Suggestion for T-Mobile Home Internet Technical Team

  • 8 October 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 186 views

Userlevel 5
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The Gateways come with one configured network, which automatically selects either 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz for each connected device.  I believe this is an “802.11ax” standard network.  It is set for WPA2/WPA3 security protocol.  This configuration works fine for most but not all modern home Wi-Fi things.  The notable exceptions are frequently discussed here:  Printers, old computers, home security cameras, garage door openers.  There are dozens or even hundreds of discussions here related to problems connecting to the default network.

Most of the time, the devices will connect to a less secure and possibly very slightly slower network, which is set to 2.4 GHz and WPA/WPA2 security.  This network can be configured IN ADDITION TO the default; the default really should not be “dumbed down” to this level for most devices.

It seems that the customer service people that users can talk to are not adequately trained in this area. 

My suggestion is very simple and would save so many users hours of frustration:  Ship the gateway with that second network already installed.  The first one could be called something like “TM-AUTO-2345” and the second one could be called “TM-2.4-2345” where “2345” is the number that is assigned to minimize the chances of neighbors having the same network names.  Of course the users can re-name them.  The instructions should advise the user to always try to connect to AUTO first and try 2.4 as the second option.


3 replies

So can someone walk me through your to set up a separate network that is 2.4ghz

 

Userlevel 5
Badge +7

Sure.  This is my cut-and-paste explanation.  I post this, or a variation of it, when someone is having trouble getting a device connected.

Some devices cannot see or connect to the gateway’s default network.  You want to leave this network alone and ADD a second network with the + sign at the bottom of the Network tab in the T-Mobile Internet app.  For this new network, set the band to 2.4 GHz and set the WPA version to WPA/WPA2.  Try connecting your device to this second network.  Use the default network for your other devices, as much as possible.

Here are the T-Mobile support instructions for how to add the second network with the app.

Android  How to create additional Wi-Fi networks | T-Mobile Internet app | Android | T-Mobile Support

iOS  How to create additional Wi-Fi networks | T-Mobile Internet app | iOS | T-Mobile Support

 

I appreciate the quick response I normally don't have a problem doing that setup but my mind went completely blank. 

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