I wish to remove the T-Mpbile Gateway (KVD21) with a new modem and router. What cellular choices to I have in order to use the existing SIM. I already have the router I need.
If you want 5G home internet service through T-Mobile, right now you have only two choices--the Arcadyan or the older Nokia. There have been rumors off and on about T-Mobile adding new gateways, but so far it’s just those two.
Are there any 3rd party modems that will work with the service (SIM)? I have a router that I will use; just need a good connection to the cell service.
Based on my own experience and research on this forum, you will require the Arcadyan or Nokia modems/gateways from T Mobile in order to access T Mobile’s internet service. You can, as I have, connect your router with a cat 5 Ethernet cable to the T Mobile gateway device and then connect your Wi-Fi devices to the router, if you need it for signal coverage in the far corners of your house. There is no other way that I know of to connect with T Mobile if you want them as your ISP; no third party modem or router will connect to T Mobile with the Arcadyan or Nokia SIM cards.
BigJon
A couple of posters have recently mentioned a third option, but it’s only for small business internet customers. It’s the Inseego FX2000. It’s still a gateway/router combo, but allegedly has more flexibility.
One poster mentioned recently ordering it. See link to the topic with that post below. Not sure if there’s an additional charge for that gateway as it appears to cost quite a bit more than the other two.
I have recently received the FX2000 gateway from T-Mobile. Seems to be capable of resolving some of the issues I currently have with the Nokia gateway. However, as per info available from T-Mobile (and Waveform, a seller of antenna systems), the antenna ports are useless because they only support frequency bands not used by T-Mobile (at least in my neck of the woods). Very disappointing!
I second the motion - The FX2000 should support more common bands via external antenna ports. Currently, it only supports bands B42, B48, and n78. And yes, VERY disappointing! I live in a rural area and outdoor antennas are only means to getting a reliable signal. Although if placed next to the proper window, the FX2000 does achieve double the speed over AT&T (probably due to n71/sub 5G being one of the bands for me). I guess they expect you to install a bubble style skylight and place it there.
The real bummer is that the FX2000 uses the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ SDX55 chip which is an amazing CAT 22 (5G capable) modem! The inseego FW2000 outdoor version with built-in antenna ($1,100 US) uses the same chip and shows the following supported bands:
• 5G NR: n1/n2/n3/n5/n7/n12/n20/n25/n28/n38/n40/n41/n46/n48/n66/n71/n77/n78
• 4G LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B43/B46/B48/B66/B71
Perhaps someone will open one of these up and figure out how to connect antennas to internal circuit board like they do with the Nokia 5G21 (trashcan) gateway device.
Aside from that, the FX2000 has some nice features like IP Passthrough and a 1 Gbps Ethernet port which are great if you want to connect a more feature-rich router/firewall. It also supports OpenVPN directly which I have tested somewhat successfully with NordVPN (it disconnects at least once a day and max VPN speed seems to be 20 down/10 up).
If the FX2000 external antenna ports supported the more common bands, it might be a business class solution. If T-Mobile is your only option for rural/WFH internet service, you might check out the pricey FW2000 (https://inseego.com/products/fixed/fw2000/). Remember, these require a T-Mobile business account which is $50 for 100GB per month (not bad).
I have a business account with T-Mobile, and their Nokia gateway, connected to a Waveform antenna is performing well for me, except of course for the limitations of no pass-through capability.
Yes, Inseego's FW2000 is pricey! But do you have any first hand information of whether it will work with, and be supported by, T-Mobile?
Sorry, but haven’t checked out if it’s officially supported T-Mobile device. Can’t imagine why it wouldn’t be since it’s same modem and components as FX2000, but has integrated 4x4 MIMO antenna for sub 6/LTE bands and 2x2 MIMO for 2mm 5G bands. What got me interested is that I could use it with AT&T bands as well.
Good news! Inseego markets the FW2000e specifically as a solution for T-Mobile customers, even to the point that business subscribers to T-Mobile receive a heavily discounted price (not sure about consumer accounts). I have one on order and will be testing as soon as it arrives. I’ll post with the results.
This morning I received from Inseego, their FW2000e external antenna/modem. It was a bit of a group effort, with my T-Mobile business rep signing off on everything so I could obtain this unit at about 50% of retail price. It took about an hour to install it and get it up and running, and my first impressions are quite positive.
First, some background: I have been a T-Mobile for Business subscriber ($50/month - unlimited use) for about a year, and was obtaining decent performance with their Nokia router connected to a WaveForm 4x4 MIMO antenna system. Performance was about 75 (ping), 170 (download) and 12 (upload). Much better than the satellite providers (and more reasonably priced), but the Nokia lacked the ability to “pass-through” the internet to my own wireless router and home network.
As a trial, I obtained from T-Mobile one of their new Inseego FX2000 modems and attempted to connect it to my existing WaveForm antenna using the connection ports built into the modem. Alas, as previously informed by WaveForm and T-Mobile, the built-in antenna ports on the FX2000 are not compatible with the frequencies used by T-Mobile. No amount of tuning could get the FX2000 to perform any better than when not connected to the antenna system (about 25% of the performance I had been getting from the Nokia modem through the external antenna).
Anyhow, I now have the FW2000e installed at the location previously occupied by the WaveForm antenna system, and even though the installation app pronounced the location as only “fair”, I am enjoying performance comparable to the previous setup. I must add that my location is 2 miles from the tower, with plenty of trees between it and my location. I would never classify it as “line of site”. The performance I have obtained from T-Mobile has been relatively consistent and satisfactory, but I am fortunate to be in a very rural area, near a tower set up to service the interstate highway that runs nearby. My only competition for the available bandwidth appears to be highway traffic.
Total cost for the FW2000e was $859, including freight and taxes. The T-Mobile subscription is still only $50, but I understand a static IP is available for $10/month extra. T-Mobile also appears to have another subscription package offering priority bandwidth should my current subscription no longer meet my needs.
All in all, I am quite satisfied with T-Mobile and Inseego, and can recommend this combination to others looking for rural internet access.
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