I am in need of some help figuring out what can be done to fix my problem and I hope someone can help me out.
I am living out in a rural area and I have T-Mobile Home Internet service.
I was provided a modem that also doubles as a wireless router by T-Mobile. When I connect to this modem via Wi-Fi I get connection speeds of around 1 Gbps Down and 30 Mbps up. However, due to the way the router handles the packet delivery, it's horrible. If I perform a buffer bloat test I get a solid F and my packet delivery is all over the place and unnecessarily so. To correct this I have purchased a GLi Net GL-MT6000 Flint 2 and flashed it with the latest stable version of OpenWrt 23.05.4. I also installed the luci scripts and gui changes for SQM packet management. Everything works great but...
I am having a hard time figuring out how I can hook this up so I can get my desired result.
If I hook up directly to the modem, I get great performance and get full bandwidth. If I try to bridge the T-Mobile Modem/Router to the OpenWrt Router I get speeds limited to 20 mbps down and 10 mbps up and I can't figure out why that is. The router does proper packet filtering and labeling and it's great but it handy caps my bandwidth and I can't figure out why.
My goal with this post is to get help to properly bridge my OpenWrt router to the T-Mobile modem/router so that I can maintain my bandwidth but have my OpenWrt router handle all the heavy lifting of packets, I just want the T-Mobile device to pass them and really do nothing else. If they go through my OpenWrt router before getting to my client PCs they will arrive and leave properly while the T-Mobile device just provide the access to the service and provide that full bandwidth I want. I have zero control over anything on the T-Mobile modem, T-Mobile has seen to that. Even with their silly phone app I have zero control over any settings on their modem/router, well nothing of any consequence anyway, other than naming the WiFi network it broadcasts so there is nothing I can do on that device to make anything work. My thoughts were to create some sort of Wireless bridge between the T-Mobile Modem/Router and the OpenWrt Router and then have all my devices connect through that OpenWrt router and then just have the OpenWrt router pass the packets.I have tried a cable from the T-Mobile Modem/Router's LAN ports to the OpenWrt's WAN port and it works but with that limited bandwidth problem, I used a CAT6 cable so it wasn't a cable issue It's just how the T-Mobile Modem/Router is acting when it sees the other device hooked up to it like that. I didn't use a cross over cable so maybe I need to? Again I am totally at a loss here. I have to hook up my devices via Wi-Fi for now since I need to wait some months before I can run any hard lines.
I would love to hear some possible solutions and suggestions to my problem. I am willing to purchase more equipment, like another Flint 2, if needed.
How does the T-Mobile modem connect to the internet? Is it a fiber connection?
If so, instead of putting the T-Mobile modem in bridge mode remove it and directly connect the Flint to the internet.
Perhaps the most logical answer is the correct one - the bridge on your T-Mobile device is broken in some way...
-frollic
It's more likely that T-Mobile goes out of it's way to make sure users can't easily use routers other than what T-Mobile wants them to use. Or it could simply be some configuration issue I can't think of. Because again if I connect directly to the unit, I get full bandwidth, if I try to hook my router up to it and go through that, I get limited speeds as if the T-Mobile Modem/Router is limiting the client, the OpenWrt Router, so it doesn't push as much traffic.
How does the T-Mobile modem connect to the internet? Is it a fiber connection?
If so, instead of putting the T-Mobile modem in bridge mode remove it and directly connect the Flint to the internet.
-Bartvz
The T-Mobile Modem/Router connects to the World Wide Web via T-Mobile's LTE and 5G Cell network. I have an anntena and get good signal which is why I get great bandwidth, well at least when I connect directly to the unit with buffer bloat galore.
I wish I could directly connect to the net without having to go through the T-Mobile Modem/Router. But alas, I can't. I can probably buy a different modem and swap the SIM card over but that would cost me about $1000 USD last time I checked and I would much rather avoid that scenario if possible.
I thought about setting up a WiFi bridge and somehow figure out a way to make sure my devices only connect to the OpenWrt Router or something. Again this isn't my speciality so I don't really have any idea what I can or can't do.
T-Mobile gateways do not have the ability to enable and disable bridge mode.
You can create additional Wi-Fi networks on the Network tab in the T Life app.
Can I change NAT type on the Gateway?
T-Mobile gateways do not have the ability to change NAT type.
Refer to the manufacturer or developer if you receive an error about NAT.
Can I enable / disable NAT or Port Forwarding?
T-Mobile gateways do not have the ability to enable and disable NAT/port forwarding.
Refer to the manufacturer or developer if NAT or port forwarding is needed.
Also, I figured this documentation is equally relevant as it's the router I am using.
Parts of the reddit post on the topic that stuck out.
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Option 1B: Use your own router in access point mode and not use the WiFi on the gateway.
If Option 1A has stability issues for you then this can also work. Since the gateway already has really good WiFi I only recommend option 1B if you are using a mesh network.
Option 2: Use your own router in router mode.
Using a router in access point mode causes it to not have nearly as much advanced router functionality, so for some advanced users it may be a good idea to use the router in router mode. This will add a lot more advanced functionality but it will add a layer of NAT.
Pros:
Adds a lot of advanced functionality.
May improve some stability issues for some people.
Cons:
Increases the NAT to 3 layers on IPv4.
Increases the NAT to 1 layer on IPv6 (option 2B only).
Cannot be used to seamlessly extend the coverage of the Home Internet gateway.
Option 2A: Use your own router in router mode with IPv6 passthrough.
IPv6 passthrough is a feature on some routers that allows it to still be in router mode and with a bunch of features without adding a layer of NAT to IPv6.
Only some routers support IPv6 passthrough. If you want IPv6 passthrough then your best bet is probably OpenWRT. OpenWRT is a 3rd party os that can be installed on many routers that adds a lot of advanced functionality. For a list of routers compatible with OpenWRT click here. For a list of routers that work well with OpenWRT click here. For instructions on how to setup IPv6 passthrough with OpenWRT click here. I have also read a comment saying that the Linksys Velop mesh system supports IPv6 passthrough without needing to use OpenWRT, so that may be a good option aswell.
This option increases IPv4 to 3 layers of NAT, however IPv6 remains at 0.
Perhaps my router is causing the issue. The gateway only has a 1 Gbps ports and my router's ports are a mix of a few 2.5 Gbps ports and 1 Gbps ports. Perhaps when the 2.5 Gbps on the openwrt router is used it's having trouble negotiation the size of the link with the 1 Gbps on the Gateway and defaults to say 10/100 rather than 10/100/1000 like I would like? It could also be the extra layers of NAT causing the issue? Perhaps if I did the IPv6 Passthrough as mentioned in the Reddit post I will get the desired results. I will experiment later today.
This is very unlikely to be the issue. While it could happen, you would see speeds ~94Mbps, not 20.
Try resetting your OpenWrt router to defaults. Don't setup any QOS or anything else, just the bare minimum. Then test the bandwidth with a machine connected via ethernet.
The Home Internet plan is locked to the IMEI of the gateway they supplied. If you put your SIM card into a different modem it will not work. If you have a regular Mobile Internet plan ("tablet / hotspot") you may swap to your own modem. Somewhere in between may be Home Internet Light, which appears to be a version of Mobile Internet with more GB and a corresponding higher price.
T-Mobile's network is v6 only. Every packet that your gateway exchanges with a tower is IPv6. V4 compatibility is provided by 464 translation (CLAT and PLAT). The experience is much like CGNAT on wirelines. Really you can't do much about the v4 routing, but most modern apps use v6 natively so make sure that v6 is being supplied to your clients. This is inherent if you simply use the OpenWrt router as a bridged or "dumb" AP, i.e. a wireless to wired bridge plugged into the gateway's LAN. SQM can still be configured on a dumb AP even though it is not routing.
Try resetting your OpenWrt router to defaults. Don't setup any QOS or anything else, just the bare minimum. Then test the bandwidth with a machine connected via ethernet. Report those speeds to us.
10-4. After lunch. I will do that and report what I get.
Please test with your computer connected via ethernet
The upload speeds are consistent and incredibly slow -- that's going to likely have a big (negative) impact on your buffer bloat scores, and thus QOS tuning will likely drastically reduce your download speeds to account for that.
But let's see that the router is functioning at the expected speeds via ethernet.
Please test with your computer connected via ethernet
I only have the one cable at the moment. I will have to go home to make another or go out and purchase one, if I can find one at a walmart near by. Let me see if the nearby walmart has some. brb 30m-1h.
