Forum Discussion
Do you have 1609 gateway firmware update yet and how is it working for you?
It’s September 14, 2021, and the awaited 1.2101.00.1609 gateway firmware update was finally pushed out to me automatically. You can see if you have it yet in the GUI. Select “Overview” and It is called “Software Version” below the gateway icon to the right.
You can see the GUI for your gateway by typing 192.168.12.1 in the address window of a browser. If you haven’t gotten the new 1609 version pushed out to you yet, you will see the old version 0178 still. Please note that Tmobile does these gateway upgrades automatically, pushing them out over weeks, so you may not get yours for a few weeks yet.
According to the T-mo Report of a month ago, here is what is in the update:
The update claims to fix two known VPN issues, one with Cisco AnyConnect and one with GlobalProtect. More importantly, the update claims to improve the poor 5G signal experience. Apparently, this fixes situations where a 5G signal is poor and the LTE signal would be a better connection.
If you think that means if you have a poor 5G signal, and this update will make the signal stronger, like you’ll be getting more bars or something, please re-read the statement. That is NOT what it is saying. It says that for people with a better 4G speed than 5G at their house, this software update is supposed to help their gateway connect to the 4G (Primary only) band, instead of their gateway getting stuck on what is for them a very slow 5G band combination (Primary and Secondary).This is probably a situation involving only about 5% or less of Tmobile customers. Before this fix, people in that situation would have to revert to the old 4G white rectangular modem/router if they wanted faster speeds.
I’ve been on Tmobile home internet for three months and I believe this is the first gateway firmware update since April. For me, no noticeable differences so far. If anyone gets the update and notices any changes in their service, good or bad -- faster speeds, fewer disconnections, whatever -- please mention them in this thread.
Lastly, if someone who doesn’t have the update feels there is a compelling reason for them to get it, like they are one of these people with faster 4G LTE speeds than 5G in their location, they can call up and request it be pushed out to them while they wait online. I didn’t do that because I do not have either of those two VPN issues, and 5G is many times faster than 4G at my house.
There could be other improvements in the update that we don’t know about.
I have an improved 5 g signal and thus faster speeds on band n71. My speeds jumped 25 to 30 mbps.
I still have only 3 bars of signal but my RSRP improved from -99 to -94 dbm.
I think I lost my secondary signal because of the new update. Anyone has the same problem? This is already my second T-mobile gateway that gives me the same problem.
No matter what I do. It constantly wants band 25.. it's normally lower than what I'm showing. When I was on band 2 and N71 , service ran great. But now this is what I get..
wambam24 wrote:
Got the new update. Service has crawled ever since. Was connected to band 2 and N71 getting 60- 100 mbs. But now it constantly wants to connect to band 25 and now my speed has dropped to 0.68- 3mbs.. I've tried everything, resetting, moving modem to other location in the home. Even called tech support.
When you called tech support, did you ask them if it is possible for them to push out the previous firmware version to you? I do not know if this is possible, but it is certainly something I would want to try if I were in your situation and they could do that.One reason I posted this thread was that I wanted the more tech-inclined or tech-interested people that have the time and inclination, to be watching for when they receive the 1609 update and differences it makes.
Otherwise what happens in these situations is that people with any sort of problems that crop up want to associate it with the update, even though the problem may have occurred days before they got the new update.
That said, your problem sounds like something that could be associated with the update.
I received the update sometime in the last week, I can confirm that my VPN connection through Cisco any connect now works consistently. I have no change in up/ download speeds. 120-190 down and 30-50 up. B2 and N71 on the tower connection. Once in a great while B66, but I haven’t seen that in a month. I’m going on two months with this service. I’m satisfied so far, it meets our needs at a great price. Also I noticed my ping times went 80-100 to 25-30, mostly 25.
wambam24 wrote:
Got the new update. Service has crawled ever since. Was connected to band 2 and N71 getting 60- 100 mbs. But now it constantly wants to connect to band 25 and now my speed has dropped to 0.68- 3mbs.. I've tried everything, resetting, moving modem to other location in the home. Even called tech support.
This is exactly the same here. We were doing well and all of the sudden we are crawling...if that. :(
I don’t know if rebooting will help, but that’s next.
Got the new update. Service has crawled ever since. Was connected to band 2 and N71 getting 60- 100 mbs. But now it constantly wants to connect to band 25 and now my speed has dropped to 0.68- 3mbs.. I've tried everything, resetting, moving modem to other location in the home. Even called tech support.
Got the 1609 update and can confirm that it fixed the GlobalProtect VPN issue.
I got the update at 4am today.
I had the option of 2 towers that are located 10 degrees apart. The n41 tower is about 1000 ft closer with a good line of site. The n71 tower is pretty obstructed and I had problems picking it up before the update.
I preferred the n41 because of better up and down speeds and I could stay locked on to it. Now I am locked on to the n71 with its lousy speeds and constant shifting to even lower speed bands. The n41 doesnt show up with direction adjustments or reboots. I am hoping its just a temporary maintenance issue on my “good” tower.
007BondMI6 wrote:
My 5G signal experience was disimproved it now drops after a few hours and never returns till reboot and seems to not be used anyways.
Since these updates occur automatically, I’m not sure if it is possible -- probably not -- for you to call up and request the old gateway firmware version be pushed out to you, to see if that gets you back to your 500+ speeds.
I myself have had the experience of it dynamically switching to the 4G-only band and dropping my speed to less than 30, whereas my 5G speeds, on B2/n41 or B66/n41, now rarely go below 100 and average about 190. However, that speed drop onto the 4G has happened only about 4 times in three months, and I was able to restart the gateway and get back to 5G immediately. I found a better location for my gateway, at a certain rotation and elevation where I now never get the slow speed.
I watched a video of a YouTube vlogger about this new 1609 update, and there was a comment by someone which mentioned your exact problem. Unless it was you, there is another person with this problem. It’s also possible it is something else and the gateway update is only a coincidence. Are you absolutely sure your problem coincided with getting the update? The only reason I know that I got the update overnight is that I had checked in the GUI for the last few days, since I’m expecting it and wanted to know when I got it.
Also, although it almost certain that a speed drop from 500+ to 75 is being switched to the 4G-only band, you should verify that in the GUI and note the specific band, and the band combination you are usually on with 5G. If you call up and talk with a service rep, being as specific as possible will help them understand your particular problem.
Of course, just getting 500+ means you are on 5G, and with the n41 mid-frequency signal, but getting 75 doesn’t always mean 4G. It could mean you are connecting to another tower with an n71 5G. I read a post with a person who had that problem, of getting n71 most of the time, with a very slow speed compared to the n41 they got some of the time.
