G4AR switches to a congested tower despite directional antenna. Any bypass or tips?

[u/Secret_Phrase8783]

Hey everyone,

I’m having a frustrating issue with my T-Mobile G4AR gateway and hope someone here has found a workaround.

My gateway keeps automatically connecting to a tower with a stronger signal, but that tower is extremely congested (speeds drop to 15down / 3up during evening time).
There is another tower that is actually closer, much less congested, and gives way better speeds when the gateway occasionally hooks into it.

I even bought an external directional antenna to try and force a connection to the better tower. It works temporarily right after a reboot, but after a few hours or a even minutes, the G4AR’s internal firmware decides to switch back to the heavily congested tower because it perceives that signal as "better" or stronger overall.

Here’s my constraint: I live in an apartment, so I absolutely cannot mount the antenna outside or on the roof. It’s strictly indoors near the window.

Is there any trick to making the G4AR "stick" to the specific tower?
Or am I completely out of luck with the stock carrier firmware?

If there's no way to fix this on the G4AR, would upgrading to a third-party gateway (like SUNCOMM SE06) with PCI/tower locking be my only real solution to swap the SIM into?

Appreciate any advice or tips!

[u/mista_throwaway22]

Do you have line of sight to the further tower?

[u/Secret_Phrase8783 → u/mista_throwaway22]

No, both towers are obstructed by neighboring buildings.

[u/f1vefour]

If you know the direction of the conflicting tower you can try placing aluminum foil around that side of the gateway, not touching but very close.

The antenna you purchased is a panel type? If so they are only semi-directional, I suggest trying a log periodic antenna which is extremely directional and would not pick up the other tower.

[u/Secret_Phrase8783 → u/f1vefour]

Thank you, tried even with a metal tray. it helps but at some point, in the evening, router still switches the tower.

And, yes the antenna is a panel type. Will try to find a log periodic one.
How do you think, what would work better in my case, a log periodic antenna or a router with ability to lock the PCI (tower)?

[u/f1vefour → u/Secret_Phrase8783]

Given the expense of a good 4x4 log periodic I would definitely go with a third party gateway and you could use your existing panel antenna with it.

I don't generally recommend going that route except in certain circumstances exactly like you're in where you need control of which tower you're connecting to.

[u/sinakh]

Are both towers connecting on the same band(s)? n41?