Forum Discussion
Brand new to home Internet and hoping to improve speed
I read a bunch of the horror stories in here, but decided to try T-Mobile's home internet anyhow 'cause I ALSO read some of the "I get 200+ Mb/s and it NEVER drops below 100" topics. I'm in a town o...
If you get the PCI value you can search for it on CellMapper.net and locate the tower that serves that signal out. With a 4G LTE / 5G NR capable phone it should be possible to obtain the cellular metrics for both signals. The bars on the LED screen are rather generic and do not provide enough information. It does not sound like you are receiving a 5G signal with those speeds or it is a very poor signal reception.
You state you are using CellMapper on your phone so are you looking at 4G or 5G signaling or both?
With CellMapper.net in a browser you can provide your area code to get the general location and then display 4G LTE, 5G NR, or both. I find filtering for one or the other helpful. You will see more 4G LTE towers and IF the 5G cell you receive is on the map that really helps but CellMapper is not 100% as it does rely upon users using the Android application and uploading the findings to the server to have the data installed into the database. This does require an account but it does not cost anything to set up. CellMapper seems to be one of the best resources for locating the cells still. Below is a chart that will help you determine more about your cellular signals. Use the T-Mobile home internet mobile application on your phone to see the cellular metrics. Determine if you really are receiving a functional 5G signal.
Cell Mapper uses ads to fund the service or there is a subscription for $3 CAD/month. If you "Agree" to the terms for the cookies it will allow you to use it but you have to put up with the ads. Once you figure it out it is not any worse than any other. I am on a MacBook Pro and I have cellmapper.net up on Chrome and on Safari. I find i works better on Safari as Chrome tends to not work with the location well. I have not bothered to work that out on Chrome as Safari works fine. When I launch Chrome it always puts me out in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. I must be at the beach in the Canary Islands or something. So, anyway it is in part the blocking by Chrome and Firefox. With Safari I have no major issue using the site even without a subscription.
