Forum Discussion
Adding a second gateway
Is it possible to add a second gateway to your house? I have one and it works well but I have a ranch style house and I'd like to have a second one at the other end of the house.
You just need a mesh router.
Yes you can but you will be paying $100 per month for 2 lines. In fact I had this happen to me by mistake. I was calling TMO to complain about my Nokia gateway not working and they agreed to send me the newer Arcadyn. I thought all was good until I saw a new phone number added to my account and another $50 charge. When I called to ask WTF, the rep looked into it and explained to me whoever arranged for my router replacement accidentally set the replacement up as a new line. Had I not called to get this fixed, I would still be paying for two lines of home internet. I actually thought about keeping it and finding out if I could somehow bond the two lines for almost gigabit speed, but it is not possible.
For others wondering how this was resolved, it took some effort. My original line could not be changed without fees since it was past the 15 day free trial period. I had to swap the SIM card from my Nokia gateway with the Arcadyn. This way I could cancel my "new line" at no charge since it was within the 15 day free trial and ship the Nokia with the "new" SIM card back to TMO. They sent me a prepaid shipping label so I did not have to pay anything. Did take an hour of complaining on the phone tho.
F-150 wrote:
I think 2 gateways are exactly what I need to prevent me from canceling my service. $100 / month is about the same as I was paying for internet before I came to T-mobile. I was paying $99 / month. I have purchased 3 of those white Google Nest routers at a price of like almost $300 and have placed this gateway box next to every window in my place and still not full coverage. I would like to try to connect one gateway directly to my main tv through Ethernet, and then use the other gateway with the nest routers for the rest of the house. Any suggestions on if that would work?
Confused. You should only need the single gateway, with everything else handled by the mesh.
I hate to say this, but it seems like your Google Nest system isn't functional. Are you sure you are connecting to it and not just the gateway (which may be far away?).
A couple of things. When you set up your Mesh system, you should set the SSID (network name) to something other than what the Gateway is using. Then, on your remote devices, it will be obvious what you are connecting to. If everything is running the same SSID it can be quite confusing. Some people go further and make unique SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5 G Hz bands, so they have even more control. Also, make sure your Mesh system is in "Access Point" mode. Lastly, you can download a WiFI analyzer for your phone which will help you see what the various devices are broadcasting and their SSIDs.
How many gateways do a person need in their home to have internet service through their whole house?
You just need a mesh router.
I think 2 gateways are exactly what I need to prevent me from canceling my service. $100 / month is about the same as I was paying for internet before I came to T-mobile. I was paying $99 / month. I have purchased 3 of those white Google Nest routers at a price of like almost $300 and have placed this gateway box next to every window in my place and still not full coverage. I would like to try to connect one gateway directly to my main tv through Ethernet, and then use the other gateway with the nest routers for the rest of the house. Any suggestions on if that would work?
Rogracer2000, those were my thoughts also, but after having this service a little over a month and moving the gateway to every window in my place, that's the only solution I can come up with. When you call customer service, all they tell you is to move the gateway.
Henry 51:
