Question

Home Internet Gaming Problem

  • 21 September 2022
  • 91 replies
  • 17967 views
D
Userlevel 2
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I recently started test driving T-Mobile home internet at my house, and it's worked great for everything except games, where I'm having a weird issue with some of them. When I try to play Apex Legends on PC, the game will connect and play really smooth for anywhere from 1-3 minutes, and then all communication will be lost, which will take 20 seconds for the game to kick me out to the main menu. If I go back into the game from the main menu, it'll work fine untill the 1-3 minutes elapses.

 

During all of this my PC never loses connection, and this issue occurs over wifi and ethernet. This issue probably does not lie with the game as this issue does not occur with other ISPs, and it did not coincide with an update.

 

A similar issue is happening with Splatoon 3 on the Nintendo Switch, where the game will play superb for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before dropping the connection. 

 

Is this a known issue with the service or gateway, is there anyway I can debug my connection, and does anyone know anyway that could possibly remedy the situation? I'd love to keep the home internet, but one of the main things I use the internet for is games, meaning this service wouldn't work for me.

91 replies

M
Userlevel 1

I’ve also been having the same problem since mid-December. Doesn’t matter the server or the game, I’m kicked within five minutes. I’ve tried downgrading from 5G to LTE, I’ve taken my laptop with my mobile hotspot to different locations in order to connect to a different tower with better signal, nothing helps. I even went so far as to buy a new mobile hotspot. The responses I’m getting from customer service border on gaslighting.

I was able to play games just fine for six months on Tmobile’s 5G, even with a not-so-great signal, and for five years before that on Sprint with one iffy bar of LTE. Now they’re trying to tell me that my issue is simply because of a weak signal or network congestion. It’s gratifying to see so many others with the same issue.

It’s maddening. I would really love to be able to stay with Tmobile. Until this I’ve been overwhelmingly happy with the service, it’s been a game changer in my rural area, and recommended it to many others. But if this isn’t resolved soon, if they can’t even be upfront about the existence of an issue, I might have to jump ship.   

W
Userlevel 1

I’m seeing a similar situation.  My game of choice is World Of Tanks.  I can login to the game but within about 3 to 5 minutes I get kicked out due to a dropped connection.  I’m not actually losing connection to the gateway.  I can stream video for hours without issue.  My son is seeing similar results with the games he plays.

 

Have you tried contacting support?  If so, what kind of response have you gotten?

M

​​​​I talked with a T-mobile rep and they are aware of this issue but are still trying I troubleshooting. Related to a firmware update they pushed out to the routers. Much of the problem he thinks is traceable to how the Dynamic IP behaves that various gaming consoles and websites don't like. The tech agreed that much of the problem might be solved if T-Mobile gave consumers Static IP options (available only to Businesses right now). Fingers crossed that they'll get a fix out soon because everything else with T-mobile internet has been great for us!

I am experiencing the exact same issues with my T-Mobile home internet. While this is probably true, I have also tried playing off my cellphone hotspot and I experience the exact same random disconnects. 350 down and 30 up isn’t worth a $1 if it’s gonna disconnect every minute. Several friends and I going back to cable internet because of this one issue. It’s a complete deal breaker.

Everyone I know that is having this issue have the older grey cylinder modems. I’m guessing this is happening with all models, but just to confirm does anyone have one of the newer model towers, and are you also experiencing these issues? 

K
Userlevel 1

Is anyone experiencing their internet cutting 9ut? This be the 3rd time I had to unplug the router

My internet actually works fine and I have it hooked up to a quite a few things, but T-Mobile is not compatible with my MyQ garage door opener so I can’t use it and my son can’t play multiplayer games with his friends. He gets kicked out of the games. It used to be occasional until December when it became constant. We have really good service otherwise which makes it so disappointing to have to go back to Cox internet. There is not much else available in my part of Vegas.

L

I’m having the same issue on Oculus Quest. I’m able to play online games for about 60 seconds then it kicks me out. Also tried connecting through a router that is connected to the TMobile modem and still didn’t work. 

Went over to a friends house to try just to verify it wasn’t my headset and it works fine. 

Very frustrating, I’ll probably have to drop T-Mobile. Good price but not worth it if I can’t use it. 

D

I am (well, my son is) experiencing the same thing. Streaming works OK, and speed tests look great, but he's getting booted from multiple games after a few minutes. Running through my personal Asus router also makes no difference. 

X
Userlevel 2

"no fix coming" is kind of ridiculous, considering it was fine a month or so ago. Honestly their internet was the only thing really keeping me with the company so if they aren't gonna fix it, I'm just gonna switch. 🤷‍♂️

S

It has to do with your NAT type and your UPnP they get shut off for some reason and you need to have it manually reset but apparently it's a problem at T-Mobile is aware of and that they're trying to fix

X
Userlevel 2

I’ve also been having the same problem since mid-December. Doesn’t matter the server or the game, I’m kicked within five minutes. I’ve tried downgrading from 5G to LTE, I’ve taken my laptop with my mobile hotspot to different locations in order to connect to a different tower with better signal, nothing helps. I even went so far as to buy a new mobile hotspot. The responses I’m getting from customer service border on gaslighting.

I was able to play games just fine for six months on Tmobile’s 5G, even with a not-so-great signal, and for five years before that on Sprint with one iffy bar of LTE. Now they’re trying to tell me that my issue is simply because of a weak signal or network congestion. It’s gratifying to see so many others with the same issue.

It’s maddening. I would really love to be able to stay with Tmobile. Until this I’ve been overwhelmingly happy with the service, it’s been a game changer in my rural area, and recommended it to many others. But if this isn’t resolved soon, if they can’t even be upfront about the existence of an issue, I might have to jump ship.   

Absolutely agree, service was incredible the last six months, and we can't really get service where I live, but after talking with them, they have NO clue what I'm even talking about, chalking it up to an outage is really annoying.

 

Strongly considering just taking the loss and switching service to whatever's local instead of paying for what I can't even use. 

 

If they realized they made a mistake offering too much bandwidth for the price, I wouldn't care if they had different tiers and prices lmao, I just wanna not get disconnected.

V
Userlevel 1

I’d recommend everyone calling 844-275-9310 and peppering them with support requests until they get the necessary resources and priority on this.

Mister36
Userlevel 1

I have the same problem, started happening within the last couple of months. For me it happens the most in Team Fortress 2, now starting in Halo Infinite (though might have always been happening there just don’t play it as much)

 

I haven’t noticed it happening regularly in other games. 

 

Using the Nokia Gray Trashcan, firmware 1.2201.00.0324

H

I used the t mobile home internet and it kind of sucks, i used it only for 3 days in month of August and i was charged twice on that part, i am too much tired of this billing issue, T home internet simply did not worked for me. I cancelled it on 3rd day but still got charged for the bill in sept also. this is too much .. They ask for pin everytime which they never set up me up for. simply their service is worst..

T

have you guys tried VPN? seems to work

I am having similar issues over last few days with WOT.  I will try the VPN, but am thinking the ping will increase to where it will ruin the experience.   I’ll get back once I’ve tried.  thanks for the suggestion.  Agree with others in that this issue has cropped up recently in December ‘22 and it will not make for an ongoing relationship with T-mobile unless fixed soon.   

Mister36
Userlevel 1

Is anyone experiencing their internet cutting 9ut? This be the 3rd time I had to unplug the router

This particular thread/forum isn’t about general disconnects - which do happen - but rather very specific issues of being dropped while playing games or other applications. Unfortunately this last Friday and today I’ve noticed it’s started making my work laptop lose connection to my softphone service (Cisco Jabber) which previously had no issues - this is while connecting through a VPN that seems to not have any issues, but I’m also noticing my PC saying it doesn’t have a connection briefly at the same time (Even though I am hardwired in directly to the gateway)

Also, Vermintide 2 I can now safely add to the list of affected games. 

Overall the service is stable, speeds good, videos no problem, etc. It’s just the very specific dropping of certain connection types which *didn’t happen before* - I even did a deep factory reset of my Gateway yesterday and I’m not sure it did anything. 

G
Userlevel 1

Is anyone experiencing their internet cutting 9ut? This be the 3rd time I had to unplug the router

This particular thread/forum isn’t about general disconnects - which do happen - but rather very specific issues of being dropped while playing games or other applications. Unfortunately this last Friday and today I’ve noticed it’s started making my work laptop lose connection to my softphone service (Cisco Jabber) which previously had no issues - this is while connecting through a VPN that seems to not have any issues, but I’m also noticing my PC saying it doesn’t have a connection briefly at the same time (Even though I am hardwired in directly to the gateway)

Also, Vermintide 2 I can now safely add to the list of affected games. 

Overall the service is stable, speeds good, videos no problem, etc. It’s just the very specific dropping of certain connection types which *didn’t happen before* - I even did a deep factory reset of my Gateway yesterday and I’m not sure it did anything. 

Same for me, today my work VPN keeps dropping and yet speeds stay fine.  I’ve had to reboot 3 times, after a reboot the VPN stays stable for 40 minutes to an hour then starts flaking out.  Like you said, this is new behavior that started mid december for me.

K
Userlevel 1

Is anyone experiencing their internet cutting 9ut? This be the 3rd time I had to unplug the router

This particular thread/forum isn’t about general disconnects - which do happen - but rather very specific issues of being dropped while playing games or other applications. Unfortunately this last Friday and today I’ve noticed it’s started making my work laptop lose connection to my softphone service (Cisco Jabber) which previously had no issues - this is while connecting through a VPN that seems to not have any issues, but I’m also noticing my PC saying it doesn’t have a connection briefly at the same time (Even though I am hardwired in directly to the gateway)

Also, Vermintide 2 I can now safely add to the list of affected games. 

Overall the service is stable, speeds good, videos no problem, etc. It’s just the very specific dropping of certain connection types which *didn’t happen before* - I even did a deep factory reset of my Gateway yesterday and I’m not sure it did anything. 

Interesting. I work from home through a VPN and am getting booted several times a day. I didn’t consider it being on my end and another component to the gaming and MyQ issues. I kept asking my coworkers to restart my computer. Sigh.

G
Userlevel 1

I have the trashcan connected to an OPNSense Firewall and everything else on my network is behind the firewall.  I have tried connecting my PC directly to the trashcan and regardless of how I connect, I have issues with random dropping in games.  I’ve been on TMHI since it rolled out and it’s been solid, so I’m curious what changed in the last month or so and why they haven’t identified it.

G
Userlevel 1

The rep told me the reason it’s happening is these games require a static IP address and T-Mobile does not allow that for security and it will not be changing. But again, prior to December we didn’t have many issues.

lol what a joke...

syaoran
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

Try to remember that T-Mobile Home Internet uses the same cell towers that your phone connects to for service.  There will be times when it will switch towers to provide a better connection or to balance out a high amount of traffic on a tower.  When the modem decides to switch towers, you are going to lose your connection momentarily.  

Syaoran - I am not a T-Mobile Employee but I could use a new job!
V
Userlevel 1

​​​​I talked with a T-mobile rep and they are aware of this issue but are still trying I troubleshooting. Related to a firmware update they pushed out to the routers. Much of the problem he thinks is traceable to how the Dynamic IP behaves that various gaming consoles and websites don't like. The tech agreed that much of the problem might be solved if T-Mobile gave consumers Static IP options (available only to Businesses right now). Fingers crossed that they'll get a fix out soon because everything else with T-mobile internet has been great for us!

V

Same issue with World of Tanks, after a couple of minutes I get disconnected, have to rejoin the server, good for a couple minutes, rinse and repeat.  I had no problems with Xfinity/Centurylink etc, so this is definitely a tmobile home internet issue.

V

Same issue with World of Tanks, after a couple of minutes I get disconnected, have to rejoin the server, good for a couple minutes, rinse and repeat.  I had no problems with Xfinity/Centurylink etc, so this is definitely a tmobile home internet issue.

Like you and another said above, I too have been trying to play WOT and it kicks after I click Battle,  several times while in a  battle OR it takes for ever to reconnect to the server and get back in, usually after the battle is over and back at the garage. .    World of Ships started doing that today as well.     Played on an ATT phone hot spot and Tanks worked flawlessly.     A month ago i was getting lower speeds, but didnt have any problem.   Recently Download speeds jumped, upload speeds went down, and the problem began.  Stinks because i will get into a fight, i can see the tanks around me shoot, but i am set course and cant do anything until it completely kicks me out.     Thought it may have been a WG update since ships worked there for a bit, but seeing more post like this one.   Hoping T-Mobile can get a fix ASAP.  

As mentioned elsewhere, speedify software has fixed my issues.  It’s ridiculous that we have to go elsewhere to get support and its only free up to 2GB/mo but I can at least play WoT again without issue. You can see in older forums this issue has been ongoing for a couple years, so not likely it gets fixed anytime soon as clearly tmobile doesn’t care about it’s gaming users.

X
Userlevel 2

My brother and I both use T-Mobile home internet on our PCs, we have great speeds, and everything has been wonderful so far, until whatever update they've pushed out in the last month. 

 

It's impossible for me to stay connected to any games, I've tried everything. I'll stay connected to discord just fine, able to browse the internet, yet in CSGO I'm getting disconnected from the server with errors, same goes with my brother, he's done the same things I have, with no help.

If they're aware it's from their latest update, it would be cool if they could roll it back until they get the bugs worked out, because it's almost unusable for gaming if it needs any kind of connection.

S

Valleyr I agree. I  noticed randomly a couple days ago we just didnt have any problems any more either, no notice of service work or tower upgrades or anything we just didnt have lag on any of our devices anymore. Heres to hoping everyones problems are resolved!

Q

We are having the exact same problem as all of you. Can't stay connected to any mutliplayer game for more than a few minutes. Began around the first weeks of December 2022 for us. Complained to local store in January, sent us to customer service, and the girl I got just straight up told me that she didn't think TMobile was going to be a good option for gaming from now on. I was in shock. We've been with them since they rolled out home internet, and have all our cell phones through TMobile. It was like "see ya. You were in while it was new (read: good)." I'm glad some of you got a tech rep who has provided a little hope, but I'm wondering if they aren't leading you on due to some deliberate blocking we noticed.

We identified the issue as being the high latency spikes that weren't present previously as the culprit by using a variety of tools. Everything else works, so we bought ExpressVPN hoping it would smooth out the ping. We tried the DNS for the console ExpressVPN gave us but it didn't help. Then we set up a hotspot on a laptop (had to use a third-party app, Dynu I think, in order to register it on Express). Once it was set up, I connected the console, and it was immediately SHUT DOWN BY VPN BLOCKERS. This was proved bc on the laptop we could get any website EXCEPT ones even remotely connected to VPN services. Surf Shark, Nord, even Fubo (!) were all blocked. TMobile is aggressively stopping consoles from accessing VPNs from what we experienced. We felt like we were just given a pink finger.

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