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Solved
***MR1100-NSA100 : FYI T-Mobile customers ***
This is regarding tech support case number: 42350449
I purchased an unlocked Netgear MR1100-100NAS late December 2019, that had some weird battery charging issues but nothing to be concerned about. Then Netgear released firmware version 12.06.08.00, I read the release notes and it stated there were minor fixes so I decided to upgrade.
The upgrade completely broke the LTE interface and I was no longer able to attach to T-Mobile’s LTE network. I thought no big deal, I’ll just roll back to the older version (12.05.05.00_00), but that did not work the unit kept generating an “Invalid update file. Error Code 16”. I tried to reflash with the latest code that might clear the issue but I the same error code. In summary I’ve tried the following to get the unit back to normal operation before reaching out to Netgear technical support:
- Restoring to factory defaults
- Reverting to firmware 12.05.05.00 via the Ethernet port
- Reverting to firmware 12.05.05.00 via the Wi-Fi
- Reverting to firmware 12.05.05.00 via the Wi-Fi Google Chrome browser
- Reverting to firmware 12.05.05.00 via the Wi-Fi Mozilla Firefox browser
- Reverting to firmware 12.05.05.00 via the Wi-Fi Microsoft IE browser
- Removing the T-Mobile SIM then attempting to revert to 12.05.05.00
All failed with “Invalid update file. Error Code 16”, at this point I decided to open a case with Netgear support. After explaining the issue and repeating several of the steps outlined above, they stated that the latest firmware 12.06.08.00 has issues with T-Mobile’s LTE network and they had to ship me a replacement. This was bit of an inconvenience but not a big deal. After a few moments checking with the warehouse the Netgear support representative stated that the unlocked model (MR1100-100NAS) was currently out of stock with no ETA on the horizon. They had no alternative options to address my issue and my only option was to wait and hope that their stock would be replenished soon.
This was an extremely disappointing experience considering the cost of the unit and the inconvenience Netgear’s poor support for an issue their latest firmware clearly created. It also makes me wonder, what if my unit was beyond the warrantee time, would that just mean I’m stuck with a unit their firmware broke?
I would not recommend purchasing this product if you are a T-Mobile customer. Netgear’s firmware testing, quality control and support are poor. How could they miss such an obvious flaw with the latest firmware on T-Mobile’s network, it leads me be believe that the latest release was never tested on the T-Mobile LTE network.
I have a post liniking to a way to force the downgrade if you are a bit tech savy it is easy enough check my post about 12.06.11 burning through battery, and you will find a link to a post detailing how to forcce downgrade.
28 Replies
Yeah been having issues with the latest firmware my self from poor battery performance and other issues, and I use this router for work... Just gotta love the crickets on there end.
I have a post liniking to a way to force the downgrade if you are a bit tech savy it is easy enough check my post about 12.06.11 burning through battery, and you will find a link to a post detailing how to forcce downgrade.
I had some issues finding FDT.EXE, but once I got pass that hurdle, I was able to downgrade the router to release 12.05.05 and BOOM!! T-Mobile LTE service restored. Thanks, I really appreciate your help.
This is my last Netgear product purchase. I will never purchase or recommend Netgear to anyone based on their service and support.
-Thanks !!
saj3417 wrote:
I had some issues finding FDT.EXE, but once I got pass that hurdle, I was able to downgrade the router to release 12.05.05 and BOOM!! T-Mobile LTE service restored. Thanks, I really appreciate your help.
This is my last Netgear product purchase. I will never purchase or recommend Netgear to anyone based on their service and support.
-Thanks !!When you say your T-Mobile service is restored, what do you mean by that? Was your T-Mobile service was blocked or your data connection was not stable?
Thanks
Good Morning, can you repost the link. When I click on the View Solution it takes me back to the same page. Thank you
- For all those looking for downgrade info please see this post.
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Mobile-Routers-Hotspots-Modems/MR1100-Firmware-Update/m-p/1813134/highlight/true#M11066With the help of JohnPeng, we downgraded my MR1100 to 12.05.05, this did not fix the issue with T-mobile. It definitely appears the issue with no data is on the side of the T-Mobile network and not Netgear. Hopefully T-Mobile will allow the MR1100 to work on their network again soon. Thanks again JohnPeng for your help.
RedRaider wrote:
With the help of JohnPeng, we downgraded my MR1100 to 12.05.05, this did not fix the issue with T-mobile. It definitely appears the issue with no data is on the side of the T-Mobile network and not Netgear. Hopefully T-Mobile will allow the MR1100 to work on their network again soon. Thanks again JohnPeng for your help.
Thanks for the information. Based on our investigation, T-Mobile is not blocking the sevice to M1. You need to get the data plan for mobile hotspot in order to use M1. Customers experiencing disconnection issue on T-Mobile need to contact T-Mobile to update the subcription.
Regards