T-Mobile Home Internet via ethernet connection tip

[der.hans]

Am 20. Aug, 2022 schwätzte David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss so:

moin moin,

> I’m going to guess not. That seems like it would be a higher-level function you’d have to do yourself using a smart router and subnets.
>
> it supports DHCP, but the lack of access to the inner logic does’t tell me much.
>
> It’s a basic “gateway appliance”. They don’t want people mucking with internal settings.
>
> (I imagine you can find some folks who have published info online about hacking into these devices. They probably use very common FOSS code inside. I mean … it’s just a router with a 5G cellular modem attached to the WAN port, right? I think I saw something that said they've got SnapDragon CPUs inside.)

Good point about just being a 5G cellular modem. Wonder if we can supply
our own.

> Can you do this with consumer-level devices from Cox or CenturyLink?

I have both. Both allow setting up VLANs by physical port. Both are
annoying and slow WebUI. Wifi on the CL device sucks.

ciao,

der.hans

> -David Schwartz
>
>
>
>
>> On Aug 19, 2022, at 11:52 PM, der.hans <PLUGd at LuftHans.com> wrote:
>>
>> Am 19. Aug, 2022 schwätzte David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss so:
>>
>> moin moin David,
>>
>> I forgot to ask ( but presume the answer is no ), do the t-mobile devices
>> support multiple vlans?
>>
>> I would like to isolate some devices and presume I would need to provide
>> my own devices for network segregation.
>>
>> ciao,
>>
>> der.hans
>>
>>> I dunno if anybody here has T-Mobile Home Internet, but I do and I really like it. I only have one beef: the spec sheet for their modem/gateway says it has 2x 1 gigabit ethernet ports, but they’re only 100 Megs. In case anybody else might want to consider them as an ISP and has a 1GB LAN to connect, I’ve solved the speed dilemma.
>>>
>>> First off, I’ve been round and round with their tech support folks lying about it for two years, and was recently told that they were going to be releasing a new device soon and it def. WOULD have 1 Gb ports.
>>>
>>> Well, they announced a new one (two, actually), and I got one and … once again the spec sheet SAYS 1 gigabit ethernet but the performance says nope — it’s still only 100 megs. WTF? I guess this lets them shave a couple of bucks off of the hardware cost. Actually, I’m not even sure why they bother to include the slow ethernet ports at all.
>>>
>>> (In a way this is really quite amusing, because prior to this, most modem/gateways have crappy WiFi and speedy ethernet — especially those from Cox and CenturyLink.)
>>>
>>> I don’t know how a big company like T-Mo gets away misrepresenting a product like this for so long. Why can’t they just SAY they’re 100 meg ethernet ports?
>>>
>>> Anyway, I finally got fed-up and bought a TP-Link RE550 AC1900 WAP/Range Extender and configured it so I can plug my local 1 GB ethernet LAN wire into it and connect to the T-Mo gateway via WiFi.
>>>
>>> To be sure, the T-Mo gateway’s WiFi is FAST! I’ve seen speeds up to 870 Mbps. The ethernet, OTOH, never exceeds 93 Mbps.
>>>
>>> With the RE550 plugged in, my Mac minis connected to the LAN now get 750 Mbps DL and 78 Mbps UL. WHOA! That’s 5x DL and 2x UL faster than I got via the wired connection. (Actually, the newer 2018 Mac Mini gets that; the older one from 2014 only gets 180 Mbps DL and 65 Mbps UL.)
>>>
>>> And in case anybody is wondering why I use a wired LAN, it’s so the two Mac Minis can talk. I have the new one configured so I can access the old one via Screen Sharing on a dedicated Space (virtual desktop). When I do that over WiFi, the connection is intolerably slow for me; but with the wired connection, it’s quite reasonable.
>>>
>>> BTW, I dropped Cox a couple of years back and cut my monthly TV + Internet bill by quite a bit by switching to T-Mo’s Home Internet ($50/mo) and a couple of internet channels (Discovery+ and Philo).
>>>
>>> T-Mo’s Home Internet has been far more stable, consistently faster, and has fewer dropouts than any other ISP I’ve ever used. I highly recommend it. Just … if you need to connect a wired LAN, get something like a fast WAP/Range Extender to act as a LAN-to-WiFi bridge.
>>>
>>> -David Schwartz
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>> --
>> #  https://www.LuftHans.com   https://www.PhxLinux.org
>> #  "If it's not a toy you're looking at it wrong." -- der.hans
>
>

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