Tmobile Internet Sagemcom experience

It has only been a week, but the T-mobile cellular internet using the Sagemcom FAST5688W gateway is working well. In my area there are a couple of cell towers within a mile, and so far they are not congested. If I place the box in a window, I can get 5 bars on the box display and up to 500Mbps for a wired connection. The WiFi covers the whole house at maybe 30Mbps depending on the room, enough for email, a zoom call or an HD stream, just not for multiple users. This actually better than the old network.

The gateway has some serious limitations that restrict its use to only the simplest networks. The main limitation is you cannot bypass the gateway's internal router, so you will end up with a double-NAT situation if you have a router of your own. There is no official way to turn off the gateway WiFi, so it will interfere with any existing WiFi on your LAN. The best scenario is that you have no existing network, maybe just one or two wired devices, and are satisfied with the built-in WiFi. If only they would fix the two main issues they get many more customers. 

Once the box works, there is very little configuration possible, just the box password, and the WiFi name and password. Oh, and you can't change the box LAN IP. A side issue is you can't just plug in a cable and use a desktop browser for configuration like any other network device. You are stuck using the new MyLife phone app. The app eventually worked, but the initial setup is painful. The QR code on the box didn't bring up the correct link, and even the helpful tech agent said everyone was frustrated at how unready the process was.

I suggest going to the store and setting up the box right there. I wish I had.

For those waiting on the promotion rebates, I believe you need to use it for 6mo to qualify. If I manage to get it sooner, I'll post.