I have the unlimited TMobile ISP internet modem, and it works ok, but it has limitations that I can solve by using a different modem. The TMobile ISP box does NOT have a bridge mode and it does NOT have external ports for external antennas. For those of us in rural areas this means we get maybe 1 bar of service. The NO bridge mode means I either intend to let the TMobile modem be a router as well as a modem, and I don’t like this idea for several reasons: 1) The firewall sucks. 2) no masquerade 3) No detail configurable firewall with subnets, 4) No embedded GPS for location & 5) the 2.4 & 5 Mhz Wifi is not powerful enough to reach the far corners of the home and those emitters interfere with the cellular signal at 1 bar, making upload speeds suck for a Plex server. So I prefer my Mikrotik router, and my Mikrotik AP’s stanmding alone on the network - which means I need the TMobile ISP modem to be in bridge mode, (but they don’t have a bridge mode) or I’ll encounter a double NAT issue. There are too many ports to attempt to forward on my network and opening the DMZ is counter intuitive to the purpose of a true masquerading firewall. So using the TMobile modem as a DHCP server/firewall is not an option I’ll consider.
So I purchased the Netgear LB1120 modem and proceeded to transplant the sim from the TMobile modem into the Netgear 1120. I set the APN to fbb.home and - nothing. It will not connect to the TMobile network. No bars. I installed a generic TMobile sim card in the Netgear LB1120 and it comes right up - with 1-2 bars.
So how do I configure the Netgear LB1120 to use the sim card out of the TMobile ISP modem?
If I can get it to work I can install the L400 cables to the external grid antennas outdoors, pointed at the nearest cell tower, and I should get 5 bars and a truly descent internet experience.
