High-Speed Internet Gateway will not lock to 5G speeds (5G21)

futureray wrote:

For me not only time was the solution, finding the right spot. Sometime it is just rotating the device and seeing how the signal changed especially if it is fringe signal. Sometime right next to a window is not be signal, for me it was right in the middle of my home. Though right now I do have it in the window turned just right for 4 bars. Hope this helps, it can be frustrating at first, but after you find the right place and T-Mobile continues their expansion, it should improve.

Thanks!

For me not only time was the solution, finding the right spot. Sometime it is just rotating the device and seeing how the signal changed especially if it is fringe signal. Sometime right next to a window is not be signal, for me it was right in the middle of my home. Though right now I do have it in the window turned just right for 4 bars. Hope this helps, it can be frustrating at first, but after you find the right place and T-Mobile continues their expansion, it should improve.

Hello,

I just received  T Mobile Home Internet (2 days ago). I am hoping to replace Spectrum, but I must say that the speeds with T Mobile is slower than expected (specifically the upload), which is important to me. Speeds are up/down and inconsistent (e.g. 83/16 - 260/1)

I am currently connected to bands n41 & b2 

I hopefully I will get a more consistent speed and faster upload.

Update, patience. A new tower or new bands, whatever the issue was is no more, sort of. First, 100-150 downloads is my new normal, uploads are hanging around 50 Mbps. I have had speeds near 500 Mbps those are rare. I am getting several bands now n41, n61, and now B4, they seem to rotate depending on available bandwidth and weather. Also noted my 4G LTE phone is now back to around 130 with solid 45 upload. So I take this is all the transition going on, I glad my issue is resolved by patience. I think this will be the case for many having the same issue, if you can afford to wait. Very happy now.😀

bcbob wrote:

Hello,   

I’m new to T Mobile Home Internet (1 week),  I do not have a 5G cell phone.  I live in a large Los Angeles area with established 5G.   I am getting 4 bars on my Gateway but am only receiving speeds in the morning around 100 and afternoon speeds are about 50.  I believe, I am locked onto a 4LTE but am not sure.   I can try to troubleshoot faster speeds and locking onto a 5G tower but I need to know what I am looking for.   Doing a google search wasn't that helpful.  There is Cell Tower Metrics on my Cell using the T Mobile Home Internet App. In the App I can see information regarding the cell tower that my Gateway is using.

Can someone tell me what I look for to tell if I am on a 4G Tower or 5G Tower?   Do I look at the “Band” in the cell tower metrics?    What Bands are 5G?  Currently my Band says “B66”  is this 5G?

 

Please Advise.

 

Bob

I am using CellMapper to figure out which towers I am connecting to. The CGI number will help you figure out the cell tower. The first 6 digits are the network (310260 is T-Mobile) and the remaining numbers identify the tower. 

jviola wrote:

Same issue.  I have a ticket open for over a month with their engineers.  No resolution.  Still waiting for them to call.  I was promised a return call the last 4 times I called in.  
 

 

Gee, just have my problem submitted a day go or so… meaning have to wait for two months maybe. Comcast just got done installing their fiber optic cable around the neighborhood and you know what that mean... 

I know this threat is getting long and aging, but I hoping for a solution. So this weekend, I gave it another try. I found 5G (B66) and found a great location, with 3 bars but with speedsno better than 700 Band. So tried one more things this morning, I did a hard rest in a location which I know has 5G was working to my surprise, I got new network connection - B2 (750) and a secondary (which I had not been getting) n41 (515790?). The speed is amazing 275 Mbps down, and 10 Mbps up. It has locked on it for about 30 minutes or so then you guessed it is drops to 700 Mhz band again. So I reset and again amazing and now waiting to see how long it last. I wish I could just manually lock in these channels. Anyone had any luck with T-Mobile customer service to resolve this issue?

Yeah...  I am holding out as long as I can against going back to Spectrum.  Got tired of the rate increases, continually haggling for a $10 discount.

Rate card says "up to 200mbps"... but no matter how many times I asked, they would not lift the 100mbps cap on our line.  Even when I called to cancel and  told them that was specifically why I was cancelling--over 4 years base price kept going up from $60 to now $75, while we were still limited to 100mbps.

We've had that line active in some capacity for 41 years... and they just refused to do right by us.  My dad was on one of the crew's that was rolling cable through the Carolinas in the 70's.  I ran a dedicated line for our internet TWICE (first was base RG6, then later to quad-shield with copper core, not that copper clad steel crap).  So it is a SUPER clean line... techs are always shocked how little drop there is from ther tap after the ~78 foot run.

$50 for 64/14 with TMO, versus their 108/12 for $75.  Tested to the same location while I was on the phone with them.  All they offered was a $10 discount for one year--which was still resulting in a $5 increase from what I had been paying.

Enough was enough.  I countered... if you will lift the cap to the published 200 that we know the line is physically capable of and your own marketing tells us we can get I would reconsider and they declined.

So, kicked them to curb.  And now they are bombarding me with offers for $50 for one year.   Even had a rep come to the house TWICE!  And my response again... lift our cap to the advertised 200 and we can talk.

No can do…

So, no soup for you!

With a better understanding now, I realize my best is going to be 50-70 down and 15-25 up connected to Band 2. B66 band at least for me has been very disappointing. After getting it to lock on to 5G, the speeds were 15-20 down and 3-5 up, and some sites would not work. Again it is not coverage in my area that is the issue. I have a S20 5G phone which connects to B66 it gets 200-250 down and 12-25 up. So it is one of two obstacles here, one Nokia modem hardware/software and/or T-Mobile downgrading its performance as phone’s have preference. Either way, I just going to be happy with the Band 2 for now. I do have a recent option to go Spectrum as they just added cable in my neighbor, though I have heard of surprise bills and terrible customer service so on the fence. Thanks to all those whom gave me feedback.

Update, this morning I decided just to get the best location for the best signal for the B2 700 Mhz band. Was getting 70 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload. Said to myself that will fine for now. Then a few hours later, the gateway is on B66 - 5G. But why did I noticed this, the speed was terrible 16/5. So I started playing with the best location for the gateway, I have it hooked to UPS and tried different position in my area where I know 5G works great on my phone. The whole time it locked to 5G. So my initial issue fixed only to read what djb14336 stated by deprioritized on the network. I think he is right.  So even if you are fortunate to get B66, T-Mobile has given this last priority status on the network. I go to test over the weekend, see if it gets any better or worse or loses 5G again.