Poor Internet speed and not reliabity

iTinkeralot wrote:

roninaz You are not alone in your quest for internet nirvana. It would help to know details as to what your  gateway router reports in the web UI interface. I will assume you have been over this with the T-Mo support engineers but it is hard to help without data. 

The LED display on the top of the router can provide some idea but not much detail about what is going on with the communication to the tower. The web UI at 192.168.12.1 will help much more.

Sugerencias:

Record the reporting of the primary & secondary signals from the Información general>Internet Connection

Record the reporting of the primary & secondary signals from the Estado>Cellular network section

Confirm if there are packet drops or errors from the Estadísticas>Cellular information

Do you know where the tower is; how far away it is...?

Snips of information from the web page are sufficient. It is pretty easy and helpful to make screen clips of data from the Overview, Status, & Statistics pages in the web UI and make a quick document with that info and then attach the info to the post. With more info I would be happy to make some additionalsuggestions.

ITinkeralot...  Even without an Overview, Status or Stastical info... throw some ideas out anyway.  I hate to sound harsh, but there's not alot that even the outside techie can do, other than to assist in optimal location placement.

The problem lies in both the gateway unit itself (over-heating) which may have some merrit, as ive tossed mine out in 30 degree weather for 30 mins, then powered back up and get better than it was, not great service, but did function better... after it being on for a solid 10 days.  Additionally, its not a congestion issue as TMobile tech may claim.  I performed an onsite (last mile near tower) test with a seperate hotspot device, also on the TMobile network, and pulled near 80Mbps speeds.

Bottom line... the issue is the gateway and transmission penetration.  Whats the solution....  getting TMobile to provide its customers with repeaters, as does Verizon for those customers who pushed hard enough in numbers to get its signal out beyond 10 miles, and through simple terrain obstruction s (ie. Hills and mild timber).  And, to replace the gateway intirely with a different unit all together.

That said, Im interested to hear what you got to say... without stats provided.

roninaz wrote:

I have had home internet for 30+ days.  The speed and reliability has not been consistent.  I have seen speed from 80 ~ 100 mbs and then have seen speed from 1 ~ 5 mbs.  Also while streaming Netflix and Prime we have seen buffering and sometimes the movie locks up and I have to restart the movie.  My Sonos One device keep disconnecting due to slow internet speed (speed test was less than 1 mbs).

I have spent hours  and days on the phone with support and non of the issues have been resolved.  Support personnel have been professional and we run through general reboot scenarios but  it does not fix the problem.  The problem issues have been turned over to the engineers but still no resolution.

I would like to keep the home internet solution but it has been a very frustrating experience.  I may be forced to go back to my previous internet provider as there were no speed and reliability issues with them.

If there is anybody from t-mobile reading these posts…….please resolve these issues before you loose customers.

 

Same for me. Speeds nowhere near what I was promised. May have to go back to Comcast (ugh)

$50 a month is too much for such an unreliable internet service. Spectrum cable just lowered monthly price to $49.95 for 1,000 gb of internet. Just approaching one month of Tmob home and am tired of dropouts while watching the tube and less than 1 mbps download speeds between 4pm and midnight. T-Mobile is not delivering what they are advertising. 

Seems like too much work to chase down why buffering is constant. 30 plus days on the system and I am ready to go back to Comcast. That is how bad the service is. I am getting to the point of dropping the phone as well (17 years )  They said it was great, not so much. You get the rest of my month and without improvement I'll drop you just like my connection during a football game,  Thanks for nothing.

Feels so good to say as much,

PS I am pissed that I have to peck around and call people for something I am not getting.

Over and out

Here are the stats on my system. I am going to try hooking up an antenna later today and hoping that will help.

ka79535 wrote:

Maybe T-mobile should adjust their maps to reflect reality and maybe consider setting a lower expectation for customers….especially in rural areas. I am 2 miles from the tower and cannot get a 5g signal on the router. ...plus, I only get 2 bars.

Except for a few people who were on the white 4G router/modem and asked to be grandfathered to the 5G gray cylinder, to be eligible for the 5G gray cylinder there is supposed to be 5G service in your area, and I believe you when you say it is on your map as such, but that you aren’t getting it.

I found the 4G map to be wrong about my brother's house, in that it said it was a level or two better service than  the 4G speed at my house, but I tested it on my phone and it was much slower speed, including when I was outside his house in an open park. I suspect the issue at my brother's house is there is a large electrical power station between his house and the tower.

Two bars is not the whole issue as far as speed goes or the ability to connect to 5G, as it is possible to get speeds over 200 on two bars of signal strength on the n41 5G band. If your tower has the longer range n71, and are two miles away, the highest speeds on that at 2 miles away might be in the 100 to 150 range at best, and probably under 100, since the max speed (50 feet away from the tower) on that is 225 whereas n41 max speed is like 700 or more.

Tmobile says they have availability of 5G home internet to 80 million households in the US, and the initial rollout of the 5G home internet was to 100,000 people. I'd guess they are up to 300,000 users by now, the vast majority who are happy enough with it to keep it. How could I make such a ridiculous claim when it seems like so many people here have problems?

Because over the three months I've had this, on this message board, sometimes there are only like 5 new messages about Tmobile home internet in a day, and not all about slow speed. So if it's really a serious problem for a significant number of people, why don't more people post here to complain or ask questions about their problem? After all, calling in for help results in a wait of hours, or waiting for a call back at times. To me, that means the vast majority must have an adequate experience with it.

Although you said you had Tmobile phone for years, you didn't say how long you've had the home internet service. If it is only a week or two, it might be worth it to wait a little longer before you ditch it, to see if they have been working on the equipment at your tower. I know for a fact they are swapping out some of the n71 transceivers for the faster n41, or adding the n41 to towers, so they've been very busy in their expansion, equipment tuning, erecting new towers etc.

When new equipment is installed, they sometimes start it on a lower power, to test signal conflicts or other issues, before they ramp it up to a point where it might work well at your house. There is also tuning that is done. So these are things which might leave you stuck on the old 4G until they get it going.

ka79535 - In some rural locations it does appear to be a bit questionable for some customers. I have seen postings in the community that seem to reflect even customers closer into large cities experience unpredictable results. Sometimes it is spot on and other times it is unpredictable.

T-Mobile must have projections and plans/schedules laid out for the 5G expansion which should be used in coordination with the confirmation for new customers to make an informed decision. For such a huge undertaking the planning, provisioning and equipment final installs would require significant advance efforts. It would be very helpful if the customer decision process would include "realistic expectations" from the start. If the tower upgrades in a given location for a new customer is a month out they should provide proper notification as such and give a new prospective customer a more qualified response for 5G delivery. Project managers need to work with marketing better and deliver ongoing updates so marketing can adjust their efforts to provide more accurate expectations. The churn and burn is only resulting in negative publicity. We all know bad news travels faster and wider than good news most of the time.

If you have some of the metrics data from your router solution you can share maybe with hard data members on the community can help with direct suggestions. I get the frustrations but if there are bits of data you have to share from the router operations maybe the solution can be improved enough to get an acceptable level of performance until the 5G goes full bore where you are. I had at least 4 calls with T-Mobile support engineers in July when this location went crazy. The disconnects and random 5G signal drops were due to some issue on the tower. After two weeks or so they got it figured out and afterward it was actually a bit better for the 5G delivery. The signal was stronger and better quality. It was not huge but enough to make a nice difference.

If you know 100% the tower your router connects to with the PCI information that is a good start. The location of the router, as you may have seen in several posts, is sometimes a real challenge and the end result for the best location of the router does not always seem logical. If you are not 100% on the tower location you can call T-Mobile support and get the coordinates of the tower(s) and also use cellmapper.net to confirm or gain clarity. I used my iPhone 12 in field test mode to confirm the PCI information with the router reporting. I know the phone might latch onto another tower but if there is really only one good option they will probably reach the same destination. With knowledge of the tower location vs reliance upon the generic bars on the LED display on top of the router it is possible to dial it in much better. There are lots of things others have done to get the solutions improved or stable. Post some data and maybe you will get some directed recommendations that help. If you are familiar with the web UI of the router and the metrics that is great. If not maybe you will find the attachment helpful.

Timsw wrote:

roninaz wrote:

I have had home internet for 30+ days.  The speed and reliability has not been consistent.  I have seen speed from 80 ~ 100 mbs and then have seen speed from 1 ~ 5 mbs.  Also while streaming Netflix and Prime we have seen buffering and sometimes the movie locks up and I have to restart the movie.  My Sonos One device keep disconnecting due to slow internet speed (speed test was less than 1 mbs).

The disparity between getting a connection speed of 80 to 100 at times and 1 to 5 at others is probably too great to be congestion/traffic. It's possible when you are stuck on the slow speed (which often means frequent internet disconnection) it could be that you are connecting to 4G only, instead of the 4G/5G non-standalone signal pair that constitutes 5G, with the 5G signal being an n71 or an n41, depending on what is on your tower.

The essential thing to try is finding a gateway placement in your house that helps you connect at the fastest speed range possible. If you don't know where your tower is, that's okay, but then try placing the gateway in various windows, or as high as  you can, like in the attic, and include various rotation angles. Each time a position change is made with the gateway you restart the gateway via the button on the side, wait two minutes for it to reconnect automatically and do a speed test. You're looking for a location/position of the gateway that will maintain the highest speed range, which usually, but not always, goes along with the highest number of bars of signal strength available in your house.

What I mean by rotation angle is the gateway can be rotated in place, and because it has 4 little antennas inside, their orientation can make a significant difference in what signal bands you are connecting to. That can make a speed difference.

The nature of this beast called 5G cellular is a neighbor three houses away up a hill near you may get a great connection while your geographic position and elevation, just behind a hill between you and the tower, means your connection is bad. 

I live in a rural area 5 miles from the tower, and get an average of 150 download, often over 200, whereas on DSL I was in the single digit speeds, with a 1 for an upload, and paying $45 for that. I understand what it would be like for you, hoping for the 100 that "most customers," or "some customers" get, or however it is worded in their ads.

Besides distance to tower and number of obstructions, other factors can come into play in how good the reception is at your particular house. Even if 30% of their customers are a fail, it just doesn't work well at all for them, turn back their equipment, T mobile will still be raking in huge profits.I stuck with stupid CenturyLink for 12 years,having to call them every year or so to negotiate a more reasonable price for the slow connection I was getting, and so Tmobile's flat $50 forever price, and the way I've already had one significant speed boost in the last three months, it has been unbelievable, almost.

I'm just a customer, and It's not that I mind people airing their frustrations against Tmobile -- this is probably as good a place as any to air your frustrations -- but I think sometimes people are causing themselves excess frustration by demanding to communicate directly  with the CEO -- not that you did that  -- or thinking a massive corporation actually cares about the plight of individual customers and their internet problems. Tmobile often has the highest customer satisfaction among cellular providers.

In fact, I kind of sympathize with your particular problem, of getting good speed sometimes, and then it just being horrible at other times. Therefore, I posted this and hope something I suggested helps you.

In some ways, T-mobile is their own worst enemy. I have been with them for phone service for years. When I called in about Home Internet availability (after looking on the map and seeing my area was all 5g extended) I was told I could expect at least 25mbps…...so I ordered the package.

I get nowhere near that and, like others, get the "our engineers are working on it" answer from support. They are all pleasant and thorough, but there is nothing they can really do, and it isn't their fault.

Maybe T-mobile should adjust their maps to reflect reality and maybe consider setting a lower expectation for customers….especially in rural areas. I am 2 miles from the tower and cannot get a 5g signal on the router. ...plus, I only get 2 bars. 

I had one of the T-mobile personal cell spots hooked up to my Frontier Router because the signal was weak here. I thought maybe they had corrected the issue so I took the chance. Perhaps I should have known better, but I do think T-mobile is being overly optimistic with their promotion of this home internet solution. It is likely much more stable in urban areas.

Timsw - It is actually good to hear others feel the same way about the excessive nags about the solution. Communicate to the CEO, law suits, yada, yada… move on. It is an internet solution and there are MANY bigger issues out there vs getting all twisted up about an internet solution that is newer cutting edge tech that is having growing pains. T-Mobile has fought as the underdog for years and is pushing hard to take a bite out of AT&T and Verizion. I for one am glad they are. I have had a pretty positive experience with the home internet solution here and only in July did it go wonkey but that was NOT the router it was equipment on the tower. Sometimes things are not spot on and need a tune up. The T-Mobile engineers worked on the tower equipment and it improved and became stable again. Even with only the n71 bands it is a big improvement over DSL with a contract and what not. This was our only real option here. Satellite internet  was not going to happen for me. I know better. Starlink was too much investment and not available here so the T-Mobile solution is a win. It is not perfect but noting on this earth ever will be.

roninaz wrote:

I have had home internet for 30+ days.  The speed and reliability has not been consistent.  I have seen speed from 80 ~ 100 mbs and then have seen speed from 1 ~ 5 mbs.  Also while streaming Netflix and Prime we have seen buffering and sometimes the movie locks up and I have to restart the movie.  My Sonos One device keep disconnecting due to slow internet speed (speed test was less than 1 mbs).

The disparity between getting a connection speed of 80 to 100 at times and 1 to 5 at others is probably too great to be congestion/traffic. It's possible when you are stuck on the slow speed (which often means frequent internet disconnection) it could be that you are connecting to 4G only, instead of the 4G/5G non-standalone signal pair that constitutes 5G, with the 5G signal being an n71 or an n41, depending on what is on your tower.

The essential thing to try is finding a gateway placement in your house that helps you connect at the fastest speed range possible. If you don't know where your tower is, that's okay, but then try placing the gateway in various windows, or as high as  you can, like in the attic, and include various rotation angles. Each time a position change is made with the gateway you restart the gateway via the button on the side, wait two minutes for it to reconnect automatically and do a speed test. You're looking for a location/position of the gateway that will maintain the highest speed range, which usually, but not always, goes along with the highest number of bars of signal strength available in your house.

What I mean by rotation angle is the gateway can be rotated in place, and because it has 4 little antennas inside, their orientation can make a significant difference in what signal bands you are connecting to. That can make a speed difference.

The nature of this beast called 5G cellular is a neighbor three houses away up a hill near you may get a great connection while your geographic position and elevation, just behind a hill between you and the tower, means your connection is bad. 

I live in a rural area 5 miles from the tower, and get an average of 150 download, often over 200, whereas on DSL I was in the single digit speeds, with a 1 for an upload, and paying $45 for that. I understand what it would be like for you, hoping for the 100 that "most customers," or "some customers" get, or however it is worded in their ads.

Besides distance to tower and number of obstructions, other factors can come into play in how good the reception is at your particular house. Even if 30% of their customers are a fail, it just doesn't work well at all for them, turn back their equipment, T mobile will still be raking in huge profits.I stuck with stupid CenturyLink for 12 years,having to call them every year or so to negotiate a more reasonable price for the slow connection I was getting, and so Tmobile's flat $50 forever price, and the way I've already had one significant speed boost in the last three months, it has been unbelievable, almost.

I'm just a customer, and It's not that I mind people airing their frustrations against Tmobile -- this is probably as good a place as any to air your frustrations -- but I think sometimes people are causing themselves excess frustration by demanding to communicate directly  with the CEO -- not that you did that  -- or thinking a massive corporation actually cares about the plight of individual customers and their internet problems. Tmobile often has the highest customer satisfaction among cellular providers.

In fact, I kind of sympathize with your particular problem, of getting good speed sometimes, and then it just being horrible at other times. Therefore, I posted this and hope something I suggested helps you.