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.
I would guess you could try it and it would either work or not but should not hurt anything. Those Netgear Nighthawk M1 LTE routers had a pretty decent reputation. I would not be surprised if it didn't work unless they only allow their gateways and do a check. Is the SIM the same size. I think that is a nano SIM as I recall? If the numbers are back to the flakey that is not a good sign. I seem to recall those at one point were also capable of coverage for the T-Mobile bands. That is one consideration of any modem is if it supports the frequency bands for the carrier.
It might be surprising if the store actually has the 4G LTE gateway on hand. Try to get an appointment before you go in. Save yourself time. You never know when a wave hits.
