T-Mobile hot spot

[markrsimon]

That may be an issue. T-mobile limits the number of home internet routers per area so the towers are not overwhelmed and the service suffers. That's why they want the address for the location. If it's moving around a lot they may flag it. IDK if it's happened though.

We’ve taken it in the car with us on several road trips between Cleveland and Cincinnati (~4+ hrs each way) with an AC inverter in car to power it. Allows everyone to watch full streaming without using any of our cell phone data plans. Also works great in the hotel - without having to deal with hotel provided internet.

So similar to a hotspot, but unlimited internet and AC powered.

 

[FootballFan]

My interest is cutting the cord on the whole KVH/DirectTV satellite world.

Wondering if I would have coverage at least moving around FL?

 

[Skybolt]

T mobile said it doesn’t care where it is as long as it has a cell tower just like your phone….. the store I went to said I was the third boater that day who came in to get one

Well that's cool, it would suck if they started keeping track of things like Starlink does.

Do you know if this will accept an external antenna? That would really be a home run if it did. But at first glance it doesn't.

 

[b_arrington]

My interest is cutting the cord on the whole KVH/DirectTV satellite world.

Wondering if I would have coverage at least moving around FL?

A possible limitation is that you can't attach a longer/more powerful antenna to the T-mobile home internet router. There's no plug for it and everything is internal. Some folks have done it by opening it up and doing electronics work, but that doesn't seem like a great plan.

A router like a Peplink will enables you to add a dedicated externally-mounted antenna that can significantly enhance your signal while also hiding away the router. If you want to ensure a strong signal this might be a consideration.

I was able to hide my router under a seat, tied it in to 12v power, and added an on/off switch.

 

[alnav]

My very first cell phone contract was with Sprint Spectrum back in the mid-90's and I've been with them ever since including the T-Mobile merger. Service has been great. At one point they issued me a femtocell as an in-house cell antenna when we were in a coverage hole. Their overseas deal seems to be much better than the others, essentially no extra cost unless you want priority data.

One weird thing happened to me recently with them. I got a huge envelope from T-Mobile I almost chucked as an ad. I did open it and it was the initial bill for an account in my company's name. There were 18 lines of service started and each had a top-line iPhone attached being paid by installment. Several also had iPad Pro's, also under installment payments. The total bill was about $4k for a month but the equipment stolen certainly represented over $50K. I called the business service number but the overseas folks were clueless and finally directed me to go to a store. The store was able to call the fraud department. They told me the account would be taken care of and not to worry. I asked whether they would contact the police and no, they just handle the account side. They did seem to be able to see some important details of the scam. They gave me the first name of the person who had taken the equipment delivery in a nearby town, obviously not one of my employees. They also said the account had to have been set up in person so I imagine they could see where and who took the order. Someone must have gotten my Tax ID (not hard to find), business name and address and that seems to be all they needed to do the deed. One troubling thing was that, to establish my business' identity, they looked at a business card, hardly a robust method. I imagine some eager associate hungry for a commission was sloppy but it could be that their process is fundamentally flawed. No telling how often they get taken but I suspect the drive for growth may be a big problem in this company.

I did call the local PD. They directed me to fill out an online form and a couple of days later I heard from an investigator wanting to verify a couple of details. Nothing since and I have no reason to believe they did anything like gather more details from T-Mobile. This is a large and well-funded PD so I expected more. I suppose they pretty much ignore this type of crime.

 

[b_arrington]

Well that's cool, it would suck if they started keeping track of things like Starlink does.

Do you know if this will accept an external antenna? That would really be a home run if it did. But at first glance it doesn't.

It definitely does not accept an external antenna.

 

[Skybolt]

My very first cell phone contract was with Sprint Spectrum back in the mid-90's and I've been with them ever since including the T-Mobile merger. Service has been great. At one point they issued me a femtocell as an in-house cell antenna when we were in a coverage hole. Their overseas deal seems to be much better than the others, essentially no extra cost unless you want priority data.

One weird thing happened to me recently with them. I got a huge envelope from T-Mobile I almost chucked as an ad. I did open it and it was the initial bill for an account in my company's name. There were 18 lines of service started and each had a top-line iPhone attached being paid by installment. Several also had iPad Pro's, also under installment payments. The total bill was about $4k for a month but the equipment stolen certainly represented over $50K. I called the business service number but the overseas folks were clueless and finally directed me to go to a store. The store was able to call the fraud department. They told me the account would be taken care of and not to worry. I asked whether they would contact the police and no, they just handle the account side. They did seem to be able to see some important details of the scam. They gave me the first name of the person who had taken the equipment delivery in a nearby town, obviously not one of my employees. They also said the account had to have been set up in person so I imagine they could see where and who took the order. Someone must have gotten my Tax ID (not hard to find), business name and address and that seems to be all they needed to do the deed. One troubling thing was that, to establish my business' identity, they looked at a business card, hardly a robust method. I imagine some eager associate hungry for a commission was sloppy but it could be that their process is fundamentally flawed. No telling how often they get taken but I suspect the drive for growth may be a big problem in this company.

I did call the local PD. They directed me to fill out an online form and a couple of days later I heard from an investigator wanting to verify a couple of details. Nothing since and I have no reason to believe they did anything like gather more details from T-Mobile. This is a large and well-funded PD so I expected more. I suppose they pretty much ignore this type of crime.

That's crazy, I had to jump through hoops to get my bis account setup including show my incorporation documents. And canceling it is even tougher, no one knows what they are doing on the bis side of T-Mo. But like you, I've been around since the merger in the 90's.

Glad your experience was vastly different then mine.

 

[Skybolt]

It definitely does not accept an external antenna.

Yeah I posted that before I googled it. But to your point the PL is still the only way to go if you want good service almost everywhere.

 

[LTD.330]

I installed the T-Mobile Home Internet Gateway about two weeks ago and everything was great until today. Today was the first time I worked from the boat and I found that T-Mobile is killing my VPN connection to work.

After doing some internet research, VPNs and T-Mobile seem to be a known problem. Arrrggg.

 

[Skybolt]

I installed the T-Mobile Home Internet Gateway about two weeks ago and everything was great until today. Today was the first time I worked from the boat and I found that T-Mobile is killing my VPN connection to work.

After doing some internet research, VPNs and T-Mobile seem to be a known problem. Arrrggg.

I have T-Mo through a Peplink on the boat and my VPN to my house works great. I haven't tried to work directly. But I remote into my house then to work from there.

I do a lot of over sea's work and it's faster if I go through my house then to where I need to work.

 

[Stee6043]

Well I ordered it up. I figure I'll run the T Mobile for a few weeks before deciding whether or not I cancel Spectrum. If I see any wierdness, I'll send it back. Zero risk to give it a shot...

 

[b_arrington]

Well I ordered it up. I figure I'll run the T Mobile for a few weeks before deciding whether or not I cancel Spectrum. If I see any wierdness, I'll send it back. Zero risk to give it a shot...

That’s exactly what I did before I canceled my optimum cable Internet service.

 

[b_arrington]

I installed the T-Mobile Home Internet Gateway about two weeks ago and everything was great until today. Today was the first time I worked from the boat and I found that T-Mobile is killing my VPN connection to work.

After doing some internet research, VPNs and T-Mobile seem to be a known problem. Arrrggg.

Really? I haven’t had that issue. My company uses a Cisco VPN and it seems to work fine through both my T-Mobile cell phone and the home Internet. It’s a little bit slower, but that’s to be expected through a VPN connection.

 

[LTD.330]

What can I say both my work VPN which uses L2TP/IPsec with PSK and my personal NordVPN don't work with the gateway. I've adjusted the MTU on my router down to 1300 and several other obscure things I found with no success. If anyone has any configuration suggestions, I'm all ears.

 

[Skybolt]

What can I say both my work VPN which uses L2TP/IPsec with PSK and my personal NordVPN don't work with the gateway. I've adjusted the MTU on my router down to 1300 and several other obscure things I found with no success. If anyone has any configuration suggestions, I'm all ears.

The MTU should be set to what the max of the router is, in most cases, 1500. Also look for L2TP/IPSEC pass through.

I use a VPN to my house, OpenVPN, then vpn to work or where ever is needed. You may need to do something like that. That said, I had my work VPN working directly form my laptop with a cisco vpn client with no issues.

I am using a Peplink w/T-Mo cell and an Asus router. What is your exact setup?

 

[markrsimon]

What can I say both my work VPN which uses L2TP/IPsec with PSK and my personal NordVPN don't work with the gateway. I've adjusted the MTU on my router down to 1300 and several other obscure things I found with no success. If anyone has any configuration suggestions, I'm all ears.

You normaly want to reduce/set the MTU on your end device (laptop) - not the gateway itself. Reason being, the encrypted packets from your laptop are flagged as DF (dont fragment). Encryption adds a bit of overhead. If the packets that hit the gateway are to large to forward, and set to DF, they are dropped. Most VPN packages should set this for you on windows automatically - known issue for years.

No issues here using Cisco Anyconnect VPN.

 

[SeaNile]

I tried buying the "home internet gateway" which is what I think is referred to in this thread. Asks you for address and every address I try it says that 5G is unavailable in my area and to try back in a few months.

Several in my marina have this and are happy with the reception. Somehow they bought it online even with the marina address showing no 5G available....

I'd buy this tonight if I could figure out how.

 

[370Dancer]

Anyone around Florida using one of these?

Wondering about coverage, can't tell much from their website.

great signal on Sarasota Bay. I needed a Waveform external antenna in Punta Gorda because of Ian, until just recently, where they put up a new cellular node 900 ft from the camper! I still use the external antenna though, because the camper is aluminum, blocking a lot of signal. As soon as I'm running again on Beach House, I'll be taking it with me up and down the coast. I expect 5G in most places, and 4G-LTE on the rest.

 

[370Dancer]

Well that's cool, it would suck if they started keeping track of things like Starlink does.

Do you know if this will accept an external antenna? That would really be a home run if it did. But at first glance it doesn't.

The very newest gateway has external antenna ports. They are scarce as hen's teeth right now. And, you don't get to pick the router they send you. See this Youtube channel.

 

[Skybolt]

The very newest gateway has external antenna ports. They are scarce as hen's teeth right now. And, you don't get to pick the router they send you. ...

That makes sense that they would offer that as an option if they want to have success in out lying areas. There has to be away of getting one of these by going to the store or possibly they are switching over to these? But if they are going to offer two different types of routers then there has to be a way of getting one.