I've recently been told by work Information Services that I cannot use my work laptop with T-Mobile Home Internet. Here is there response to my support request. T-Mobile's primary service called "5G Broadband" is not true wire-to-site broadband. While Cisco AnyConnect can work over 5G and other wireless connections, MTS does not recommend its usage unless absolutely necessary, and if you utilize a phone line such as Cisco Jabber call quality cannot be guaranteed.The issue is that while 5G can provide broadband level speeds and bandwidth wireless solutions, such as 5G, have a higher tolerance for "packet loss." Packet loss is when individual pieces of data are dropped/lost during transmission. For most applications this is a minimal issue that 5G speeds may render unnoticeable, but a live connection, such as the AnyConnect VPN or Voice Over IP phone services, will experience connection degradation or be completely disconnected forcing you to reconnect.This is not an issue MTS can mitigate. For this reason the only recommended Internet service types are fully wired based connections including DSL, Broadband, Cable, and Fiber Optic services. Does anyone have a suggestion on a way to work around this issue? It does not need to be perfect, but being able to work from home is essential, and if I can't use TMHI to do that… it would be a deal-breaker for me.

Hi Everyone, This is something I posted in another T-Mobile forum a while back. After putting some research into this, I believe I have found a solution (at least one that worked for me).PLEASE NOTE: PART OF MY SOLUTION IS USING MY OWN WIRELESS ROUTER ATTACHED VIA ETHERNET CABLE TO THE BACK OF MY HOTSPOT MODEM. THE INSTRUCTIONS I LEFT BELOW WILL NOT BE OF MUCH USE TO YOU IF YOU ARE NOT USING A WIRELESS ROUTER.This does not require much tech-savviness as I found what I needed from a YouTube video and a little googling on how to access the settings I needed, which I'll post a link to at the end of this. Basically, it's the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) settings that T-Mobile uses. You don't really have to know much about this other than how to find out how to change it, either on your computer or on your wireless router (if using a wireless connection). Most internet providers set their MTU size at 1500. This is more-or-less a standard most in the industry follow. From what I found, T-Mobile sets their MTU size at 1450. I'm not going to go into explanation on how this works; just know this is the problem. This tiny difference seems inconsequential, but can make or break your VPN connection. Unfortunately, it's on us as the customers to find our own solution(s) to this problem. This YouTube link gave me the information on how to check my MTU settings and change them on a Windows PC. This is a solution specifically for if you want to only change the MTU Size on individual PC's in your home. Ultimately, I did not change my MTU Size on my laptop, but the part of the video that helped me find the MTU Size was key to figuring this whole thing out. The link will take you directly a few seconds right before the spot you need to pay attention at begins: I'm not a Mac user and am not experienced with using them, but this is a link for all y'all Apple fanatics that I found while I was searching for a reason for this problem. It was the first article I came across that set me on the path to figuring out how to change my MTU setting. Hope it helps:https://amithkumarg.medium.com/resolved-t-mobile-home-internet-vpn-issue-2f5ca594c23eAnd, lastly, I use a TP-Link Wireless router. This link is for TP-Link device owners and shows you how to change the MTU Size. There's no way I can find links to all the different types out there. However every brand's settings are easily searched on Google, so good hunting to you and good luck: https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1134/I hope this helps some people. My issue is (self)resolved.

This exact same thing happened to me out of nowhere today; I've had everything working flawlessly since I switched to tmobile over a month ago from xfinity and now it will not accept my work's vpn. I will cancel my service immediately if this cannot be fixed; this can cost me my job.

This is insanely frustrating. I can't do half my job unless I sit in a cafe with broadband access or work from a friend's house. But the part that is infuriating is every time I call T-Mobile, I get different answers from different people. Call 1: "Can't do anything for ya. Sorry." Call 2: "We can get you to a higher tier of support who will be able to help if you can get us your VPN Settings from your IT Department." Call 3: "None of what call 2 is true. Sorry to say it, but they lied to you. There is no higher tier of support."I bet if I called a 4th time, I'd get another completely different answer. I had this totally fixed by changing the MTU size on my router and now, even changing it directly on my laptop makes NO difference. There really needs to be a fix for this. If I had access to any other ISP that wasn't worse than this, I'd drop this service instantly. Unfortunately, I'm stuck since I live in a rural area. I'll stop complaining now.

I can't believe T-Mobile support just flat out told me that their internet service is incompatible with a VPN! How can they advertise that I can use this for work at home with multiple high speed streams, but just conveniently neglect to let me know I can't use a VPN! No suggestions for solutions, he just offered to cancel my service immediately!

My company uses Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I've been having all the same issues mentioned in this thread and gone down the IT rabbit hole trying to remedy this issue. Finally found a knowledgeable T-Mobile technician that explained if personal or work VPN or systems are operating on IPv4 then you need to go into your T-Mobile home internet app > select network > click "+" to add network > name network > create password > select 2.4 GHz band > select WPA/WPA2 > WPA "TKIP & AES" > then save the new network and connect. Worked out my VPN issues and my security cameras are working now.

Unable to use T-Mobile Home Internet with work VPN, any suggestions?

chris_number9
Network Novice
Hace 10 meses
tom2t wrote:

chris_number9 wrote:

tom2t wrote:

So I did also just find out it appears to be a Modem issue. If you have the "sagecom" modem it seems to be specific to that. Go into your local tmobile store and see if they have one of the other 3 brands. I did it and now my cisco VPN is working fine. Took 5 minutes for them to exchange it out for me at the store

Hola Tom,

Could you share the make or model you got as a replacement for the Sagemcom gateway?

¡Gracias!

I ended up with the Arcadyan. That's the manufacturer but apparently there are 2 other ones that work as well.

Great. Thanks for sharing Tom!
ZinnMaster
Network Novice
Hace 10 meses
Finally spoke to someone who knows what's going on in their tech team, Travis. He called all the local stores and found one, one single store, with a modem that should work (1st edish Arcadyan?). I have 3 different VPNs and none of them are compatible with the sagemcom gateway tower. Global Protect, Forticlient, Zscaler. I will check back in once I get the new one and get it all set up. Stand by and send your prayers! Hah
Ola_in_the_sky
Roaming Rookie
Hace 10 meses
tom2t- mind sharing what city or metro area you're in? I have hundreds of options and could spend an entire weekend looking for the right one. IDK where to begin. My closest local store gave me the same damned one- this before the tickets came flying in and none of us had any idea what was going on. Even though I shouldn't I'd even buy one at this point. Life is hell working off of my hotspot, well slightly less than hell since I can still WFH.
tom2t
Roaming Rookie
Hace 10 meses
Ola in the sky wrote:

tom2t- mind sharing what city or metro area you're in? I have hundreds of options and could spend an entire weekend looking for the right one. IDK where to begin. My closest local store gave me the same damned one- this before the tickets came flying in and none of us had any idea what was going on. Even though I shouldn't I'd even buy one at this point. Life is hell working off of my hotspot, well slightly less than hell since I can still WFH.

I'm in the Seattle tacoma metro area. I'd just keep calling around or ask your local One if they can get anything OTHER THAN a sagecom. There has to be a store near you with a different model
Ola_in_the_sky
Roaming Rookie
Hace 10 meses
tom2t- thank you! I’m in LA so hoping my chances are good!
Ola_in_the_sky
Roaming Rookie
Hace 10 meses
Btw- anyone else notice since the collapse of T-Mobile VPN connections a corresponding “weak security” right underneath your WiFi name?
HotSpotPet
Roaming Rookie
Hace 10 meses
Ola in the sky wrote:

tom2t- mind sharing what city or metro area you're in? I have hundreds of options and could spend an entire weekend looking for the right one. IDK where to begin. My closest local store gave me the same damned one- this before the tickets came flying in and none of us had any idea what was going on. Even though I shouldn't I'd even buy one at this point. Life is hell working off of my hotspot, well slightly less than hell since I can still WFH.

You need to get a different modem for the VPN to work. I exchanged it for a Nokia 5G21 Gateway(gray color) since T-Mobile can't give me the new white modem. I called the T-Mobile customer service. one of the tech reps was aware of VPN issue. He was able to locate an old Nokia Modem for me in my area. I went to the store to picked it up. The VPN works fine with Nokia 5G21. However, I noticed that the connection signal isn't as strong as sagecom.

Here is a picture of the Gateway.
https://es.t-mobile.com/support/home-internet/nokia-gateway
Ola_in_the_sky
Roaming Rookie
Hace 10 meses
HotSpotPet, thanks for sharing. Will be on it shortly. Unfortunately 1st two reps I've encountered who know this is a cure cannot or will not give out any info on where to find one. Given the fact that I live in America's 2nd largest city I'm hopeful. I still feel horrible for the rural folks who have little if any chance of getting one. How unbelievably awful of T-Mobile! The worst customer service I've dealt w/ in a very long time. I can only hope that people are blowing this up on Twitter (now X). Thank you again and wish me luck!
sykokenn
Network Novice
Hace 10 meses
Thank you for this thread. I came across it because I was having issues with my VPN and internet. I did have the Sagecom model and TM tech support was actually super helpful.

I went in to a local store and was able to swap my modem for the arcadyan one and all is well.

Created an account here just to give that feedback.

They did say the new white ones will be the best so be on the lookout. This arcadyan one is a tad slower but with the VPN my upload speeds have 10x'd so I'm happy.
Ola_in_the_sky
Roaming Rookie
Hace 10 meses
I appreciate your thanks but I have not been nearly as lucky as you and a couple others here. I've known the cure for at least a week if not more but every TM tech I get refuses to help me find one. Meantime I'm stuck in a dangerous monsoon in LA and cannot go out searching for one until Wednesday earliest. Please wish me good Karma or pray for me- it appears this is what I need now. Thank you and very happy you got the solution!