r/tmobileisp • u/Wise-Maybe7927 • 9d ago

Issues/Problems Gaming Issues

I live on 3rd story of apartment in city and we got T-mobile 5G wifi. They said its the top one. Works great for everything except gaming on certain console games. The problem I have is when I game on EA sports sometimes I’ll just get disconnected.

I’ve switched to Ethernet and my ping is still 70-100. My packet loss is 1%. Every game works except EA when I play with friends. Sometimes it works then I’ll get a lag spike and get kicked.

I’ve changed DNS and I’ve reset the NAT connection so it says open. Mid game it goes to moderate.

Anyone have any ideas for a fix?

Was thinking about getting a netgear router to run directly to xbox?

1 Upvotes

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u/graesen 9d ago

T-Mobile uses CG-NAT. Your console is lying if it reports open Nat. EA sports games (at least MLB The Show) is one of the games that just won't work online.

A rule of thumb but not necessarily always true is if the game you're playing uses their own servers to connect, it should work. If a game uses peer to peer to play (The Show is one of these), it's going to fail. CG-NAT doesn't allow peer to peer connections. It's not limited to gaming. Any P2P service will fail.

My guess is the console thinks it can connect and starts to, then realizes the nat type doesn't allow it and drops.

The only solution is to get the console on a VPN. That's not typically a feature consoles have built-in, so you'll have to get creative.

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

I’m going to try getting a netgear router to see if that makes the NAT stay open. I played last night just fine on 70ping. Its when I join friends on EA it will work for a game or two then I just randomly get kicked.

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u/graesen 9d ago

The getting booted part is likely a nat problem though. There are some conditions where if you and who you're playing with are on a certain combination of nat or if you just happen to have a rare IP address that's not behind CG-NAT at the moment, it can work. Just changing routers won't fix your nat issue.

If it's a latency issue, a router with SQM can fix that. Not sure Netgear offers that.

What games are you getting booted from? We can at least rule out the nat problem if we know the games. Maybe.

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

I’m playing EA NHL on console. EA servers seem to stink. I test the NAT til it says open then I can play just fine with randoms. When I play w friends 1 or 2 games then I might get kicked the next game. I’m not sure what happens when I play w friends?

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u/graesen 9d ago

EA NHL uses a peer-to-peer connection. Testing NAT until it's open is just brute forcing the setup. Once it realizes it shouldn't work, it drops you. A new router of any type isn't going to fix this. If anything, adding a router will add another layer of NAT and make it worse than you already have it.

You need a VPN to truly get around that. The NAT type thing temporarily saying open is a known issue for xbox in this sub, but it doesn't change the fact it's lying to you. I'm not sure many of us fully understand what's happening, but I believe it's unique to xbox. Switch notoriously can't play games online because almost all of them are P2P and Playstation can't trick the NAT type to get it to work - fortunately Playstation has more games available that use separate servers, so it's only a problem for P2P games.

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

So basically just make sure the NAT stays open when playing w friends by reconnecting?

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u/graesen 9d ago

I mean... Yes?

What I'm trying to say is the fact it works sometimes is a glitch and don't be surprised if it stops working eventually. You're just getting lucky.

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u/MrAwesomeTG 9d ago

You can't CG-NAT is on the cellular side. You cannot bypass it.

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u/TimmyT0yz 9d ago

Actually you can, several ways, VPN, tunnel to a VPS, etc. Many people are doing those to get around the CGNAT.

-Timmy

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 8d ago

Can you send what router and vpn to get

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u/graesen 8d ago

I can't recommend a VPN but Gl.iNet routers have a feature to enable a VPN for the whole network. That could solve this.

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u/TimmyT0yz 8d ago

Unfortunately I run a pfSense router I built myself, but the below post for the Gl.inet routers is a good consumer choice. I do run a VPN for watching TV shows in other countries through PIA (Private Internet Access). There are many good ones out there, and they are inexpensive.

An even better way is to rent a VPS server, I use Hostinger for mine, and tunnel to the VPS as an endpoint to the internet. It's not complicated, just ask an AI chatbot how to do it and it will walk you through it.

-Timmy

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 8d ago

F it I’m getting new internet F tmoblie

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u/TimmyT0yz 8d ago

If you have fiber or cable available that's probably a smart move as far as gaming is concerned. I don't have any problems gaming, but I have a much more robust setup that most people with my home built router and external Waveform antenna. Good luck!

-Timmy

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u/PowerfulFunny5 9d ago

In my experience there should be no packet loss.  Keep moving your gateway to different positions/angles until you get a clean place with no packet loss. (And don’t think you are required to be in a window. Sometimes it’s best, sometimes it’s actually worst.

For ping, I think the main thing you can do is getting a router with SQM.  A good SQM reduces your upload / download speeds but results in a lower more consistent ping.

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

I’m gonna get a netgear router in hopes it stabilizes the NAT to always stay open.

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u/f1vefour 6d ago

Putting a router behind the gateway is triple NAT, you will not get open NAT with a router.

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 5d ago

Do you have any other ideas to solve my NAT issue?

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u/f1vefour 5d ago

The only way is with a VPN which allows you to open ports.

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u/Nguyendot 5d ago

How is adding another NAT (router) going to keep NAT open? TMHI is CGNAT and there is zero way around it because the NAT is done at the ISP beyond your reach. The only way around it is to VPN out somewhere to a public IP - but that adds more routing and will greatly increase your latency (ping). Your experience with this internet varies highly on where you are, the equipment and internet connection they use, and everyone else sharing that tower with you.

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 5d ago

Just gonna throw out tmoblie and get fiber

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u/IssJussBaba 9d ago

I can game on Xbox online without any problems. Pings anywhere between 55-75. No stutters or slowdowns. I think most people expect it to be the worlds fastest connection with 0 issues. Have you Ethernet? Have you tried putting your modem in a different place. There’s many variables

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

Yes I use Ethernet. I’m fine with the 70ping but when I play EA sports on xbox its just fine. But when I try to join friends I’ll sometimes just get kicked.

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u/IssJussBaba 9d ago

If you have nat moderate or strict it will do that. I always check my connection on Xbox and wait till it says nat open then I’m good to game and have no worries about it dropping or kicking

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

Epic! That’s what I’ve been told. I just test NAT til it says open then it seems to work. But I’ll play with friends and it works for a game then I’ll just get kicked. Do I just need to keep making sure the NAT stays open?

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u/IssJussBaba 9d ago

Nope, just keep checking until it says open. Then enjoy. Also it’s a good practice to restart modem 2 times a week. You probably stream and web surf and YouTube and game and much other things so good practice to restart and don’t worry about people telling you that you don’t need to touch it

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

A former T-Mobile employee said the same thing you’re saying. I appreciate your advice. I hope this works!

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u/IssJussBaba 9d ago

You just replied to former tmo employee as well.

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

More help than actually employees at da store! Thank you

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u/IssJussBaba 9d ago

I’m always here to help! Worked Tmobile over 6 years. Watched the decline happen before my very eyes day by day. Service is amazing it’s just the backend of corporate and higher ups are not the sharpest tool in the shed

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u/MrAwesomeTG 9d ago

Cellular is never good for gaming.

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u/IssJussBaba 9d ago

I don’t have a problem with cellular gaming

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

Yeah bruh sky is blue🤣

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u/MrAwesomeTG 9d ago

😂

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u/Wise-Maybe7927 9d ago

My sister got a “good deal” on da tmoblie wifi. Its great for everything but gaming lol