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Full configuration of DHCP and other network services

  • 10 December 2022
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bocaboy2591
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Is there a way to get into a configuration screen for the KVD21 5G Gateway? Ideally, I'd like to connect my gateway to an existing TP-Link router to supply wireless and DHCP. I can work around the wireless by giving the KVD21 5G Gateway a separate SSID than the router, but I don't see any way to get into DHCP and configure or disable it on the gateway.

I understand that T-Mobile is looking for simplicity of use for the overwhelming number of users, and I certainly think that’s commendable. Nonetheless, for those of us who understand the basics of networking, access to advanced features would be a major improvement.

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Best answer by iTinkeralot 10 December 2022, 20:12

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iTinkeralot
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Users do not have the ability to disable the DHCP on the gateway. The gateway cannot be configured in bridge mode either. Users can connect a second wireless router and have a double NAT solution but that is the only solution. If you go out watch the Nater Tater YouTube video you can see the workaround he has for disabling the wireless on the Arcadyan gateway. It is possible but T-Mobile does not promote this. Still it is a possible path to take. Nate clearly provides the information and it is not difficult.

C
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At present there are no settings other than Wifi and login. Furthermore, those basic settings are now only available via the mobile app as there is no web Ui for the KVD21. You can still add your external router and enable DHCP like normal but you will have two NAT layers. While there is nothing wrong with that some applications do not work well with “double NAT”. You can always try it and if you experience issues, your only option would be to switch your external router to Access Point mode which uses the TMO router’s DHCP.

bocaboy2591
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Thank you both for you answers. For the time being, I've decided to completely disconnect the TP-Link router and only use the KVD21 5G Gateway. I am surprised at how good the wireless is from the device, as it certainly mimics the coverage I was getting from the TP-Link.

I use a couple network devices that really require Ethernet, like my Silicon Dust Homerun Tuner which I use with Plex. There is no wireless option on the Homerun tuner. I've also decided to keep my Apple TV 4K connected with Ethernet. I used both ports on the back of the KVD21 5G Gateway. One goes directly to the ATV 4K and the other to a Netgear 5-port 1 GB switch where I can use Ethernet as I see fit.

I was a bit disappointed that I can only get 3 bars with 4G on the gateway, but that still gives me over 50 mbs, more than enough for a 2-person household with no gamers. It's less expensive than Xfinity and doesn't suffer from the outages that Xfinity seems to constantly have in my area.

Has anyone tried a booster antenna for 5G? Do they work? Are they worth the investment? 

iTinkeralot
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You can use the T-Mobile home internet mobile application to see the cellular metrics and if you experiment a bit more with the placement maybe you can get an additional bit of signal strength. The LED bars on the front of the gateway are just a general reference. If you want to know more you need to look at the cellular metrics. I can post a chart I have that explains the values. With my gateway I focused upon improving the secondary signal which is always the 5G NR where you will get the download traffic. The 4G LTE can drop a little and it will only impact uploads for the most part. The key to getting it to have better performance is to improve the signal quality RSRQ and SINR, signal to noise ratio. The RSRP, radio signal receive power is good to know but a clean quality signal will perform better. A strong signal with lots of noise and poor quality will still not perform well. 

The gateways usually perform better close to a window and higher up. The key is to find a good location where there are not obstructions between the gateway and the cellular source if possible. Keep in mind you might find a location that seems odd that it reports a better set of metrics but it could be that there is a signal reflection. The cellular signals can bounce off buildings and still reach places it might not otherwise. If you have metal screens avoid being behind those. Avoid appliances and reduce the wall surfaces as much as possible. Putting the gateway on a long extension cord and taking it for a walkabout the house is a good way to fine tune the location. 

The T-Mobile gateways do have WI-FI 6 technology and they seem to do quite well. There are not many knobs to turn but if you don’t understand all the tech then that works. The only clients that can fully take advantage of the WI-FI 6 capability are those with the same newer wireless adapters. Prior generation adapters will only do what they can do. I use the T-Mobile gateway here without any additional router and I get good wireless coverage in our 2 story 3300 sq ft home. There are a few weak spots but they are not that important to cover anyway.

When it comes to boosters they currently only make the 3G/4G LTE boosters and not the 5G with MIMO technology. If you can find one it will be expensive. A decent cellular signal booster can run $400-$600 dollars and they are not worth the cost in my opinion as they are not really made with the broadband cellular gateways in mind. For cell phones they can be helpful. If you have 3 bars that is actually not bad. Try and see if you can improve the location of the gateway first.

Chart to understand the cellular metrics:

 

iTinkeralot
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Just to give you an idea about the cellular metrics. I get three bars on both primary and secondary signals but since it is an n41 5G NR signal on the secondary my downloads can be 200-300 MBs download and the uploads with the B66 LTE frequency are usually around 28-54 MBs so it is plenty of bandwidth for our needs. Every location and cell is a bit difference for the delivery so results vary quite a bit even when the metrics look good or excellent.

You can test with Speedtest.net or say speed.cloudflare.com or fast.com or others and sort of get some good feedback from different tools. I like the cloud flare tool as the test seems pretty comprehensive. 

 

bocaboy2591
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iTinkeralot (great handle), thanks for all the information and an explanation of the metrics. As I said before, I am a bit surprised at just how good the gateway performs. We live in S. Florida in a 2200 sf house with hurricane impact windows. The gateway itself is relegated to our entertainment center where it has access to Ethernet. My project over the next couple of days is to see if converting Apple TV and a few other devices to wireless would allow me to untether it from Ethernet and experiment with the gateway in different areas of the house. I also have access to the attic. I once put an old Linksys router up there for wireless coverage and it worked great! My phone does get 5G in the house, but apparently it's not a strong enough signal for the gateway.

We don't have many choices for ISPs in this area. It's either Xfinity or AT&T. Xfinity has very good bandwidth (800-1Gb) but expensive. In addition, every 12 months I have to play the game of “what will you charge me this year.” Add to that the inevitable outages with Xfinity and AT&T and you’ll understand what pushed me to try the T-Mobile gateway.

We're a two-person household with plenty of devices. As an ex-IT guy, I too love to tinker with technology. We have a few computers, iPads, iPhones and Apple watches, Amazon Echo devices in multiple locations and smart switches and smart plugs throughout the house. The two TVs are set up for streaming with Apple TV. Even the garage door has a Nexx opener!  According to the gateway, it is connected to 45 devices.

While the performance of the T-Mobile gateway is obviously slower than Xfinity, it surprised me with just how well it serves out needs. The gateway’s wireless is as good as the TP-Link router we were using, which is the reason I chose not to put it into AP mode.

I'm going to give it another week before I make my final decision as to whether to return the gateway to T-Mobile or keep it and dump Xfinity. If I had to make the decision today, I'd keep the gateway.

Here are a couple screen snaps of the metrics for the gateway. Not ideal per your analysis, but still giving me very good performance. (That 1-bar is 5G) Thanks for all your insight and expertise. It is greatly appreciated!

 

iTinkeralot
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The metrics seem to suggest to me you are not receiving any 5G frequency. It is so low it can’t even register the 5G. That explains the speeds you get as they are primarily due to the 4G LTE signal. I have seen my upload push up to 60 MBs when on the B66 LTE signal. 

Clearly it is in a bad spot for receiving 5G. You should get onto cell mapper.net and look for 5G T-Mobile cells in the area. That is the main issue I have with the T-Mobile gateway is that placement is so critical and the antennas are all contained and there is no quick attachment for external antennas for locations where the external antenna is needed. 

Overall though the service here is good. Some users with the Sagemcon gateway have had issues with them starting to reboot frequently after a week or so of operation and found the problem repeated. Not all but some so it is not without some trials to get things happy. Some of the gateways don’t do well with heat so placement due to potential over heating is also another factor to contend with.

bocaboy2591
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Ive been monitoring the heat output of the gateway for the last couple of days and it is at best, warm to the touch but certainly not hot. The gateway itself is behaving as I expected other than settling on 4G LTE rather than 5G.

Having said that, I don't want to take my eyes off the prize. If I can maintain the speeds I’m seeing with speedtest, I'm a happy camper. I'm getting anywhere from 37-52 mbs which is more than sufficient to run two streaming TVs simultaneously and keep all the gadgets connected and operating. T-Mobile will net me a savings of $240 annually and, hopefully, far fewer outages. I guess my hope is that 5G will continue to be expanded and that this technology will improve over time. For now, I am really happy with the performance, albeit somewhat surprised.

As I said before, I'm not going to cancel Xfinity for a week so I can be reasonably sure that the T-Mobile solution will work.

iTinkeralot
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The main reason I brought up the heat as if you do try to use the attic you know it gets hot up there in the summer time and the gateways do act up when there is too much heat. Just a reminder.

Your prize level is rather conservative but I do get it. If there is greater load on the tower then there is throttling so that bandwidth can become very limited with a 20-30% throttle on the traffic due to user load. When there is congestion and cell phone activity is higher then the gateways have less priority so the dynamics of the behavior become a bit more unexpected for end users. 

I hear you on the savings each year. I avoided the others due to contracts and prices 2X what I could get with T-Mobile. Actually our only options here due to rural location were HughesNet or Skylink so it was a no brainer. The fact that there is no contract and we can discontinue the service at any time without penalty is a big win. The drawbacks to HughesNet are obvious as well for service quality for the amount of money. Not an option. Skylink is a huge up front investment and 2X the monthly costs at least so that was not going to happen. The T-Mobile solution here in rural east TN has been pretty solid other than a couple of periods of unrest for 4-5 days each. When they bumped the cell from n71 to n41 that was a big win. It pretty much doubled our download speeds and the upload is improved as we got the B66 LTE vs the B2 which is slower. So, you really want a bit of head room if you can get it. Sure what you are getting now seems pretty great for the cost but when the winds of change blow that can be diminished in seconds so a bit extra bandwidth, even if you seldom use it, is welcome. I can download a movie from Netflix in 30 second most of the time. Downloading the content to watch it when you want is a good plan. If the bandwidth is available and you know it will be less during peak time when you might want to watch a show having the content downloaded is a big win and makes it a much more pleasant viewing experience as you don’t encounter the spinning doughnut. I hope it works out for you as yes the savings each year is a big win.

bocaboy2591
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Part of my thinking is how much bandwidth do I really need. With Xfinity, I have 800 mbs, but the truth is that I don't really “see” that bandwidth in performance gains. Yes, it's a bit snappier, and downloads take place faster, but other than that, I'm leaving a lot of change on the table in terms of bandwidth.

Although I'm retired, I still do a fair amount of beta testing for Apple. Downloading a new build will definitely take a couple more minutes. When I look at streaming, something my wife and I do every day, I don't see a bit of difference between T-Mobile and Xfinity. Both are error-free and allow me to watch what I want, including Plex. The only thing I haven't tested is Zoom and Facetime, two apps that I use somewhat regularly.

I'm going to give it to Friday and then make my decision. As I said before, if I had to make that decision today, I'd continue with T-Mobile and hope that I haven't made a mistake My area is not rural, but I am still limited to AT&T (DSL), Xfinity and the solution I'm using with T-Mobile. I'd be willing to say that in my immediate neighborhood, Xfinity is the major provider and that almost no one is even aware of OTA wireless as a connection option.

As always, thanks for all the input and experience. It is much appreciated!

bocaboy2591
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I just wanted to let everyone know that T-Mobile is running a promotion of $25 Home Internet FOR LIFE as a Xmas special. Since I'm a new user, I qualified for this discount. If the savings over Xfinity were good before, they're even better now!!

https://tmo.report/2022/12/t-mobiles-best-holiday-deal-25-per-month-home-internet-for-life/

R
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Hello folks, I’m another technical user, with RF experience and telecom background, along with IT and electrical engineer >20yrs. I went looking for PLEX and KVD21 remote access, that may be the only bust but it is what it is. I had tried out the trashcan device, and returned it after getting ATT fiber. BUT now ATT is doing the “bait and switch” with promo expired and “no promotions currently available” game. Similarly with Spectrum (cable), but I lose power frequently in my neighborhood and that kills the cable signal (regardless of home UPS/generator). ATT has a similar issue but they at least have some kind of UPS setup (so fiber is active during brief power outages). Have to use their huge device (BGW320-505); it’s better than previous models and does Wifi6 (802.11ax). My issue is needing internet during power outages (ring doorbell!).
Great current deal on device, in addition, they have a promotion for $100 gift card for new service from 11/10/2022 - 1/11/2023.

R

I am facing issue where I keep Orbi mesh router in Router mode as I use parental controls, and there is no internet detected by Orbi on WAN port on Orbi web admin screen when I connect it to Arcadyan.

Interestingly, if I select 'available via Orbi' Wi-Fi in android phone's available WIFI connections for Orbi router, device gets 192.168.12.x IP address and it works fine, but when I select regular Orbi Wi-Fi, device gets 192.168.1.x IP and no internet is available on it.

So somehow Orbi is giving out 192.168.12.x IP to some devices even though Orbi is in router mode!

Is this due to double NAT or IPV6 or something that is beyond my basic networking understanding?

I see all devices given 192.168.1.x IP address by Orbi in admin UI, but I also see some devices given 192.168.12.x IP address in Arcadyan android app devices tab for the devices that can get internet through Orbi.

I have not disabled Wi-Fi on Arcadyan and not sure if that contributes in any way to my issues.

Any inputs on my situation are highly appreciated.

bocaboy2591
Userlevel 5
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Rich, check that the Orbi isn't acting as a DHCP server. There can only be one DHCP server on a network, and the Arcadyan KVD21 5G gateway’s DHCP can't be disabled. If you can set the Orbi up in Access Point mode, you'll probably have better luck with it.

R

Bocaboy, I don't want to put it in AP mode so that I can use parental controls.

I took out orbi rbk50 from junction box and plugged in a different ethernet cable directly to WAN port of orbi from arcadyn instead of using wire going inside the walls of my house to the junction box, and it resolved my above issues. 

I am not sure why using the pre wired ethernet cable going inside the walls was causing these issues and I was using same cable for orbi satellite for backhaul without issues. Probably that cable goes through some switch or something that causes the issues?

But with plugging another short cable directly to orbi works and everything is looking good right now including parental controls.

bocaboy2591
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Rich, is it possible the cable in the wall exceeds 300 ft.? If so, that would be the problem. Ethernet is limited to 300 ft. before it would have to plug into a switch for another run. The Orbi might be able to make sense of it, but not the T-Mobile gateway, especially if it’s a run close to the maximum Ethernet cable length.

R

Bocaboy, my estimation is wire could be close 100 ft long but considering 20 year old house and potentially inferior quality of wire used by builders may be causing t-mobile gateway to not recognize an orbi router on the other end. What you are suggesting seems to be logical reasoning behind issue I was facing.

Thanks for all the inputs!

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