\n\nT-Mobile\u2019s new 5G home broadband gateway\/wireless router matters for one big reason: It\u2019s an alternative to the cable monopolies that dominate most major markets in the United States. Whether it\u2019s a better option than cable is, unfortunately, a question we can\u2019t objectively answer, for two reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, what T-Mobile officially calls its T-Mobile High Speed Internet Gateway (5G21-12W-A) is \u201c5G\u201d\u2014and the quality and bandwidth of the wireless signal you receive in your home will be dependent on any number of factors, the most significant of which will be the gateway\u2019s distance from your nearest 5G cell tower. You\u2019ll also need to balance what we found against what your own, competing broadband ISP delivers. Fortunately, T-Mobile\u2019s plan offering is flexible enough that you can probably create your own one-month trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my case, cable still regrettably offers the best option for my family of four, living in a house filled with streaming media devices and gaming laptops. T-Mobile\u2019s 5G router offered enough bandwidth for about half of my family, but not quite enough for all four of us and our many devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be fair, though, we never experienced all that the T-Mobile High Speed Internet Gateway has to offer. While T-Mobile labels my house as \u201dcovered\u201d by its 5G services, the reality wasn\u2019t quite as simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specifications and setup
T-Mobile\u2019s router plan is all-inclusive: after confirming your eligibility, for $50 per month, T-Mobile will send you a pre-configured router with an activated SIM inserted. (The $50\/mo actually includes a $10\/mo AutoPay credit, so the actual price is $60\/mo.) There\u2019s no annual contract, either. If you decide the service isn\u2019t for you, you can simply call T-Mobile, cancel, and the company will send you a prepaid label to box up and return the 5G21-12W-A hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T-Mobile\u2019s pricing is already on par or lower than even the cheapest cable contracts, and T-Mobile promises unlimited internet with no data caps or throttling to boot. Still, T-Mobile says that the service is \u201cnot intended for unattended use,\u201d so don\u2019t plan to download Linux distributions via BitTorrent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of its coverage map, T-Mobile knows if your home will be close enough to a cell tower to receive a satisfactory signal. If you\u2019re feeling really nerdy, however, you can visit a site like CellMapper.net and discover just how close the nearest cell tower is, and what wireless bands those towers use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Physically, T-Mobile\u2019s router reminds me of the Harman Kardon Invoke, a now-discontinued cylindrical smart speaker, that, like T-Mobile\u2019s router, included a color display at the top. It measures 8.5 inches high by 4.75 inches in diameter, and is powered by a wall-wart-like plug with a conveniently lengthy six-foot cord. That\u2019s handy, as you\u2019ll want to position the gateway as close to an outside wall or window as possible to receive the maximum signal available. Inside is a Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) radio with four antennas to create the wireless network your client devices will connect to. You can also tap its dual gigabit ethernet ports for wired network connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T-Mobile\u2019s gateway does have some quirks: There\u2019s a USB-C port, a UPS port for an unterruptible power supply, and an RJ-11 telephone jack on the back of the router. but none of them are functional\u2014at least as far as I could tell. I tried plugging a USB power supply in, but that didn\u2019t work. I didn\u2019t have a compatible UPS to test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 5G21-12W-A does have an internal battery, which allows the gateway to be used cable free\u2014well, sort of. Setting up the router requires first turning it on, letting it boot up, and then walking it around the house or apartment to find the best signal. The LCD screen on top communicates this signal information in real time, though it will turn off after several seconds unless you tap it awake. You can also \u201cswipe\u201d through several screens, which tell you the number of devices connected, any service messages from T-Mobile, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s another quirk: While on battery, neither the ethernet nor the Wi-Fi connections can be used. That\u2019s odd, since as I drove around my neighborhood with the 5G21-12W-A gateway to check signal strength, the battery level only dropped by a percentage point or two, meaning that it should realistically offer internet connectivity in case of a power outage. That\u2019s simply not the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You might also think that a \u201cwireless\u201d gateway could be set up anywhere, unlike a wired cable gateway that can only be set up near the coaxial cable\u2019s entry to the house. Unfortunately not. Typically, the ideal location will be near a window, one that isn\u2019t partially blocked by a mesh screen. And location does matter, more than you might think: your wireless network must also be organized to take the gateway\u2019s location into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the 5G21-12W-A gateway reported that my house is bathed in a \u201cweak\u201d (2 out of 5 bars) signal throughout, I was only able to establish a \u201cgood\u201d (3 out of 5 bars) signal in a corner of my son\u2019s room, next to his window. And that, right in the middle of his Legos, became my new wireless gateway location!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Setup took just a minute or two, overseen by T-Mobile\u2019s smartphone app. Once the usual niceties were completed\u2014picking an administrator password, setting an SSID, and so on\u2014the gateway was up and running. T-Mobile\u2019s app offers a quick and easy dashboard displaying current signal strength, which devices are connected, and so on. The web interface (which, by default, can be accessed via http:\/\/192.168.12.1 while the gateway is connected) offers a lot more detail, albeit without much in the way of explanation for people less familiar with 5G and networking tech in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Performance and everyday use
I used T-Mobile\u2019s 5G21-12W-A gateway for about three weeks, wirelessly connecting entertainment devices like the Xbox game console, plus my sons\u2019 tablet and PC. Given how much they\u2019re in use during summer vacation, I figured that they would be an excellent test of whether the T-Mobile signal remained constant. The signal dropped three times in that period, according to my kids\u2014usually just a few seconds, but once for a bit longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also tested the speed, of course. With all devices disconnected, speeds ranged from a maximum of 180Mbps to about 120Mbps downstream\u2014again, on what T-Mobile\u2019s app considered to be a \u201cgood\u201d signal, or three out of five bars. Upstream speeds, which matter if you\u2019re uploading video to YouTube or backing up files or photos to the cloud, reached just under 50Mbps, which is still much, much faster than the 14Mbps my cable provider, Comcast, offers, with its 400Mbps service plan. These tests were performed with a wireless client close to the router, with no other devices connected to the gateway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My kids certainly didn\u2019t report any issues while gaming or chatting with their friends via Zoom or Facebook Messenger, and they were able to download game updates normally. I also streamed 4K\/60fps video from YouTube without problems. Finally, I re-ran my video-stream test while simultaneously performing a speed test and saw download speeds of 111Mbps, this while Windows updates were wirelessly downloaded to a different PC. The video stream dropped 102 frames out of 18,000\u2014nothing noticeable. Google\u2019s Stadia gaming service also reported a connection of 59Mbps (again, while streaming video) and approved the connection as a candidate for the service, though I didn\u2019t try it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s worth noting that my T-Mobile gateway was not connected to 5G. The T-Mobile app\u2019s \u201cMore\u201d tab will show you which frequency band your device connects to, which was typically Band 4 (defined by T-Mobile as a 4G LTE band). A cellular signal app on my 5G-capable T-Mobile phone also showed that the phone (not the router) occasionally connected to bands 2, 66, or 71\u2014again, all 4G LTE bands. T-Mobile does operate 5G services on cell towers aligned along Bay Area interstates, but that tower was on the other side of town, and I doubt that the router ever connected to it. There\u2019s no way of forcing the router to use a particular LTE or 5G band, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The router aspect of T-Mobile\u2019s gateway works well, within reason. In my house, a split-level tucked into a hill, Wi-Fi signals tend to get lost in the maze of walls, floors, and ceilings. My traditional ISP gateway built into the basement struggles to push signal throughout the home without repeaters. I was somewhat surprised to see my phone\u2019s signal app report a 65Mbps Wi-Fi link from the router alone, but my notebook PC struggled to connect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had far better luck connecting T-Mobile\u2019s gateway to a discrete mesh router. Coincidentally, I also received Vilo\u2019s ultra-low-cost mesh networking system for evaluation, so I simply connected the tiny little mesh nodes around my house. That was an effective, inexpensive complement to what T-Mobile offered, blanketing my home with Wi-Fi coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T-Mobile\u2019s Wi-Fi services and management tools, however, are decidedly lacking. While T-Mobile does a nice job of telling you which devices are connected, you\u2019ll find yourself hunting through the app\u2019s UI to either disconnect each device individually, or else schedule a time to turn them off. I also couldn\u2019t find any options either in the app or web interface to create a guest network, which is simply table stakes for home networking these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I couldn\u2019t connect to my office VPN, GlobalProtect, via the T-Mobile router. This bug, at least, is well documented and attributed to an IPv6 configuration issue. While I was able to connect by adjusting some networking parameters on my PC, a longer-term fix involves rolling back the router\u2019s firmware. The router also doesn\u2019t seem to work with Hulu + LiveTV, according to T-Mobile\u2019s customer-support forums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who should sign up for T-Mobile\u2019s home internet service?
I approached my hands-on with the T-Mobile High Speed Internet Gateway (5G21-12W-A) from what now is a very timely perspective\u2014breaking the stranglehold cable providers have on American consumers. The Biden administration is already taking aim at broadband monopolies, but it will be up to the FCC to enact change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From my experience, I can\u2019t say what the full potential of T-Mobile gateway may be. I imagine there are few places where 5G is available, but cable isn\u2019t. For now, the performance advantage probably lies with cable broadband (or the even harder-to-get fiber broadband service). Folks living in rural areas, meanwhile, probably won\u2019t have any more of a chance to get 5G broadband than they do cable broadband or fiber, leaving them to the mercy of DSL or satellite service providers or\u2014if they\u2019re lucky\u2014an affordable, high-performing WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, not everyone needs ultrafast broadband. If you\u2019re a small household that streams video, checks email, and downloads Windows updates in the background, T-Mobile\u2019s router is absolutely worth checking out. Most broadband connections can already accommodate these needs, and high-speed broadband (greater than 200Mbps) is more of a requirement for larger households with several active streaming devices or laptops in use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then there\u2019s pricing, of course. Here, things change dramatically. A price of $50 per month is quite attractive, especially compared to cable bills that can easily top $100 per month (including TV service). Add data caps and possible overage fees, and costs also quickly climb there, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, T-Mobile isn\u2019t asking you to cancel your cable, or even switch broadband providers. For $50, you can simply call or contact T-Mobile and sign up for a month\u2019s worth. A T-Mobile representative said that after a month\u2019s time, if you choose to cancel, T-Mobile will send you a prepaid label to return the T-Mobile High Speed Internet Gateway (5G21-12W-A), and credit your bill accordingly. Even with T-Mobile\u2019s current limitations, that\u2019s an enticing offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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