Forum Discussion
Intermittent Service t-Mobile 5G
I just received my 5G gateway and have set this up. I'm a software engineer with a solid knowledge of electronics and telecoms but I'm not up to date with latest stuff.
Anyway I have the device setup, we also have ADSL but I want to explore 5G so I subscribed to see how it behaves.
I have a single PC cabled into the gateway, nothing else in the house communicates (yet) with the gateway (my phone does talk to the gateway over wifi to inspect it, but that’s all).
I got a 3bar signal and set the unit on my desk and it seemed OK, very much faster than ADSL.
But after an hour I began to get randomly "No internet" and the device had disconnected. This has been the case for the past two hours now. Up then down like 10 mins, 5 mins, 2 mins, 8 mins uptime then brief loss of connection.
The 3bar signal strength seems steady.
There are a primary and secondary signals reported on the web page that proves the gateway.
Does anyone have any idea what lies behind these disconnects?
My zip is 85207 and all indications are we have “5G Ultra Capacity” I am a few miles away from various buttes that have lots of towers, one is west of me and during the setup my phone indicated a signal source west of me, so I’m assuming that tower is the location of the signal.
Because of these buttes and my proximity to them and no tall buildings around I’d assumed I was advantageously placed.
So what to do? I can see numerous threads about this from other people, is the service really that poor?
My ADSL - though much slower - has no reliability issues, up 24/7.
Great problem resolved. Static IP on the wired interface. Strange how the interface would bounce. Oh well, another issue in the rear view mirror.
OK all my problems were connected with DCHP, see the other thread:
https://community.t-mobile.com/tv-home-internet-7/does-the-nok-5g21-gateway-have-a-bug-in-the-lan-connections-43981?postid=163778#post163778Curious, I wonder if eNB ID 884107 - LTE Cell 131 PCI 166 at E-W. Apache Trail and S. Meridian Drive is now an n41 5G NR signal. That is just NW of eNB ID 884106 - LTE.
Ah, it looks like there are high voltage power lines running SW to NE just south of that R/C Airpark? Just north of East Brown Road. I don't know if the marking across is for high voltage power lines or not but I believe they are. There might be some noise introduced that impacts the cellular signals. I don't know how far you are from the tower but if the power lines intersect the Fresnel zone it might be possible some EM from the flux on the power lines is related to the noise. Just speculating as I am not a cellular expert.
With cellular communications you always have to consider external factors that can impact the signal. Again I don't know your actual location so you can map out the findings on Google Earth and consider the distances and the terrain and just see what jives.
Filtering for the n41 5G NR bands only. I can see the n41 and n71 both. There may be another tower with that PCI value but it is not in the database.
- Red
- Bandas 5G: N41, N71
- Bandas 4G LTE: B2, B4, B5, B12, B71, B66
- Red
IF you have an Android phone there are Network analyzers. Red Cell Info Lite on the Google Play store could be used to locate the 5G cell towers, assuming you have a 5G Android phone.
Open Signal might be helpful if nothing else but to get a direction for the tower. It might be the 5G cell you receive is on a tower with 4G LTE but is not in the CellMapper.net database. I don't see a reference to that PCI value for an n41 5G NR signal.
Using an Apple iPhone makes the task difficult. You can put the iPhone into Field Test Mode and get information about its service. Like dialing a phone number but *3001#12345#* then enter/send.
What OS is your wired client running? If you are running a Win 10 client it is pretty simple to go into the network settings for the NIC and instead of allowing it to auto negotiate set it gigabit. Force it in effect. The capability handshake negotiation between clients is a low level and there might be some low level signaling that is not working well between the client and the gateway. As a test it might prove helpful.
I use two different gigabit switches by different vendors plus I have used my MAC direct against the gateway. I can't remember if I used one of my W10 clients or a Linux client direct against the gateway. Given how many users connect routers to the T-Mobile gateways I don't believe there is a major issue with Ethernet ports on the gateways. The technology is very mature. It might be a bad Ethernet module but without testing equipment it would be hard to say.
When filtering for Band n41, NR-ARFCN 527790 I can see three towers that have band N41 but none of them have the PCI 166 on record.
gNB ID 3671592 - NR has Cell 301; cell identifier 7519420717, ARFCN 527790 PCI 297
gNB ID 3685636 - NR has Cell 301; cell identifier 7548182829, ARFCN 527790 PCI 33
gNB ID 3672002 - NR has Cell 302 ; cell identifier 7520260398, ARFCN 527790 PCI 325
I can't seem to locate n41 with a PCI 166. It may be there but not yet in the database. There is no info to determine the direction of the cells so I suspect there to be another tower where PCI 166 must originate.
Respuesta: I did connect my MacBook Pro on the gateway direct but prior to this software. It is connected now as it is my main management client. So yes I have had a single client connected to the gateway. I have Windows 10, Apple iOS, and MacOS both, and Linux clients. I currently have 17 clients live and I am getting 137 Mbs down and 51 Mbs upload so it looks pretty good tonight.
iTinkeralot wrote:
I have firmware version 1.2104.00.0286 running and I use both LAN interfaces with Ethernet switches and have at least 6-7 wired clients plus wireless clients but I have seen no behavior like that.
Hola,
Have you tried connecting a computer right to the LAN port? not via any switches/networks?
I found cell LTE cell PCI154. It is just West of South Ironwood Drive and between W Apache Trail and W Broadway. The cell ID is 226331147 and the eNB ID 884106 - LTE (i.e. the tower.) Not sure how far that is from where you are based the map you posted. Too hard to nail down with out exact locations. You should be able to find that tower with the search for the eNB.
When filtering for 5G NR towers I don't see the tower you are referring to. Need the eNB number. Not sure where that n41 5G signal originates but I can see the 4G LTE.
Ah… you found a draft. I had found the End User Guide some time ago.
