tower three times within the last 24 hours. I've added "wifi extenders" throughout my house but I'm convinced the problem does not exist within the walls of my home. I'm normally a patient person but they're pressing the limits. I would like to try Ziply fiber but it's not in our neighborhood yet and I'm reluctant to go back to cable simply for the costs.
I feel like I've been victimized by a bait and switch. We installed the T-Mobile Internet Gateway device a couple months back and had amazing speeds. 150-200 mbps. In the last week, it's like we've been throttled down to the reality of our new device. Anywhere between 0 and 50 mbps, if we are lucky. Several times no more than 5mbps. And nothing has changed in my configuration whatsoever. A couple other people mentioned things were great "initially" only to later sink down to something abysmal with no clear reason why and no solution. Sigh.
I have neighbors here that were on CenturyLink and it was horrible, unreliable service. I recommended T-Mobile to my neighbor across the street and now they are happy campers. We had no other good option here but the T-Mobile home internet solution. Hughes Net was out of the question and StarLink is too expensive. Not sure StarLink is all that great in the area anyway.
¡Éxitos!
This is the new 5G modem router that solved my problem. I have been up and running for five straight days.
https://tmo.report/2021/10/exclusive-this-might-be-the-new-t-mobile-home-internet-gateway/
Yes I suppose not everyone cares for the geek side nor understands it. The speed at the time beats DSL connections by a long shot. Hopefully when they complete their tower buildout in the area it will stay stable. When it stays stable and has good bandwidth it is a nice solution.
Ugh, I'm soooo aggravated. Days and days of my signal dropping completely or being left with 2 or 3 bars on the gateway. I've tried everything, including turning everything on and off and restarting and moving it all around. Why suddenly, after 5 months of everything being great is this service so terrible???
After reading all these complaints, I rather not waste my time troubleshooting and just go back to Comcast. Soo annoyed with the daily issues.
Been having issues with my device too very much like which has been stated here..
I have the Nokia (trash can) looking device, even with all of the WiFi channels turned off and a 3D printed 3rd party fan (which is keeping the device way cooler than it has ever been as if it’s still off.. the device randomly decides to re-set itself.
I’ve been through the loops of going through Tech support via calls and Twitter, got a replacement device and SIM card, but still the same issues continues.
It is truly the WORST!!
