T-mobile 5G Home Internet Gateway Review

In this video I will discuss the differences between the 3 gateways that are currently offered by T-Mobile for their 5G Home Internet Service. We cover the technical specification differences as well as conducting ping, WiFi Speed, and disconnect tests.

Music: Epidemic Sounds

[mrichter]

This is what I was looking for. However the first gateway was actually rectangular and white with an optional backup battery in addition to a small battery for placement during setup.

[mjvaquatics]

I came from Verizon DSL @1.0mbps DL speed on a good day on a land line that had really bad line noise every other month or so. I brought the TMHI Sagemcom gateway home in January (2023) and hooked it up on a shelf next to a south facing upstairs bedroom window. I was in disbelief with over 200mbps DL speeds. After 4 days, my speeds tanked and TM support had me do a power cycle, then a factory reset and all was well. A month or two in, Devices showed a "Gateway Error Code 500" that would not resolve and is still the case. After consulting with TM Support, at first they suggested sending me an Arcadyan, but then we resolved that I'd continue with the Sagemcom as long as the gateway continued to otherwise work properly.
I was typically connecting on 5G/n41, 'Good' signal, with 200-400mbps DL speeds. Lately as the trees are leafing out, more and more I'm connecting on 5G/n71, sometimes 'Weak' signal, with slower (150mbps DL), but still acceptable speeds, but may worsen when trees fully leaf out?).
I can't get cable unless I spend $23, 000 for 1000 feet of aerial cable, and I was told (by a Verizon Tech) that I'd likely never see fiber at my address. Satellite systems are expensive, have low data caps, and throttle to unusable speeds.
With TMHI I finally have high speed internet with unlimited data, price locked at $50/mth ($10 less than I paid for DSL).
𝐒𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓-𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐜𝐨𝐦 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲!

[SMPTEColorBars]

I’ll be moving into a new place in less than a month and this helps a ton! Thanks, bud!

[Nctbgs]

I have all 3. I prefer the Nokia over them all.
It’s rock solid and always has faster speeds than the others .

[claudacious]

Better than spectrum for speed and reliability. The ping on mine goes from 24 on a good day to over 100 on busy weekend. The cell service on my S23 Ultra is actually faster on ultraband, I'm hoping they make a gateway to recieve that signal.

[SacKingJOSER]

You forgot to mention which one has the best ventilation because the Nokia one overheats so it has to slow down your internet speed in order to keep itself from causing damage

[spleen]

I live in suburban New Jersey, half an hour from New York City. I get no N41 nor N66 anywhere near me, the modem connects under N71 to a blistering 25 Mbps. Originally when I got the modem it was connecting at 5 mbps or under so it's gradually getting better. Hoping they expand faster service around here. Can't play games online but at least I can still stream movies and TV for now.

[Hectorszenshopedc]

I just ordered it, thanks.. mobile hot spot is 40 Gb plus cap

[ruzhdtu]

Appreciate your video, however I just started using Tmobile home internet and I started with the Nokia gateway and we had to unplug our gateway multiple times a day or wait 5 to 10 minutes for the Nokia to reset itself. I googled the issue and there's a boatload of complaints about the Nokia. Now I using a SAG gateway and hoping that the change will resolve the issue.

[andrewenyeart]

Off topic feedback: Tne autofocus of your camera keeps adjusting whenever you gesture with your hands, and the frequent blur/refocus is very distracting. Consider locking the focus, since your head is pretty steady throughout a take.

[dlbet]

What were you doing while testing? I have four rooms streaming separate video, plus multiple computers playing audio/video, downloading uploading graphics, etc. I'm sure I can run simple programs on your tests, but what about maxing it out?

[stanleybest]

This is an uncommon review. Which devices run off of 12 volts DC? Which ones are best for distance from cell tower?

[esedgesyg]

Thank you! this wa exactly the content I was looking for. I have the Arcadyan, and it works acceptably well, but I recently tried streaming video games via Parsec, and got dropped audio and video frames. It looks like "buffer bloat" from the 5G Tmo connection (ping times shoot way up when there is traffic on the line). Which of the others two do best, or have SQM / QoS controls that may help. Thanks.

[fh]

Considering using TMHI in my RV... I've seen some videos of hacking the Arcadyan for use with external 4x4 MIMO antennas, which make for much better reception and speeds. Do you know if you can use external antennas on the Nokia or Sagemon gateways?

[MilesMatsumura]

I used all three: Nokia (no issues), Sagem (blocks connection to my employer's Meraki VPN and to Samsung TV Plus), and Arkadyan (blocks Samsung TV plus).

[JackedtheTs]

The Nokia model DEFINITELY has reboot issues... I could just be luck of the draw of the unit... But mine reboots and many others have posted problems with frequent reboots... I have found that creating a separate 5g and 2.4g network and putting older devices ( more than 3 years) on the 2.4g network. I seen another youtuber say that older devices' antennas don't seem to play nice. I've found that forcing them to the 2.4 seems to help a lot. When I first received the unit and setup it up, it rebooted 4-5 times in 1 hour, on its own. The rebooting issue is very well documented by other users of the Nokia gateway.

[lattermanstudio]

Have been TMHI since the Nokia was first shipped. I live out in the country and over time I got the Arcadyan and I have had much better performance with that product over the Nokia(s) .... it's more sensitive and you really notice this way out in the boonies. Never had any restart needed issues either with the Arcadyan. your milage will certainly vary...

[rickygarbaj]

How did you end up with all three? I have the Arcadyan and would love to swap it out for a different model

[youzhou]

How were their Ethernet speed compared with Wi-Fi. Heard 3rd has bug to cut 50% speed through the Ethernet port

[wackyguyoverthirty]

Do you have a router as well with it? How secure is the gateway without any type of router or firewall?