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.
Seems worth looking at, if possible.
I’ve tried to find anything online about deactivating 5G in the FAST 5688W, but haven’t found anything.
Another open, though one I wouldn’t try since it would void the warranty, would be to open the unit and disconnect the 5G antenna - I presume that would get it to use LTE, but don’t know for sure.
pphw, as far as the speed drop, I don't know. I didn't get the box 'til Saturday night, so I don't know what it was like before Sunday, which was dreadful, but MAY have been partially caused by the box rebooting frequently…
Here’s the chart and the numbers for the last 14 hours:
Starting shortly after 7 pm last evening when I started the monitor, it fell into the toilet (take a look at the numbers below), and didn't even get to the dismal point til around 11:30 pm. Then it stayed lousy ALL NIGHT… What would be causing it to be so wretched overnight when there CAN'T be that many people playing Fortnite or streaming porn? Then SUDDENLY between 5:30 and 6 a.m. it jumps to better… And starts sliding back down, but at 9 a.m. it's still at 50, which is at least usable… The monitor is still running so I should have something for at least 24 hours. Any thoughts?
