User Profile
rich982
Roaming Rookie
Joined 4 years ago
User Widgets
Contribuciones
Re: My experience with the new T-Mobile Home Internet (NOK5G21)
Well folks, after two weeks of using the TMO Home internet servicewith the NOK5G21, I have officially called it quits and went back to using my TMO Cellspot router / TP-Link modem and Spectrum service. All is back to normal now. Speeds at the usual230/12, all wifi devices happy now. I tried my best to stay with TMO service and even stayed as long as possible for TMO to acknowledge the issues, but there really isn't much feedback from TMO support. The continuous problems of work VPN issues, daily/simultaneous loss of all wifi devices, download/upload speeds drop dramatically, having to powercycle wifi devices to get connected again, limited GUI functions, and video buffering was too much of a nuisance. I could live with some of these issues and just deal with it, but why bother at cost of 50.00 per month. I really liked the single device hardware and all wireless capability of the NOK5G21, but it is just not ready for prime time. Maybe OK for a small home with kids internet surfing. I will try again next year when things get more stable.4Visto0likes0ComentariosRe: My experience with the new T-Mobile Home Internet (NOK5G21)
Glad to know that others have same scenario. Couple updates since my post: On several occasions, all my wifi devices lost connectivity at the same time. I suspected that the router froze, so I just powered off the router (press button) and then pulled the power plug. Powered back up and devices all connected again. So yes, it froze for an unknown reason.At night time (non busy times), I get a clean/consistent120 down / 25 up via wifi. Not bad at all. Day time performance not so great, but livable. Personal laptop with ProtonVPN works fine (at least for what Iuse it for), For now, I no longer use custom SSID/Keys. I keep it at default because I am tired of reprogramming the wifi settings after a router reboot causes all settings to go back to default. Now, when the router reboots, default settings stay the same. I always watch the router firmware version (via GUI) to see if TMO silently sends a new firmware package. (bug fixes..etc). Since I already know about the nuances about this router and how to get around them, I will stick with TMO. TMO support has not been helpful in any of these issues. I understand, they are probably new people, thus networking not their skill. Incredible that Nokia/TMO released this router with these obvious problems. But I guess they needed to release a product to get service up/running and fixlater. BTW: I will have to add a 40.00 UPS to this router to prevent router downtimesince we can't trust the battery.4Visto1like0ComentariosMy experience with the new T-Mobile Home Internet (NOK5G21)
I have always used my T-Mobile router (ASUS) and T-Link modem with Spectrum service, Speed has always been a solid 230Mbps down and 12Mbps up. Very stable and never had any issues. Works perfect. Zero complaints. Port forwarding in therouter is perfect. I haver decided to cut some costs and consolidate bill payees. I realized that TMO speeds via 4G LTE will be no where as good as spectrum, but OK with me, whereas I don't use heavy bandwidth. In addition, I know that 5G is on the way, thus performance would get better over time. Let's get to the point: Got the router andwas able to easily set it up via the the user interface (laptop connection)- 192.168.12.1. No need for the mobile app. BTW:, when you power up for first time, TMO pushes a new firmware update. I was surprised by the very limited options in the user interface. Only has wifi settings - nothing else. I guess it is this way to make it very easy for users to connect. For advanced users, a big disappointment. (i.e. no port forward, extra security..etc). Anyhow, setup my SSID on both 2.4/5Ghz and set new passkeys. Connection to these SSIDs is somewhat of a problem. It was a battle getting all my home devices connected to the router. Was able to add several devices to the 2.4Ghz SSID, then all of a sudden, attempts to add more devices kept failing - unable to connect. Long story short, i had to reboot the reboot the router each time this happened. The router seems to get hung up when adding new devices back-back. In the end, was able to get all devices connected (i.e. garage door opener, sprinkler controller, lightbulbs..etc). whew!!! Next, as far as speeds on the 2.4Ghz wifi, performance was miserable. Multiple laptops would get between 5Mbps - 20Mbps on down/ and maybe 5Mbps up. With wifi connections to my other ISP, it was 230 down/12 up. So, unable to get the Tmobile router to give better performance, I now use the 5Ghz wifi for my laptops. Much cleaner now. 50Mbps down/20Mbps up. I have to leave my legacy wifi devices on the 2.4Ghz network. I don't see any performance issues when I use my Playstation (wifi). COD MW2 runs fine. Another problem I see is that on the 5Ghz network, both SSID5 and SSID9 have the same SSID name. SSID9 should have been labeledSSIS_9. Next, there may be a bug with hiding the SSIFD from broadcast. There are two option: Enable SSID and Enable Broadcast. I never broadcast my SSIDs with my ASUS router. On the TMO (nok5g21)router, when I disable the broadcast, all devices lost connections. I played with this many times between both settings, but still lose connections to all devices. So, I can't seem to hide it now. Oh well. Another problem: I use my work laptop / GlobalProtect VPN service. All is OK, but there are several websites within the company that I can not get to. If I instead connect thru my Spectrum ISP, no issues. However, I found a workaround for the sites I can't access via Tmobile service though. Now, the biggest problem, which I now see from this forum is a problem all are seeing. Rebooting the router causes all Wifi settings to go back to default. Can you believe that??? Even with the ""backup battery"" in the router, you are not protected at all. I do use a UPS at home, but still., a backup battery does not protect the system. Unbelievable. I called TMO support about this an das expected, they have never heard of this problem.????. BTW: haven't received much help from TMO support, whereas all this network stuff may be a bit technical for them. So, after two days of battling these issues myself, I am able to get a stable setup. With only 2 - 3 bars on the 4G LTE meter, I get reasonable speeds. It may be a month or two before I see 5G upgrade. I think I will keep the TMO service due to lower monthly cost (65.00 with Spectrum) and just wait for fixes/upgrades from TMO. If all else fails, I can always go back to Spectrum, whereas they will see you as a newer customer and give you the lower monthly costs for being a "new" customer. Anyhow, thought I would just pass along this information in case others have same experiences.4.9KViews5likes12Comentarios