TMobile Home Internet causes phones to not work

R
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I have just recently started using TMobile Home Internet (the 5G Nokia device that looks like a tall coffee can). When the device is plugged in, our TMobile phones (multiple versions of iPhones) lose about half of their signal strength - and calls end up going to voicemail. Plus text messages (SMS) do not send (get errors).

If we turn off the Home Internet device, signals return to normal and everything works again.

We have had 3 of these devices - and the behavior was observed on all three. (The first one had a broken power button and I had to hold down the button to get it to work. When I got it working - I noticed the problem immediately. The second device had an issue with the SIM activation, but even without an active SIM we still noted the same issue. The third device is in service right now - same problem.)

NOTE: we only have about 2-bars of signal at our house (even the Nokia 5G device has only 2-bars), so this drop in signal to our phones is sufficient to take us out of service.

 

Has anyone else experienced this behavior? 

Is there anything we should try to fix this?

13 replies

D
Userlevel 1
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First of all, 2 bars is not good enough to supply internet to your whole household. The fact that you only have two bars indicates that you are getting 4g, not 5g. Even thought there are two T-Mobile 5g towers within a mile from me, I only get 3 bars, so I will continue, for now to pay for both T-Mobile and Spectrum internet. I am confident that once I am on 5g, I will be happy and can drop Spectrum.

R
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Thanks for the reply Den_in_USA! I appreciate that 2 bars is not enough. I’d be happy with 5 :-)…

But the device works - and I get over 100Mbps download speeds (only 4-10Mbps upload - but that’s sufficient). So I don’t care much whether it is 5G or LTE - it is sufficient for what I need in terms of Internet capacity.

HOWEVER, if it somehow blocks my cell phones from working - that’s a different issue. I don’t have a landline (nor do I want one).

I can’t control how much signal I’m getting into my house - save for not using the T-Mobile Home Internet device. Unless there is a way to fix this problem, I will have to bail out and return to Spectrum.

My long term plan is to have both Spectrum and TMo - so I have a failover for Internet service. I work from home now (thanks pandemic) and I can’t afford to be without Internet. Spectrum is “pretty good” but that’s not sufficient to assure that I don’t go down during a critical time for my work.

BTW, I bought a TP-Link TL-R605 SafeStream Multi-WAN Router. I have hooked up both my Spectrum and my TMo WAN devices to that, and then hooked up my home WiFi router to the LAN port. It works great. If I disconnect Spectrum, TMo picks up and continues working. If you are look for a cheap “failover” setup for home internet - this device works.

 

D
Userlevel 1
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I didn’t realized that you can get 100Mbps download speed with 2 bars of 4g. I am getting only 90Mbps ethernet speed with 3 bars. What happens when you switch off the WiFi on your phones? Will they then work normally?

R
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Speed vary a lot during the day - sometimes they are below 20Mbps too… But they still work for my needs.

I turned off the WiFi on my phone and I do now see 2 bars of signal. Not sure why the WiFi would affect my LTE signal (note: we have both a 4G iPhone and and 5G iPhone, and both see the problem). Also, my phone isn’t connecting to the TMobile device’s WiFi. Maybe I should just try turning that off too?

D
Userlevel 1
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Yes, although I get a high of 90Mbps download, right now it’s only 7Mbps. 

N
Userlevel 1
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@Den_in_USA, 2 bars on the gateway doesn’t mean you’re only stuck with 4G. I get 2-3 bars on my gateway but generally connect to both a primary and secondary (5G) signal. I’m not sure where you ever heard 2 bars means 4G, but that’s sorely incorrect. 

D
Userlevel 1
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@Den_in_USA, 2 bars on the gateway doesn’t mean you’re only stuck with 4G. I get 2-3 bars on my gateway but generally connect to both a primary and secondary (5G) signal. I’m not sure where you ever heard 2 bars means 4G, but that’s sorely incorrect. 

n2itivguy,

Thanks for the correction!

C

I carried my Nokia modem  around the house and only see 2 bars from the tower.There are 3 towers,2. about 1000 meters and one at 600 meters.Presently the modem is in the basement running my TV on5MHz and VoIP phones(3) and security cams(4) on 2.4 MHz. and all work fine although my ethernet speed is only about 80 mbts and 2.4 GHs wireless around 20 Mbits and 5MHz wireless is around 60mbits.Tmo used to have a signal booster available which would be a help as I,m not too crazy about disassembling my modem to add an antenna..

T

Speed vary a lot during the day - sometimes they are below 20Mbps too… But they still work for my needs.

I turned off the WiFi on my phone and I do now see 2 bars of signal. Not sure why the WiFi would affect my LTE signal (note: we have both a 4G iPhone and and 5G iPhone, and both see the problem). Also, my phone isn’t connecting to the TMobile device’s WiFi. Maybe I should just try turning that off too?

Update… find the problem, 3 phones & gateway competing for signal/bandwidth?  Possible, inelegant solution is use VOIP (Wi-Fi-based calling) at home with call-forwarding… just beware at this point not all are compatible/supported (Google Voice purposely does).

B

I'm less than a mile from a 5G Ultra tower per the T-Mobile map. Gateway in window facing the tower and I get 2 bars and a 1.4mb speed test. Will have to unfortunately stick with Spectrum unless tech support comes-up with a solution.

T

I'm less than a mile from a 5G Ultra tower per the T-Mobile map. Gateway in window facing the tower and I get 2 bars and a 1.4mb speed test. Will have to unfortunately stick with Spectrum unless tech support comes-up with a solution.

If not yet done so, try "placement assessment” available from the T-Mobile mobile app —from intro screen under bar graph click "more about connection quality”.  Cell transmitters are directional so tower distance is but 1 factor.  Also seems for 4g LTE (always my primary signal - usually 4 bars) the left side, when viewing gateway, pointing toward tower/placement indicator seems best.
 

Lastly, individual speedtest results vary widely from second to second… do at least 2 tests back-to-back. With similar tower distance, and within cell transmission cone, I’m getting 105/37 mbps up/dn on average (dn outliers 27-220 mbps). 

F
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I have same problem.  Is there a fix?

 

E
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Also having the same issue. My home has poor T-Mobile coverage inside but on tone corner I can set up my T-Mobile gateway and get about 4 bars, but all of the phones connected to it have issues connecting to regular T-Mobile service now. Another problem I am now experiencing is Wi-Fi calling doesn’t work well when connected to the gateway. It works fine when connected to xfinity? Anyone have any ideas?

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