I've had 5G home internet service for about two months, after two weeks it started acting up. For about five times a day all my devices connected to the Arcadyan KVD21 gateway lose internet yet stay connected to wifi, I've tried everything! Do I need to replace my gateway? Very frustrating.
Also have frequent cut outs and drops. Likely firmware or hardware of "modem." Modem screen shows connection, but neither wireless nor wired connected devices show an Internet connection. It might also be their equipment connecting to internet on the system side.
Annoying and not what I contracted for.
My end result is the same - devices connected to the gateway but no internet. However, my issues do not occur throughout the day - only in the middle of the night when there is no activity. To me, it is almost as if the gateway (Arcadyan) is going into a sleep mode and losing the connection to the tower. After I reboot the gateway in the morning, it will be fine throughout the day.
I first reporting this issue several weeks ago and was told they were upgrading towers (Later discovered this is standard response when they don’t know the answer). When this continued, tech support seemed perplexed. I offered a temporary solution of adding a feature to the app where we can schedule a reboot at a specific day/time. They ignored me.
when I called back in last week, I was told they are aware of the issue and the engineers are working on this. Was told it was reported within the last few days - told them I had been reporting this same issue to them for 6 weeks. Now they want me to take notes on the error codes (there are no codes on the gateway or within the app). Guess I am now an unpaid member of their tech support.
This is getting frustrating and If this was happening throughout the day to me, I would be looking for a different provider.
I made the decision today to go back to cable internet. I had the service for about 2months. I could no longer tolerate the daily disconnects in the middle of a VOIP call or Zoom session. This was now occurring on a daily basis. Most days 2-3 times but on bad days, 5-10 times or greater.
I replaced the Sagecom 5g gateway twice but that did not solve the problem. I put the Sagecom near a fan to cool the device but that did not solve the problem either (as someone suggested).
On the exit call, I spoke with Tmo representative and he said that they aware of the problem with disconnects. He believes in some areas, Tmo may have accepted too many home users without determining the impact on local lower capacity. Also, he could not give a reliable ETA as to when this problem will be fixed or when they would upgrade tower capacity.
The Tmo service has promise. If they can deliver 60-100mbps down consistently. that would serve my needs especially at the $50 forever price point. Only if they could fix the frequent disconnects. I will check out in 12 months time if things have improved or not.
Fortunately, cable internet offers 12month promo at $50 per month for returning customers. You have to have been a non-customer for an unspecified amount of time. Internet posts says 30 days but others say 90 days. Anyway, I got the $50 promotion back.
I will check out this thread frequently to see if this problem will be resolved at some point so if other users could continue to post their experience.
This morning, I have 5 bars.
Running Time 2d 3h 35m 1s
Not holding my breath, but this is the best I have seen it in a long time.
+8
Preface: I don’t work for T-Mobile. I am just another subscriber.
From the spread of community conversations regarding disconnects & no internet even though the clients appear to be connected; I have seen similar behavior. My experience with both and from what other users have reported relate to a number of possible sources.
If you see the cellular signals connected in the management and the signal is strong then test the DNS by changing/replacing/adding say 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 for Google or Quad9s 9.9.9.9 or pick another. If the client starts getting the internet i.e. the browser pages work well the host names were not resolving. I saw the behavior a week or so ago along with many others.
It seems to be common that support will throw hardware at the “issue” but well that is just a hail Mary pass which is often short. They don’t seem to have a proper play book nor database that they use to work through possible solutions. Users with some knowledge and patience can figure some things out with a little help from the community conversations. Some support engineers are really good and others not so much but that is a common aspect of technical support.
T-Mobile engineering seems to do maintenance and deployments of cellular equipment during the middle of the day anytime that works and there are NO notices provided to customers about possible disruptions. It seems to be the same for new deployments that are not fully worked out. In some cases it is premature it seems and possibly just errors here and there. If there is work being done and the user’s gateway is between cells then when the handoff takes place due to the loss of signal this is another situation where it becomes difficult to know exactly what is taking place IF you are not looking closely at the cellular metrics. If the PCI, physical cell identifier changes well it is clear that the gateway lost its prior connection and moved to another cell. It could be both the primary and secondary frequencies or one of them. It seems to be more common that the 5G signal changes. Regardless it is a disruption and gets frustrating.
Cellular internet with 5G is NOT like a cable solution and has its own set of complications. The upside is the monthly cost for no data cap and no contract and no additional fees and costs for the gateway. The speeds when it is done right are impressive. There are growing pains and it has its challenges. I am not trying to defend it. I am just stating my opinion. Here I have had a few disruptive periods but when things were fixed it became stable again and has been a good solution. It can be a fickle animal though.
I’m using the Nokia Home Internet unit, currently on B66 and N41 with decent signal strength. However, every day, usually in the early to mid mornings, my internet connectivity completely vanishes for an hour or so, and then comes back later on in the day. Logging into the unit wirelessly works fine, and it shows LAN and WAN being active, but no data passes. Total data usage so far this month is 29GB, well within the 50GB soft cap. This problem has been happening for several months, and I called customer support and they ended up swapping out my unit, but the problem remains.
Any idea WTH is going on?
+8
It is hard to say for sure. Maybe it is related to congestion on the tower and traffic throttling or possibly it could be another source disrupting the traffic.
Do any of the cellular metrics fluctuate significantly during that period from when the traffic works?
Performance can be seriously impacted due to signal noise. Watch the RSRQ, signal quality and the SINR, signal noise. It might be some noise that results in significant impact on the signal. If you are in an urban area where there are more potential sources of RF noise I suppose possibly there could be a relationship to some factory or possibly a distribution center.
In addition to recording the cellular metrics you might experiment with the orientation of the gateway just a bit at a time. I discovered that by rotating the gateway clockwise or counter clockwise the exposure of the antennas in the gateway of course is different. There are multiple antennas in the Nokia that are in an alternating pattern with the cellular - wifi - cellular - wifi … orientation. As you rotate the gateway you can expose different antenna to the signal improving the signal wash over the antenna. I found by rotating my gateway pretty much 180 degrees from my initial placement to having the backside facing inside the room the signal receive power improved 2-3 dBm and signal quality also improved. It was a minor change but did result in a bit better performance.
On the back side left and right of the LAN ports there is the 5G-4 and 5G-1 antennas. Directly across from the back is WIFI-4 and to the left and right are 5G-3 and 5G-2. From my tinkering I found exposing the 5G-3 and 5G-2 antennas toward the window produced much better reception. I don’t know quite why that is but it did make a difference. If the exterior shell is removed the labels on the antenna are clearly visible. Those two antenna exposed more direct toward the tower make a difference for me.
Another possible thing to consider would be some transient signal on the power line. It might be rare but with power conditioning it can be prevented. I run all my electronic gear on UPS systems to protect them but that also conditions the power filtering out any noise that might be on the power lines. Think about it. If you can send Ethernet modulated over a power circuit there are possible transient signals that can also ride those power lines. You often will never know what others are doing around you so identifying a source of noise without expensive equipment is pretty difficult.
Then again with all that said it could have nothing to do with the gateway or local influence. It might just be congestion on the tower and excessive throttling. Doing things you can have some influence over to rule out local issues is a start but might not still resolve the behavior.
This morning, I have 4 bars.
Running Time 5d 3h 59m 45s
I hope this means my loss of Internet problem is finally fixed.
Agreed, rotating the gateway does make a difference. Arcadyan KVD21 has a display with buttons on one side. Initially I had the display opposite (away) from the window so it’s easy to read. Now, I have it turned almost 90 degrees to the right. I also put it on top of a box, on the table, to raise it up higher in the window, with blackout curtains to protect it from the sun. I always use an UPS.
I sure wish there were more details available, and more configuration options. The manual says I should be able to configure gateway settings from a browser on a real computer. All I can see is a status screen. It does not have anyplace to log in, so I am stuck squinting at the lame phone app. These tired old eyes need a full size monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I hate phones. That’s a children's toy.
+8
I cannot argue with that. I am so glad my Nokia still has the web GUI for management. The mobile application is a poor solution for gateway management.
Just called Customer Service for similar issues: 1) Home Internet drops tower connection randomly; and, 2) The iOS Internet app does not connect to my gateway.
Here are the answers I just received from Customer Service.
Regarding the dropped connections: T-Mobile’s internet service is not a secure wired connection like competitors. So a good connection depends on alot of factors. Translation: T-mobile is not as reliable! If you want reliability, get a wired connection.
Regarding the iOS app: That is a known issue. They have no target date to resolve. Find someone with an Android device and use that. Translation: T-mobile does not have the technical skill set (internal or external) to fix an app that provides extremely basic functionality.
Sounds like Tmobile adopted an interesting business model.
I switched back to cable two days ago.
Now I can rest and not worry about Zoom calls dropping, my VOIP not completing and be able to watch streaming videos without a gateway reboot interruption.
I am curious if any one is lucky to be in area that has Verizion FWA to see if that service if more reliable.
Ours does the same thing, when I called about it, the lady said they were updating and that it would never happen again...needless to say it's still happening
+8
The cellular wireless 5G solution is not a simple solution that will work for everyone. Transmitting through the airwaves will always have challenges. A fixed wired solution that is a mature technology is going to be more reliable. Maybe one day cellular technology will evolve to be a more stable and robust delivery system but it does have a way to go yet.
I think it is important to remember that the objective cellular vendors have is to reduce overhead costs and boost the revenue returns for investors. In some markets the solution is working but but as expected not for ALL users. If they focus primarily on the bottom line and don’t attend to the problems it will continue to be inferior. End to end details make great companies. Execution does matter.
Mine is the Nok 5g21. It started to do what everybody complained: Dropping connection-reboot-work for some time and do it again.
Did the following: Switch it OFF, extract the SIM card (it had a nice fingerprint over the “gold” contacts, dark of dirt!). Cleaned it with a rubber eraser and rubbing alcohol, Reset the unit with the small reset button. Turned ON. After two days now and it has not failed.
Not to say problem solved as time will tell. But, what kind of people are installing SIM cards on these units? Not to divert from the main issue, but anybody knows why T-Mobile restricts access to Port 21 ?? My gateway and cell phone can’t, but Verizon does work.
I signed up and requested 3 gateways. I got NOKIAS ( labeled refurbished) One at my main home just was not going to cut it with 2 bars and 7MBPS. Another at a home 30 miles away is pushing 550-600 as I can see the tower. Perfect. The other one 200 miles away at another home was awesome from install to about 3 weeks in and was also pushing 5 bars and 650-700MBPS . I have cameras, smart lights, thermostat, etc and it just started dropping off intermittently. data usage is low, and I suspect a bad unit, A new (refurbished one) was shipped and I will install in a couple days. I just hope it lasts as I only get there 2 X /mo but I run all my systems on it. ON a chat I was told I was getting throttled, but for what??? 24 Gigs a month at a place I don't live at? That was not in my plan and they clarified that. Hey, I just want consistent good service. I've heard that the NOKIAS have issues, as well as the ARKADYIANS, so what is the resolve? I was also told that broadband is controlled by my rep, and once it is full, no more gateways would be available at the tower. But does Cell phone data trump the gateways?
I just cant get a straight answer. I’m happy so far but if a salesperson, on a recorded line says something, it needs to be true. I love the company after 32 years with ATT, but just give me what you say you are going to give me.
My impression is that cellphone data does trump home internet data, and that may explain why, at least here, the drop outs mainly seem to occur during rush hours. Still very annoying and IMO this service is only usable for non-critical apps or as a backup, which is how I use it here when my business-class Comcast goes on the fritz.
I have had the same problem. Good reliability for the first month or so and then started dropping out for an hour or two at a time. A week or so ago it dropped out and did not return. We were gone for the last month or so with our motor home. I’d call tech support and all they could offer was to rest the gateway which obviously I couldn’t do when not home, We returned home a couple of days ago and I promptly called Cox to reinstate our internet service, I then called T-mobile to cancel my internet with them. They asked why and I explained that I needed reliable service for my thermostats, security cameras, etc when we are traveling. After I said that they said no problem and proceeded to process the cancellation and sent me a return label for the gateway. The fact that they made no effort to convince me to stay makes me believe that they know their service is unreliable and there is nothing they can do about it.
I am in a rural area and the T-Mobile service has been a godsend. It does drop out on occasion but it is much better than the AT&T 2MB service which is simply unusable. I also agree that it was better six months ago than it is now.
I am having a problem though with cloud based programs. For example, I utilize a company that hosts their software in the cloud and I will repeatedly get disconnected from it and have to sign back in every couple of minutes. It seems like there are momentary spikes of interruption that are enough to disconnect the service. This does not appear during normal web browsing, although it could be happening and is just not noticed.
Has anyone experienced this with an online service and have you found out any method of troubleshooting it?
+8
The cloud based application and the client most likely do not use the normal TCP ports for the session once established. You could load WireShark and take a packet capture of the client to server session communication to determine how they communicate. If there is heavier traffic load on the cell there is probably some traffic throttling taking place which might lead to delay and the interruption to the established session. If there is packet loss or retransmissions the capture with Wireshark could help determine what it taking place. If there is packet damage or loss then there would be evidence to the effect in retransmissions. The expert analysis in Wireshark can help pick it apart provide clues.
The cloud based application and the client most likely do not use the normal TCP ports for the session once established. You could load WireShark and take a packet capture of the client to server session communication to determine how they communicate. If there is heavier traffic load on the cell there is probably some traffic throttling taking place which might lead to delay and the interruption to the established session. If there is packet loss or retransmissions the capture with Wireshark could help determine what it taking place. If there is packet damage or loss then there would be evidence to the effect in retransmissions. The expert analysis in Wireshark can help pick it apart provide clues.
Thank you for this idea. I am talking to an IT friend about doing this for me.
+8
If it is a company machine they may have to do so as many do lock down the clients so the users don't have administrative access. At HPE we did have administrative privileges and for our job it was imperative as we were doing network troubleshooting and remediation for customers. To run WireShark in its full capacity you really need to have administrative access. It may just be that T-Mobile has the traffic controls set where throttling of the traffic is a bit aggressive and that leads to the problem.
If you can get the cellular metrics reported from the gateway it might help. Knowing if you have a strong signal is not enough. Knowing the RSRQ, signal receive quality, and the SINR, signal to noise ratio are actually important to know. If the signal is clean, i.e. good quality with low signal to noise ratio, the performance is usually better as there is less packet loss and/or damage. The session flow is smoother as there are fewer retransmits and better utilization of the bandwidth available. A stronger signal is a good thing but if it is dirty well it will not perform well. If you have the Sagemcon or the Arcadyan gateway the only way to get the metrics reporting is with the T-Mobile home internet mobile application on your phone. The bars on the LED screen are very generic and do not tell you much as you probably can tell. If you get 3-5 bars that would be best. Lower well, it is not much to write home about. Knowing the cellular signal band is helpful for understanding and expectations as well. We are rural in east TN and when they bumped us from the n71 to the n41 I had some concerns at first as I have seen numerous users writing about how the n41 was great for a month or so and then went horrible. So far it has been working extremely well. I think they do a better job with the n41 deployments in the rural areas than in a densely populated urban area. In some markets they need more cells than they probably deploy and tend to overload the cells and try to get by with more bandwidth controls. Just my thoughts.
Looks like Tmo deprioritizes home internet users. I found this article on the Internet
Speed claims
It wasn’t all rosy for T-Mobile. Charter argued that because T-Mobile Home Internet customers share the same network as mobile users but are prioritized last, consumers may experience much slower speeds than advertised during times of congestion.
Looks like Tmo deprioritizes home internet users. I found this article on the Internet
Speed claims
It wasn’t all rosy for T-Mobile. Charter argued that because T-Mobile Home Internet customers share the same network as mobile users but are prioritized last, consumers may experience much slower speeds than advertised during times of congestion.
This is starting to feel like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen. You can't offer a home internet service that is highly unreliable without some blowback.
I see some comments here that are questionable. Now to be clear, I don’t think T-Mobile is perfect by no means, but the disillusioned people that consider high dollar Verizon the “only” way to go, and the unreliable AT&T farce, T-Mobile certainly stands out. I switched to T-Mobile way back when they were a nobody and began the no contract(un-carrier) craze that forced every carrier to follow. They were definitely the best value, they had you assigned to a fixed customer support location( I live in SC and mine was in Charleston) which was great, and always answered immediately with an English speaking rep. I have never before or since experienced such great support from any company hands down. Now, due to their growth and merger with Sprint, they can(understandably)no longer provide this personal support now, but it will take a lot to get me to move away from them. Now if you wish to pay more and go to a no better solution, all power to you. T-Mobile has the largest 5G network (although others lie about theirs being the largest and the best), the best deals and prices on their service, and my commitment through these growing pains. I only have 3 bars on my Nokia Gateway bust get as high as 700-800/60 speeds. My bill is constantly the same amount(unlike every month different with AT&T) and constant problems with Spectrum even though they had sufficient speeds. Never tried high dollar Version but I have service when others with Verizon sometimes don’t. I too am seeing some problems with internet that I didn’t see at first, but I fail to believe it is intentional by throttling but I could be mistaken. Anyway, life is full of frustrations, and we become more and more inpatient and feel like we deserve the very best with no interruptions. However, sometimes “we bite off our nose to spite our face” and have regrets later. So, if you’re new to T-Mobile, I am aware that you are unfamiliar with how they really stood out at a period in time, but hang in there, I don’t think you will regret it. If you are a longtime customer, maybe you can confirm what I think. By the way, I do not work for T-Mobile. I have no incentive to bragg on them. I just have been there through the ups and downs and am confident they have saved me a considerable amount of money. Remember, Apple used to be the most expensive phone by a long shot, but look at the prices now on others, ie:Samsung, Google, OnePlus, etc. So I’m staying with Apple also but not because I’m diehard Apple. They just happen to provide some very reliable equipment. Thanks for letting me sound off!
I have been with T-Mobile for almost 12 years and switched to the home internet. I spent 3 full days with great speeds. Now I experience sporadic drops in connection all the time. It's them definitely throttling speeds as home users have lower prioritization on the network. Don't advertise this as a home internet replacement when it doesn't behave like so.
+8
Yes, that information has been out there for a while. When there is congestion the phones have priority over the home internet gateways on the same cellular frequencies. The voice traffic is more sensitive to interruption than data traffic so increases in cellular calls over the same cells can lead to this.
Building the solution with sufficient capacity for bandwidth to reduce the need for the prioritization for the cell phone traffic is the goal of any good network architect. I am sure there are areas where the cell density and bandwidth is not as robust as is required to provision sufficient bandwidth for everything. Hopefully T-Mobile will be able to overcome the challenges and also restrain from over subscription.
I’ve been using T-Mobile 5-G for about seven months now. At first I was having to restart the gateway several times each day. Then for a while between Thanksgiving and Christmas I didn’t have to restart it at all. I had read about the problems with overheating so I’ve put the gateway on a shelf under an end table where there are no other heat sources near by. Since New Years Day I have had to restart the gateway on average once or twice each day. It’s really frustrating to be in the middle of a movie or a football game and have to restart the gateway.
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