Question US Cellular Home Internet

[kennethrjones.cs]

I signed up for US Cellular Home Internet. They sent me a Inseego 3100 router. I can connect to the router but it always says "connected with no internet" and I have no internet access. I spent 2 hours on the phone with support who couldn't fix it, so they said the router was defective and sent me a new one. The new router has the exact same problem. On all my devices it says connected without internet when I click the Wi-Fi icon by the clock.

I've spent another 2 hours on the phone with tech support and once again, their android support with template responses can't resolve the issue by searching Google for me. They are completely useless.

I find it hard to believe both routers were defective and my phone works fine. The data on my phone is 5G+ and its fast. The router also has a blue light indicating I'm connected using 5G. So I know I have service in my area.

I wanted to see if anyone else here could be of any more assistance, before I had to return yet another device and cancel my contract again.

Here is a link to the router they sent me: https://static.inseego.com/us/download/fx3100-userguide-tele2.pdf

Thanks.

 

[COLGeek]

What DNS are you using on your connected devices? Try using Google's if not sure (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4).

 

[punkncat]

Perhaps you might consider seeing what plan they have for Hotspot connection. I know it is a band-aid solution, but sometimes you have to improvise when dealing with idiot tech support.

Back some years ago (think Blackberry) I had really good luck with USB tethering and internet sharing.

 

[bill001g]

Did you read the manual.

What color light is on the front of the router.

If you log into the router on the main page it shows status. Does it say connected.

If you click on the about tab you should be able to see the IP addresses assigned to the router by the ISP.

 

[kennethrjones.cs]

I got off the phone with them again after 2 more hours. They finally admitted that the issue is on their end. They can see my router connecting, but its not registering on their network.

He said he was going to send a ticket to an "engineer" and have them look at the cell tower and call me back.

I'll see if that ever happens.

Edit: Also, yes, I read that manual I linked several times over the past 2 weeks because their support is useless. US Cellular didn't even give a manual, I had to find that on Google myself.

 

[bill001g]

I agree it is pretty useless it was more to see if you knew what the lights on the front meant that should quickly tell you if it is connecting.

 

[kennethrjones.cs]

It always has the solid blue lights, and when I go into router settings, I can see that all 3 devices, desktop, laptop and phone wi-fi are connected to the router as a test. So, the router is seeing those devices connected. But both computers say "Connected, Secured, No Internet Access". The Android phone gives some long error about the connection not having internet permissions and needing to re-enable mobile data.

I called and threatened to cancel my contract and return the device a second time, so I got to speak with their "retention department" and he looked into it further. He saw in notes I've spoke to 12 different people over the past 2 weeks and no one has any clue what they're doing. They have a manual or template they all go through steps A,B,C,etc... and if my problem isn't on the list they transfer me to someone else to get rid of me.

Anyway, this guy claims he looked more into their system and was able to see my router powered on and connecting to 5G+ but said that my device never gets registered on their network on the other screen he was looking at. I'll see if their "engineer" gets back to me and fixes anything or if this is just another waste of time.

This is the second device with the exact same issue, and I find it hard to believe I received 2 broken devices with the exact same problem. Something has got to be broken in my account/plan or in their cell towers.

But anyone going to US Cellular Home Internet, I would beware of it. They don't even have their own tech support anymore. Everything is done through Asurion. The pulled all the real techs that used to fix phones in the stores out and boarded up all the windows. I used to be able to take my phone to them, a guy would tear it apart and fix it on the spot. Not anymore. They don't even have phone tech support anymore. If you call US Cellular you get directed to Asurion. - UNTIL you threaten to cancel your contract. Then you get someone who actually works for US Cellular "Retention Department".

I'll post back an update afterward, if anyone cares to know.

 

[bill001g]

Sounds more like they have something wrong with there software. To prevent people from just buying devices like this and using them they generally tie some id like a mac address that the device has to your account. If you pay for service then they allow the traffic to go through. It really depends on how they implement it but it I have seen some implement it like that because it basically dynamically opens their firewall for that device. Makes it really hard for someone to hack the hardware because all the security is on their side and not in the router.

At least they now admit it is there issue. It all depends on if you can really cancel the contract. There are many people that there is only 1 ISP that works and they can deliver crap service and you can do nothing.

 

[kennethrjones.cs]

Well, long story short, after several more phone calls, it's confirmed that US Cellular is an absolute trash company when it comes to customer service. The signal I receive is amazing in my area, but the company needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

I got a call back from that "engineer" this morning and the router is working now. After hours and hours on the phone with them blaming me, my computers, the service in my area, sending a replacement device, etc... Someone finally called me back and stated the issue was resolved.

The router/internet is working fine now. I have no idea what they did to fix it other than they had to make some network changes on their end. He wouldn't go into any more detail because, apparently, "I wouldn't comprehend it, as it was technical".

The internet connection actually seems faster than my broadband connection. So, their tech is good, but just pray, you never need support from this company.

 

[bill001g]

Yaa technical they likely didn't have your account setup properly. If it had been a actual issue on the tower all the customers would have been down. Maybe you were the only customer that did had not canceled them on that cell tower .

Seems lately all companies have bad customer service. You see all the news about companies that where known for exception customer service now have many complaints......ASUS is one of the latest.

 

[kennethrjones.cs]

It was a nightmare, hopefully I never have to speak to them again.

According to my phone history, I spent a total of 4 hours 47 minutes on the phone with them and called them 13 times. That doesn't include the time I spent talking to them about the first device that they told me was defective and replaced.

Now, if some executive from this company ever stumbles across this, think to yourself, was that worth it? Did you really save money with bs cheap customer service?

How much money did you spend on employees and resources to manage 13 calls and nearly 5 hours worth of payroll for one customer with a issue that turned out to be your fault. They spent hours assuming it was my fault and giving me the same template responses.

If you had competent support, this likely could have been fixed in a few minutes, during 1 call. Not to mention you wasted a perfectly good device that got sent back and will probably be recycled.

I can't imagine how many customers companies lose because of this garbage.

 

[COLGeek]

Unfortunately, customer service is one of the areas where AI is ruining it. It is cheaper for companies to use "bots" vice trained employees. This trend is not likely to change, unfortunately.

Call centers and out-sourced human support are going the way of the Dodo.

When you do get to speak to a human, they are often woefully under-trained for the task and heaven help you if you go off (their) script.

 

[kennethrjones.cs]

Exactly.

I hate support with almost every company. Even Amazon who used to have the best customer service of any company is going downhill. These people have absolutely zero training on anything. They have a script with copy/paste templates. They either read them word for word over the phone of paste them with a macro in chat.

I can't count the number of times I hear employees banging away on the keyboard trying to look up my problem in a search engine. Not to mention at least 1/4 of the calls I made during this process had blaring TVs in the background (I enjoyed listening to Judge Judy while I waited. ) and a couple had screaming kids and dogs barking so I could barely hear what they were saying.

No one can control what average companies do, but I don't understand how the government allows massive corporations to provide service like this, especially, when those companies provide vital services for emergencies, such as a phone or other utilities.

I guess that's a topic for a different thread though.

 

[willem65]

If both routers show "connected with no internet," try factory resetting the router and manually configuring the APN settings as per the user guide. Ensure your router's firmware is up to date. Additionally, test connecting one device directly via Ethernet to rule out WiFi-specific issues.

I signed up for US Cellular Home Internet. They sent me a Inseego 3100 router. I can connect to the router but it always says "connected with no internet" and I have no internet access. I spent 2 hours on the phone with support who couldn't fix it, so they said the router was defective and sent me a new one. The new router has the exact same problem. On all my devices it says connected without internet when I click the Wi-Fi icon by the clock.

I've spent another 2 hours on the phone with tech support and once again, their android support with template responses can't resolve the issue by searching Google for me. They are completely useless.

I find it hard to believe both routers were defective and my phone works fine. The data on my phone is 5G+ and its fast. The router also has a blue light indicating I'm connected using 5G. So I know I have service in my area.

I wanted to see if anyone else here could be of any more assistance, before I had to return yet another device and cancel my contract again.

Here is a link to the router they sent me: https://static.inseego.com/us/download/fx3100-userguide-tele2.pdf

Thanks.

 

[kennethrjones.cs]

If both routers show "connected with no internet," try factory resetting the router and manually configuring the APN settings as per the user guide. Ensure your router's firmware is up to date. Additionally, test connecting one device directly via Ethernet to rule out WiFi-specific issues.

 

[bill001g]

If both routers show "connected with no internet," try factory resetting the router and manually configuring the APN settings as per the user guide. Ensure your router's firmware is up to date. Additionally, test connecting one device directly via Ethernet to rule out WiFi-specific issues.

This forum has become infested with AI responses. I really don't understand why someone would go to the trouble of creating account just to post something they ask chatgpt for. There must be people who like to pretend they are smart for some reason.
They seem to be so clueless when others on the forum point and laugh at them.

I could see if it was a thread that had gone unanswered for a few days but you see this on very active threads with very technical discussions.

 

[kennethrjones.cs]

This forum has become infested with AI responses. I really don't understand why someone would go to the trouble of creating account just to post something they ask chatgpt for. There must be people who like to pretend they are smart for some reason.
They seem to be so clueless when others on the forum point and laugh at them.

I could see if it was a thread that had gone unanswered for a few days but you see this on very active threads with very technical discussions.

Well, my question was already answered a long time ago, and I posted the results and what US Cellular said, so at least read the thread before posting.

Every one of those things was already mentioned here.