Question about T-Mobile sim activation and odd behavior

[robonova]

I just purchased some T-Mobile sims from Amazon and had one activated and using them with a WE826-T. I noticed some odd behavior. First when I do a search Google comes up first in Spanish! Also, when I went to YouTubeTV it thought that I was out of the country. Also, videos from Netflix and other streaming providers were not streaming in HD even though I have great download speeds of > 40 mb down. Is this a sim that is meant for non us customer or is it maybe a setting in my golden orb?

Thanks

[BillA]

I just purchased some T-Mobile sims from Amazon and had one activated and using them with a WE826-T. I noticed some odd behavior. First when I do a search Google comes up first in Spanish! Also, when I went to YouTubeTV it thought that I was out of the country. Also, videos from Netflix and other streaming providers were not streaming in HD even though I have great download speeds of > 40 mb down. Is this a sim that is meant for non us customer or is it maybe a setting in my golden orb?

Thanks

LOL... yeah I had that happen on my Google search page too, showing I'm in Mexico.
What's happening is that the modem/network is not providing the correct location information to Windows for some reason, I'm sure they are working on fixing it. In the meantime the solution is to go to Settings at the bottom right corner of the Google search page > Search Settings > Region Settings > Show more > select United States.
As far as Youtube, all new activations have video throttling turned on, but you can turn it off by inserting the sim card into a phone and dialing this code: #263# + call
Hope that helps.

[gscheb]

Look at this for TMobile HD settings.

https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=579

[robonova]

LOL... yeah I had that happen on my Google search page too, showing I'm in Mexico.
What's happening is that the modem/network is not providing the correct location information to Windows for some reason, I'm sure they are working on fixing it. In the meantime the solution is to go to Settings at the bottom right corner of the Google search page > Search Settings > Region Settings > Show more > select United States.
As far as Youtube, all new activations have video throttling turned on, but you can turn it off by inserting the sim card into a phone and dialing this code: #263# + call
Hope that helps.

Thanks. This is through a 3rd part data reseller. I don't have access to my account through T-Mobile directly so I can't do this through their website, will it still work if I just pop it in the phone? Also, the problem with the modem not sending the correct location. Is this caused by the WIFIX Rooter firmware or the Sierra modem firmware? Can I just change firmware to fix it? Is there a setting in Rooter that I can adjust?

[robonova]

As far as Youtube, all new activations have video throttling turned on, but you can turn it off by inserting the sim card into a phone and dialing this code: #263# + call

I tried this and got a message that said this option was not available for my plan.

[BillA]

I tried this and got a message that said this option was not available for my plan.

Yeah you should be able to do it in a phone, but if it says that the option is not available, then obviously it's not, nor would it be available in your account. Try these codes again:
#BNG# - (#264#) Check the status of Binge On .
#BOF# - (#263#) To turn Binge On off (this will turn off throttling)
#BON# - (#266#) To turn Binge On back on.

So I have some bad news for everyone, in a MarketWatch articles this morning I've read the following:
"Telecom Italia reported a 70% jump in traffic.... YouTube and Amazon Prime are throttling video speeds to counter a surge in streaming." It's not hard to imagine, that the entire internet will be throttles on purposed due to the current Corona virus stay at home situation. So I wouldn't worry too much about the video for now till this pandemic is gone.

[robonova]

#BNG# - (#264#) Check the status of Binge On .
#BOF# - (#263#) To turn Binge On off (this will turn off throttling)
#BON# - (#266#) To turn Binge On back on.

Yeah, that's when it gave the message, when I put it in a phone and tried to use the codes

"Telecom Italia reported a 70% jump in traffic.... YouTube and Amazon Prime are throttling video speeds to counter a surge in

They've been throttled in Europe for about a week now. So far the only service that I've seen throttling in the U.S is YouTube, but they give you the option to manually change it to HD.

[robonova]

Maybe I could try a VPN. Does anyone know how to configure a VPN so that all router traffic fill flow through it via the interface tab in WIFIX Goldenorb?

[BillA]

Maybe I could try a VPN. Does anyone know how to configure a VPN so that all router traffic fill flow through it via the interface tab in WIFIX Goldenorb?

You could use a VPN, but keep in mind it will slow down ALL your connections to a mere 10Mpbs or lower depending on the quality of the VPN. A better option is to disable video throttling without using a VPN.

[robonova]

Could you point me to a tutorial or instructions in case I want to try it? Thanks

[BillA]

Could you point me to a tutorial or instructions in case I want to try it? Thanks

You can do it two ways...
In Windows, but only that particular machine will have a VPN connection.
For Windows 10 > https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/windows-10/

Or in the router, so that all devices connected to it will get a VPN connection.
For OpenWRT routers CLI method > https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/openwrt/openvpn/
For OpenWRT routers GUI method > https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/gl-inet/openvpn/

Since this is not a VPN thread, the rest of the detail you will have to re/search for yourself.

[robonova]

What's happening is that the modem/network is not providing the correct location information to Windows for some reason, I'm sure they are working on fixing it.

Bill is this the modem firmware or the WIFIX WE826 Rooter firmware? Is there a way I can "flash" my way out of it?

Thanks

[BillA]

Could you point me to a tutorial or instructions in case I want to try it? Thanks

You can do it two ways...
In Windows, but only that particular machine will have a VPN connection.
For Windows 10 > https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/windows-10/

Or in the router, so that all devices connected to it will get a VPN connection.
For OpenWRT routers CLI method > https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/openwrt/openvpn/
For OpenWRT routers GUI method > https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/gl-inet/openvpn/

Since this is not a VPN thread, the rest of the detail you will have to re/search for yourself.