Trialing T-Mobiles 5G home internet

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Apr 13, 2013
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Location
FL, USA
We are on day 1 of trialing T-Mobiles 5G home internet. I am still trying to set up our Nest Cam's with the new wifi. No luck. Other than that so far, so good. Have any of you had this service "long term" and stuck with it?
 
Just disconnected the Cox modem, taking it back tomorrow. Very happy with the T-Mobile service.

 
Just disconnected the Cox modem, taking it back tomorrow. Very happy with the T-Mobile service.

Glad to hear. Any smart home devices, specifically doorbell camera / security cameras? I can't get them to connect!
 
We are on day 1 of trialing T-Mobiles 5G home internet. I am still trying to set up our Nest Cam's with the new wifi. No luck. Other than that so far, so good. Have any of you had this service "long term" and stuck with it?
It might be easier to just plug your old router into the T-Mobile one if it has an ethernet port. Then everything will still connect.
 
Can you separate the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz wifi bands? You’d just have to name them something different, like “gregk24” and “gregk24-5G” or something like that. I’ve had devices that don’t like them being named the same exact thing and would refuse to even show the network until I did that.
 
Can you separate the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz wifi bands? You’d just have to name them something different, like “gregk24” and “gregk24-5G” or something like that. I’ve had devices that don’t like them being named the same exact thing and would refuse to even show the network until I did that.

There are two models of the T-Mobile gateways, a rectangular black Samsung and a gray Nokia cylinder. I have the Nokia and it won't split between 2.4/5, it does that automagically. In the past I would rename the network the same as old with the same password and everything would just reconnect, but since I was experimenting I went with a new network name and manually signed everything back in. I didn't have any issues, but wow you forget how many networked devices you have! Everything signed in without issue including the Ring doorbell, garage door opener, thermostat, cheap-o ion camera, Alexa, TVs and streaming devices and of course all the phones and computers.

In the past the thermostat was always my biggest challenge but it signed in just fine...apparently Honeywell thermostats are picky about the password you use.
 
Did you have a previous wifi router that plugged into a cable modem or DSL? Or did you use what the previous/current provider used for Wifi service too?
 
There are two models of the T-Mobile gateways, a rectangular black Samsung and a gray Nokia cylinder. I have the Nokia and it won't split between 2.4/5, it does that automagically. In the past I would rename the network the same as old with the same password and everything would just reconnect, but since I was experimenting I went with a new network name and manually signed everything back in. I didn't have any issues, but wow you forget how many networked devices you have! Everything signed in without issue including the Ring doorbell, garage door opener, thermostat, cheap-o ion camera, Alexa, TVs and streaming devices and of course all the phones and computers.

In the past the thermostat was always my biggest challenge but it signed in just fine...apparently Honeywell thermostats are picky about the password you use.
I went in and split up the 2.4/5. Still no luck on either.
 
It appears a factory reset on the cameras may do the trick. Not a necessary step according to ANY directions, but one that may have solved the connection issues.
 
I have had the T-Mobile home internet since last fall. I had AT&T U verse with if you are lucky makes 12 mb. It works for me. I tried hooking my old router to it and did not make it work. My son tells me that you can change the software in my old router to work with it but I haven't tried. It only allows 4 different users to be hooked to it at one time. Hasn't been a problem yet since it is only my wife and I over there.
 
I tried it for a month early in 2021 - overall unimpressed with it beyond the lifetime pricing. I tried multiple locations in the house and occasionally saw downloads as high as 70 or so, but that was only late morning. By evening the throttling went into effect and speeds were 5-20. The failure to see significant speed increases along with being so location/position sensitive wasn't enough to convince me to switch permanently.

My neighbor installed it about the time I cancelled and has had it ever since. He doesn't love it but is satified with the price and getting away from comcast (I heard that!). It seems very reliant upon your location and what random technology upgrades are close you, I guess.

They've been hanging overhead fiber lines in my area (including the pole I'm served with vdsl), so presumably that option will be available here sooner or latwr.
 
I went in and split up the 2.4/5. Still no luck on either.
What model modem/router do you have?
Silver Tower with the LED screen on top" (Nokia)
or
As Dishdude has posted he has the newer Black box with LED screen on the side.

The reason I ask is we had the Silver Nokia Tower and I had no issues using my 4 outdoor and 1 indoor EZVIZ wifi cameras.
When I set it up, I do the same thing for anything I set up, even when changing routers.
Make sure to use the same exact 2.5 SSID and password.

(In fact I would like to change my 2.5 SSID but dread the day of standing on a ladder defaulting the 4 outdoor cameras)

We do not have TMoble anymore so I dont confuse you, the speed at our location wasnt reliable, Tmobile confirmed and took the equipment back, local tower still needs upgrading and since their website now says "not available" for our general area. Its driving me crazy because 3 miles or so away near another tower I can get up to 800 Mbps on my Tmobile 5g iPhone 13 ... but I am still stuck with Spectrum, I check all the time.
 
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All good. Had to factory reset a few things but up and running well. Will keep trialing for the next week or so before deciding.
 
Well I called and cancelled ATT (our previous provider). Looks like we will be with T-Mobile for a while. I like that I can put the router anywhere (as far away from us as possible) and the speeds have been comparable (or better) than ATT. Hopefully I won’t regret this!
 
We started having problems with the signal dropping, and the only way to reconnect was to reset the device. They sent us a new one and we have only had to reset this one twice. Not sure what the root problem is.
 
We started having problems with the signal dropping, and the only way to reconnect was to reset the device. They sent us a new one and we have only had to reset this one twice. Not sure what the root problem is.
Having these problems, I suspect T-Mobile isnt going to work for you long term unless you are going to put up with it.
The signal is no good at your location. Been there, done that, there is no solution unless by some stroke of luck you can find a place in your home with a strong signal. Your tower isnt close enough or updated enough.
Im saying this "blinded" by lack of information as I would have to know what speeds you are getting, morning, late afternoon and night using internet speeds tests. Preferably two of them. If your speeds arent blazing fast, like above 150 ish and better above 200ish (rough numbers) then you will always have an issue, can vary also by season. Winter could get better.



 
Having these problems, I suspect T-Mobile isnt going to work for you long term unless you are going to put up with it.
The signal is no good at your location. Been there, done that, there is no solution unless by some stroke of luck you can find a place in your home with a strong signal. Your tower isnt close enough or updated enough.
Im saying this "blinded" by lack of information as I would have to know what speeds you are getting, morning, late afternoon and night using internet speeds tests. Preferably two of them. If your speeds arent blazing fast, like above 150 ish and better above 200ish (rough numbers) then you will always have an issue, can vary also by season. Winter could get better.



Thank you for your input. What is odd to me is that these issues happened suddenly. It’s not like they moved a tower further away from our home. In fact, we have a tower about 1 mile away!
 
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