T-Mobile Home Internet + Google Nest WiFi

Bad wrote:

SETTING UP GOOGLE NEST WIFI POINTS WITH T-MOBILE HOME INTERNET

Example 1: You had Google Nest Wifi Points setup with a modem from another provider.

The Google Wifi point plugged into the old modem is the "router" point and all other wifi points are "bridge" points.  Since T-Mobile is a "gateway" that means it's a modem and router all-in-one. 

1. Make sure the wifi point you plug into the T-Mobile gateway is the "router" point (the point that was plugged into your old modem), not one of the "bridge" points. Otherwise you'll have to RESET all wifi points in the mesh just like you had to do when you first setup your Google mesh.  Use the Google Home app if you need to find which point is your Google wifi "router" point.
2. Make sure that your T-mobile gateway network name is DIFFERENT from your Google mesh network name.  The T-mobile gateway is also wireless and if both your gateway and mesh networks have the same network name then you'll have problems (DOUBLE NAT) with devices and apps because your devices and apps will think they're on the same network but in reality some are on the T-Mobile wifi network and some are on the Google wifi mesh network, thus the devices and apps can't "see" each other.  (I.E. Your Roku app can't see your Roku TV or your laptop can't see your wireless printer)
3. Make sure your phone is on the correct network.  In phone settings select your Google Mesh network and connect.  Turn on "prefered network" and "automatically connect network".  All the other networks, the Google Mesh Guest and the T-Mobile network select Forget Network, unselect or turn off "prefered network" and "automatically connect network" so your phone will not automatically connect to the wrong network.  Make sure these settings off in the networks not used as the default setting is on.

Example 2: You have T-Mobile Home Internet and you want to extend it with a Google Mesh Wifi Points or Hubs.

1. The Google Wifi point you plugged into the T-Mobile “gateway” is the “router” point and all other Google wifi points are “bridge” points. 
2. Just pretend that your T-Mobile “gateway” is just a modem, not a router and do the Google Mesh Wifi setup. 
3. Make sure you follow Steps 1-3 in Example 1 as you do the setup.

WARNING: I know in the geek world to have a Google wifi point “router” plugged into the T-Mobile “gateway” router/modem is redundant and we want to FIX IT. 

Some want to make all the wifi points "bridge" points and not have the Google "router" point.  The Google mesh is designed where the Google "router" wifi point controls all the Google "bridge" points.  If you change the router wifi point to a bridge point then your mesh system will NOT work.  

Some want to reconfigure the T-Mobile "gateway" and turn off the router portion of the modem/router combo.  The research I've done suggests this can't be done because the "gateway" modem/router are integrated.

Love the post and the geek world part.  Yes, it's bugging me to have a redundant router with the T mobile gateway. 

Bad wrote:

 

1. Make sure the wifi point you plug into the T-Mobile gateway is the "router" point (the point that was plugged into your old modem), not one of the "bridge" points. Otherwise you'll have to RESET all wifi points in the mesh just like you had to do when you first setup your Google mesh.  Use the Google Home app if you need to find which point is your Google wifi "router" point.

Godblessyuh for this helpful comment. I was upstairs trying to get the Google Wifi to work by plugging the T-Mobile gateway into one of the *other* points, and it wasn't working. T-Mobile customer support tech was a very nice guy, but had no training on how to hook up Google Wifi to the T-Mobile gateway, and couldn't find any information in their files.

After finding this post I took the gateway downstairs and plugged it into the original router point -- the one I'd had attached to my cable modem -- and it started working right away. Simple plug and play, no IP address changes or other changes needed. Sweet relief, thanks!

sebas506zuiga wrote:

Jolt wrote:

I just received my 5G gateway. I am converting from Xfinity Internet service. I have an existing nest Wi-Fi mesh already configured at home. Setting the gateway up was extremely simple. 

I am converting from Xfinity Internet service. I have an existing nest Wi-Fi mesh (gen 2) already configured at home. This mesh Wi-Fi system works perfectly fine with the Xfinity service and stable for several years.

When I connect the nest Wi-Fi router into the T-Mobile gateway (Ethernet) the Internet works however, it’s about a quarter of the speed of the T-Mobile gateway if I directly connect to it. 
 

ookla Speedtest when connected to T-Mobile Wi-Fi is great —> 330+Mbps down 33Mbps Up

ookla Speedtest when connected to Nest Wi-Fi mesh, is 45Mbps down an 13 Mbps up.

end point testing performed with iPhone 14 pro max and MBP yield Sam results 
 

my SSIDs are different for the mesh and the Gateway.

 

any thoughts on why such a drastic drop in performance 

I have the exact same problem. The speed from the Google Wifi mesh is around a quarter of what the same device in the same positions gets from he T-Mobile gateway (different SSIDs)

Did either of you resolve the 75% drop in performance between the T-Mobile Gateway and the Google Wifi mesh? I have the same issue; using the Nokia 5G21 gateway and Google Nest wifi Pro. I am not the most tech savvy but from what I can glean it may be related to the double NAT which results from installing the Google Nest Pro as a router "after" the Nokia router/modem combo?? Is this an insurmountable problem with the T-Mobile provided equipment? If yes, why are they promoting Google nest? If I can't resolve this, then I will need to drop T-Mobile. :(