T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet has taken the country by storm, offering both new, high-speed connections to remote areas as well as a new competitor to existing non-competitive markets. The service has been available nationwide since April of 2021, and provides speeds upwards of 200Mbps down (and often higher).
In that time, the service has gone through 4 different Home Internet Gateways. These devices are the modems that connect to the cellular network and provide both Wi-Fi and an ethernet connection to the customer. The latest model of those gateways, commonly referred to as the “G4” or Gen 4 model, is manufactured by two companies: Arcadyan and Sercomm.
The G4 gateway is unique to the lineup, as it provides an external antenna connection for customers to connect their own antennas to get better signal (or an antenna sold by T-Mobile for $99). This is a feature that was heavily requested by customers since the service launched, with the most popular antenna of choice being an excellent Waveform antenna.
Up until now, this model of gateway was only available to new Home Internet customers that signed up online or via telesales. Stores were still only being given one of the previous models to give to customers. That now appears to have changed.
According to multiple reports, both online and via tips sent to us, as well as a document obtained by us here at The Mobile Report, the new gateways became available in stores as of February 29th.
Interestingly, T-Mobile says in the document that “the optional antenna does not provide better coverage”. That’s certainly an odd statement, given the company actively sells the antennas online, not to mention it’s quite clear external antennas work well for the service.
It’s worth noting that these are still for new customers, as the document states existing customers cannot request a gateway swap at this time. T-Mobile clearly wants all gateways to be treated equally, regardless of how customers feel in reality about each model.
Based on the inventory section of the document, it appears the G4 models will become the de facto standard moving forward, with only leftovers of the older model being distributed while available. This suggests the older models are no longer being manufactured.
Reviews of the G4 unit are positive, with many customers being pleased with the reliability and convenience of being able to add an external antenna. It’s good to see it will be the standard moving forward.
