Question

5G home internet keeps dropping

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iTinkeralot
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Sorry I did not intentionally ignore the reference to the MTU size that Amith Kamur discusses. He is obviously a very intelligent and talented engineer. His article is well written and offers a solution where the use of the VPN is desired. Encountering MTU issues can be possible, and maybe pretty common, as the VPN adds overhead to the solution with the size of the packet. You have to limit the data contained to have the wrapper small enough so every node along the path can handle the MTU. If you stated you use a VPN regularly I would have taken more focus on that but well. As you state, may be unrelated, and I would not rush down that rabbit holeright away. Analysis of packet captures and looking at the physical layer and moving up the stack from the bottom up would be more productive. 

N
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So I have the same problem with repeated drops. This happens multiple times a day. After a couple minutes the Nokia gateway reconnects, but this behavior is unacceptable. T-Mobile support has been of no help. I have attached pictures of my screen showing the dropped connection and the primary and secondary signal numbers after the reconnect. If someone can decipher these numbers for me I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Primary Signal

RSRP -64

SNR -5

RSRQ -17

RSSI -31

Secondary Signal

RSRP -110

SNR 7

RSRQ -13

Loss of signal and reacquisition of signal.
 

 

W

Black tower, was good for a little over a month but started doing random resets today.

A
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it’s disheartening to see this has been happening for months to multiple users, and they act as if no one reported this to them if you call customer support

S
Userlevel 1
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You may have some neighbor or even some equipment in your house interfering with how your computer connects viaWI-FIi. Your operating system on your computer have be corrupting NETWORK drivers used for communications or an installed app may be interfering with the computers built in Wi-Fi card. Again it may be a bad t-mobile device too.

I’ve looked at all the neighborhood WiFi signals that I can see with Inssider app. I’ve moved my signal to the most open channels I can find.

With my computer off Wifi right now, my iPhone shows over 500Mbps down on cellular data and 51Mbps down connected to my Wifi. That tells me either some other nearby device is harming my wifi signal. But more likely, I am competing with a lot more internet traffic in the evening as other T-mobile 5G internet customers fire up their 4K big screen TV or sit down for some intense gaming, etc.

Or someone’s mining Bitcoin nearby 😂

B

I am also having the same issue with WiFi dropping. What I have noticed is that when the secondary signal connects to the N41 or N71 bands. When my gateway is connected to the N71 band, the WiFi will stay connected for days or even weeks but when it connects to the N41 band it drops WiFi continuously. Not sure why this is significant and I don't know enough about this stuff but this is the only common thing that I have noticed. Could this have anything to do with the WiFi dropping?

S
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I believe the problem is indeed prioritization. Cellphone traffic is prioritized over internet traffic as i understand it.

A couple days ago, my 5G internet slowed to 10.4 down/6 up. At that same moment, my 5G iPhone registered 389/12.3.

It’s not my WiFi as I’ve registered over 500 down  in the mornings.

Last night, my streaming 24in kitchen TV had constant buffering and dropping to very low resolution. My  phone on wifi was around 10 down but on cellular over 200 down.  

Would deprioritization cause a full on disconnect thought?   I have seen slower speeds on the home internet vs my phone's data which would certainly be due to deprioritization.   We are having issues of full on internet loss,  I wouldn't think a tower would cut a modem off completely.   

We have that problem also. Around 6:45pm, we often get a “no network detected” message from our Apple TV device. It usually disappears in anywhere from 5 sec to 30 sec.

U
Userlevel 1

Average speeds with 3 bars on 5g

S

I have a time switch that turns off the gateway in the night and turns on in the morning. That does not solve the problem. Sometimes it loses connection only 1-2 hours after turning on.

N

If you think that heat is potentially an issue, a good first step may be to decrease the broadcast power. The default router setting of 3600 mW is a lot of power that you probably don’t need if you are just using inside a normal-sized home. I decreased my 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz transmission powers to 25%.

I just made the change, so we’ll see if that reduces the frequency at which I must reboot.

B
Userlevel 2
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I watched this video last evening.  I watched it again this morning.  I placed my order on Amazon for the Dynalink.  I think this is the fix for me.

 

 

N
Userlevel 2
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Heat is not the problem in my case. The gateway is not hot. And I turned off the broadcasting on all SSIDs because I have it hooked up to another router by Ethernet cable, so the gateway only functions as a modem. Nevertheless, there are still multiple dropouts all day long.

W

You can add me to this list as well. I was having drops nearly every 2-3 hours 2 days ago. 

That’s when I discovered this forum and learned that my problem wasn’t unique.

So far what I’ve done is taken the outside cover of the trashcan off (Similar to the YT videos of people adding an external antenna but not reassembling it), and placed a fan under it (Fan is inappropriately sized) and that had given me a 1D,12HR and 58MIN uptime. After that time, all devices (Two wired and one wireless) said there was no internet connection from the trashcan (but were still technically connected to the trashcan itself). Looking at the gateway panel, it had showed that I had 3 bars connected to my cell tower at the time of the disconnection with a -96 dBm value. I measured the temperature at the top grill at the time of disconnection and I found that it was 88F. The trashcan is placed near a window with a light window curtain, at the time of disconnection it was sunny.
 

Temporary setup attempting to cool the trashcan down

I haven’t had issues in terms of staying connected to at least one cell tower at all times. However, I do occasionally have issues with the trashcan staying connected to two towers at once, but I have learned that isn’t the issue that’s causing the drops (AFAIK) and have attributed that to living in the woods.

On a sidenote: I had also removed the battery from the device in an attempt to see if that was causing some type of internal voltage issue as I saw someone somewhere mention that everytime the battery hit 100%, they’d have a dropped connection.

U
Userlevel 1

An update - after receiving new modem router and positioning it to a different location. I was up and running for 18 days straight before needing to reset.

Then went for 10 days and had to reset.

Would also like to point out that I disconnected my Hughes Hub. As another poster mentioned anything sending out a Wi-Fi signal in your home will certainly affect the system.

N
Userlevel 2
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This seems to be good for stabilizing and improving the WiFi signal when it is connected. But will this prevent multiple dropped connections? 

R
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I don't think its signal dropping, its T-mobile corporate greed, as they very quickly try to weed out customers that use too much of “unlimited data”. Once you start using more than in my best guess estimate 350gb a month, suddenly you start having “coverage issues” as per customer reps scripts that bean counters wants them to read.

M

Like many of you I’ve been battling this issue as well. From 9p-6a I get decent speeds (anywhere from 75-250 down) the rest of the day the Speedtest times out and I get nothing. I find the disconnects occur when the performance is poor. I have 3-4 5G bars but the performance is unusable. 
 

Totally understand the draw on the tower during peak times but I’d assume marketing this product they’d have prepared for this, maybe I should stop assuming. 

iTinkeralot
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Userlevel 7
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Do yourself a favor and use www.cellmapper.net to learn where the T-Mobile towers are. Record the information about the ones close to or around you with attention to the PCI (physical cell ID). If you go into the router with the web UI at 192.168.12.1 you will see the primary and secondary channels/signals on the overview page. That will show you the connections and RSRP/RSRQ/SNR values to know the signal strength, signal quality, and signal to noise ratio. Then go to the status page and record the band, and PCI information from the primary and secondary signal reporting. If you proceed to the “statistics” page you can select cellular and record the statistics there. See if there are packet errors or packet drops. If you have problems using cellmapper.net open a call with T-Mobile support and ask them point blank where is the tower my router is serviced by. They have the PCI information and can tell you the coordinates of the tower. You can use Google Earth and a drive about to confirm what you know and get a good ideal how to improve matters. Use your phone to locate the tower. If you use an iPhone put it into field test mode and read the PCI value it knows. Chances are both may use the same tower. It is not a given but a good datapoint. 

With the PCI information for the primary and secondary channels and the bands used you can use the information from cellmapper.net to determine where the tower is that sends to you. With this and some testing you may be able to better locate your router. Watch out for metal screens or buildings in the path to the tower. If a window has a screen that is metal either put the router above the screen or remove the screen from the window to prevent shielding of the signal. Don’t just rely upon the bars on the top of the router. They are actually rather generic as vendors don’t have a MUST directive for how to deal with those but a recommended use. One feature of the LED display on the top of the router is the alarms. If the router does have temperature issues it will or should report an over temp alarm. The only way I have seen to get the alarm is to use the LED display on top of the router. Forget the mobile application it is about as useful as well blah… It is very unreliable and not much value. 

If you only have say the 5G signal dropping from time to time it could well be T-Mobile engineers are working on the equipment on the tower in your area and that is the cause not the router itself. I highly suggest to not just accept mediocre service but talk with T-Mobile support engineers, try the router in different locations, get the information about the tower location and be patient. Record your findings from trying new locations and then dial it in. If you do the same thing, expect the same results. 

If I can help you understand what you see and help you dial it in I am happy to do so.

F

Add me to the list of people experiencing problems. I have only had the home gateway for a few days, but have had to reboot the device multiple times a day since getting it. Given the number of problems expressed on this thread and others, it would seem as though this gateway simply isn't ready for prime time, and I will go back to Cox for the time being.

W

Do yourself a favor and use www.cellmapper.net to learn where the T-Mobile towers are. Record the information about the ones close to or around you with attention to the PCI (physical cell ID). If you go into the router with the web UI at 192.168.12.1 you will see the primary and secondary channels/signals on the overview page. That will show you the connections and RSRP/RSRQ/SNR values to know the signal strength, signal quality, and signal to noise ratio. Then go to the status page and record the band, and PCI information from the primary and secondary signal reporting. If you proceed to the “statistics” page you can select cellular and record the statistics there. See if there are packet errors or packet drops. If you have problems using cellmapper.net open a call with T-Mobile support and ask them point blank where is the tower my router is serviced by. They have the PCI information and can tell you the coordinates of the tower. You can use Google Earth and a drive about to confirm what you know and get a good ideal how to improve matters. Use your phone to locate the tower. If you use an iPhone put it into field test mode and read the PCI value it knows. Chances are both may use the same tower. It is not a given but a good datapoint. 

With the PCI information for the primary and secondary channels and the bands used you can use the information from cellmapper.net to determine where the tower is that sends to you. With this and some testing you may be able to better locate your router. Watch out for metal screens or buildings in the path to the tower. If a window has a screen that is metal either put the router above the screen or remove the screen from the window to prevent shielding of the signal. Don’t just rely upon the bars on the top of the router. They are actually rather generic as vendors don’t have a MUST directive for how to deal with those but a recommended use. One feature of the LED display on the top of the router is the alarms. If the router does have temperature issues it will or should report an over temp alarm. The only way I have seen to get the alarm is to use the LED display on top of the router. Forget the mobile application it is about as useful as well blah… It is very unreliable and not much value. 

If you only have say the 5G signal dropping from time to time it could well be T-Mobile engineers are working on the equipment on the tower in your area and that is the cause not the router itself. I highly suggest to not just accept mediocre service but talk with T-Mobile support engineers, try the router in different locations, get the information about the tower location and be patient. Record your findings from trying new locations and then dial it in. If you do the same thing, expect the same results. 

If I can help you understand what you see and help you dial it in I am happy to do so.

Oh I have moved my trashcan around the entire property (using an extension cord) and then later on found out that my primary connection is to a tower farther from me, but nearly a direct line of sight (not quite though). The window I currently have it in is the best connection spot I could find after tirelessly moving the trashcan around inside and out.

The band to the primary connection is ONLY B66 (The tower offers no others AFAIK), whereas the secondary connection (Behind a ton of pine trees) is n71 (5G).

For science I don’t mind doxxing myself a bit here.

As I’m writing this reply, here’s my current stats from the gateway:

 

And here is my location in reference to the cell towers:

 

Sometimes, however, I see this on my phone but I have driven to this point and I believe it’s not appropriately placed or was just estimated as a location:

 

 

My next fun project was to try and buy an external antenna and play around with trying my best to increase my signal to the n71 connection. That will have to wait a bit, though. 

 

As long as I’m connected to both, I can reach download speeds between 60-110. When I’m connected to the B66 tower only, it averages a download of 30-40 down.

 

I don’t have any errors on any of the tabs under statistics. I have previously, but not as of my latest reset.

G
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We had the same issue--frequent disconnects, inconsistent speeds (between slow and slower). After one day, it was clear it wasn’t going to work. I returned the device less than 24 hours after installing it, got a receipt, called TM to insure it was removed from our service plan (Magenta). Today, our bill has increased by $7.33 for the prorated service. Considering the misleading ads, and the assurance given on TM’s website that our residence was in the 5G internet service area, I’m now filing an online complaint with the FTC. As soon as our new phone is paid for, we are going back to Verizon. 

B

Another data point - Drops recently started after months of constant uptime. Typically occur early in morning, between 5 & 9 AM. Very few connected devices and wired PC is generally device in use during disconnect. No fan. Approximately 1 mile from cell tower.

My guess, either capacity or interference. (If heat, reboot wouldn’t immediately cool router...)

iTinkeralot
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Userlevel 7
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With the trees an external MIMO panel antenna might help out quite a bit. If you can get the n71 stronger sure that would make it more satisfying. Your router records B66 and n71 so the cell info in the second image with site 3154402 reports NB B71 but does not provide the PCI for 100% verification. I am not convinced that is quite the same. The n71 5G NR is an extension of the 600 MHz bands to enhance the 4G LTE by swapping out part of the banding to leverage the 5G. It depends upon the operation. If they are swapping 10 MHz of 4G for 30 MHz of 5G on n71 then that is where you would get a significant boost. To be 100% you really have to know the PCI of each band and identify the tower that has that PCI, physical cell ID. With the web version on my client at home using cellmapper.net I was able to get the low down on both the 4G and the 5G signals. The phone may not report or connect to the same towers as the router. It can be somewhat helpful but the PCI is important to have. Once you are 100% on the tower delivery to the router then you can really dial it in. An external antenna might help considerably but would have to be located properly to really make it rock and roll.

iTinkeralot
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Userlevel 7
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There is also a 4G LTE 71 channel and it is in the 600 MHz range but it comes down to the way the band is sliced up and what parts are used for the upload and download transmissions. It is a rather complicated subject. There are many aspects of the way the carriers handle the signals that I am not knowledgable of. I am just trying to learn more about the technology so I can optimize the solution I have here. I just still enjoy trying to help other users get the solution working. Every single solution is just a bit different. Some very different one from another. There is a great deal to learn about cellular transmissions. I am sure much more than I will ever be able to understand but learning is fun.

W

With the trees an external MIMO panel antenna might help out quite a bit. If you can get the n71 stronger sure that would make it more satisfying. Your router records B66 and n71 so the cell info in the second image with site 3154402 reports NB B71 but does not provide the PCI for 100% verification. I am not convinced that is quite the same. The n71 5G NR is an extension of the 600 MHz bands to enhance the 4G LTE by swapping out part of the banding to leverage the 5G. It depends upon the operation. If they are swapping 10 MHz of 4G for 30 MHz of 5G on n71 then that is where you would get a significant boost. To be 100% you really have to know the PCI of each band and identify the tower that has that PCI, physical cell ID. With the web version on my client at home using cellmapper.net I was able to get the low down on both the 4G and the 5G signals. The phone may not report or connect to the same towers as the router. It can be somewhat helpful but the PCI is important to have. Once you are 100% on the tower delivery to the router then you can really dial it in. An external antenna might help considerably but would have to be located properly to really make it rock and roll.

So that last Cellmapper picture from my phone that occasionally shows the red dot I was able to pull up on the Cellmapper website. When you click on the red dot, one of the PCI cells matches the PCI for my secondary connection on my trashcan (n71). Link Here

 

But with the first picture, the green dot closest to me does not show the same PCI for any of the cells for my secondary connection. Link Here

 

So I have one of two guesses. Either the first link is on the tower to the second link and just inappropriately placed. Or there’s a tower I’m missing when I drive by, perhaps on top of a building or something.

 

Seeing as though I live in the middle of nowhere in a rural farming area, I’m thankful to get what I currently can. The only wired option for me is Windstream which at most I can get is 10 down and 1 up.

 

I noticed on the Cellmapper app there’s an option to take pictures for the cell towers, I might try doing that because I have seen under the CellMapper reddit that a lot of people like to try and identify who and what is on each tower.

 

Anyways, I’m going to keep an eye out for the next time internet drops and I’ll update as I get more information. Thanks for your help Tinker, hopefully the techs are reading this and are able to get some kind of idea on what might be going on.

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