Question

Horrible latency

P
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
  • pphw
  • Helper Level 2
  • 84 replies

I was wondering why despite decent speeds (>50mbps), I get video buffers, web messages not being sent, and long pauses to load web pages.  Turns out the latency is horrible.  Here’s my test a few minutes ago. 135ms download latency and 208 upload latency.

 

 

 

I did an internet search on ‘internet latency comparison’ and found this useful comparison of different services.  I guess T-Mobile Home Internet is still better than satellite internet. LOL

 

Latency by connection type2,3

  • DSL: 24–42 ms
  • Cable: 15–27 ms
  • Fiber: 10–15 ms
  • Satellite: 594–612 ms

14 replies

bocaboy2591
Userlevel 5
Badge +7

From the looks of it, you appear to be in a tough area to serve. My next move would be to call Support and tell them about the problem. They might be able to do something to improve it, and if not, you know for sure that this is the best you can expect from T-Mobile.

P
Userlevel 3
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Nope, area is fine, everything was good until a few days ago.

R
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

I don’t think a 42 ms ping time is going to cause video buffering, delays in loading web pages, and problems with web messages not being sent.  I think you have another problem that you haven’t yet identified.

P
Userlevel 3
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True.  Maybe it’s something else that happens sporadically so not caught on Speedtest.  When I call in, TMO tells me the tower I connect to is ‘down’.  Weird.

R
Userlevel 4
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I’m in rural NC and my pings and speeds are only a little better than yours (in general), and I have none of the issues you are seeing.  In fact, I have AT&T fiber at my Florida house and I honestly cannot tell the difference between the two (for heavy TV and computer usage, but no gaming).

D

I have the same issue.  Have you checked your SINR in advanced metrics?  Mine is really poor coming in at 5 when it’s supposed to be over 20.  To me it means that even though I have a good signal it’s full of crap.

P
Userlevel 3
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My SINR is 0.3 right now, usually between 1-8.  I got ok service (100mbps and pages load up fast) even when SINR was at just 1.  The only explanation is infrastructure issue (tower or line to tower).

K

You can try setting your system’s DNS to a public DNS like 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or Google (8.8.8.8). Depending on your area these might be faster or slower than T-Mobile’s. Slow DNS can cause random delays. 

P
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

You can try setting your system’s DNS to a public DNS like 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or Google (8.8.8.8). Depending on your area these might be faster or slower than T-Mobile’s. Slow DNS can cause random delays. 

 

I do have those 2 loaded on my router.

P
Userlevel 3
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Well, seems it went from bad to worse.  No longer have 5G, been stuck on LTE for the last few days and Google Voice on my phone would not update to get new messages.  Called in to inquire and turns out the closest tower to me was finally up but then it went down on 3/31, so now all the traffic are rerouting on other nearby towers - it’ been congestion 24x7.  The rep was pretty straightforward in saying maybe I need to find another internet service. LOL

E

Presuming you get 4-5 bars, you might try moving the gateway farther from the window, to a place where it gets 1 bar less.  This can trick the router to work harder to find a good internet source.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but it is worth a try.

P
Userlevel 3
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There is no good internet source.  At least one tower is down and all traffic are now routing through the remaining towers - thus congestion - thus TMHI deprioritized. CS rep says that is how it is.  If having reliable internet is a priority, perhaps TMHI “is not for you”. LOL

 

Ülka V
Badge

Yup, I recently had a stint of nearly 2 weeks of a sketchy connection. The tower was worked on twice in that time, but now the connection is back to normal. Very frustrating when that happens. The second tower I could fall back on is a solid strong signal 5G N71 low band, but the gateway decides that the overly weak N41 mid band should be selected, which is frustrating. 

P
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

I get N71 on a different side of the house but the upload on that was 0mbps from my house. LOL

I considered putting the TMHI gateway in the attic but the underside of my roof has foil lining for energy efficiency. :(

 

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