Wi-Fi coverage can be a pain for larger or weirdly-shaped homes, especially if your main router is located at one end of the house. For T-Mobile, their 5G Home Internet gateways offer usable Wi-Fi 6 signal, but you’re often forced to keep the unit close by a window.
We previously reported on an FCC listing we found for a new mesh access point made by Arcadyan, the company that also makes T-Mobile’s latest G4AR gateway. That access point was then announced to be a part of the new Home Internet Plus plan T-Mobile is launching.
Thanks to a few images sent to us here at The Mobile Report, we now know what that mesh access point will look like, as the units begin arriving in stores across the US.
The access point is meant to be a supplemental Wi-Fi signal specifically paired with the G4AR 5G Gateway. The access point works by connecting to the wireless signal the gateway broadcasts and then, essentially, rebroadcasting that signal. Ideal placement is somewhere with a decent signal to the gateway, but where signal is just starting to drop out.
According to another document, setup is simple, with customers just needing to use the T-Life app on their phone to add the unit to their network. There’s also a manual setup where customers simply attach the unit via ethernet to the G4AR to pair, then disconnect the unit and place it appropriately in the home.
Customers can also connect up to 2 wired devices to the mesh access point, which can be handy for wired-only devices that don’t happen to be near where the gateway is placed.
It’s unclear if the unit will work wired as well (offering true freedom of placement, albeit needing a direct connection to the gateway) but it’s likely that’s possible as well.
The new access point will be available starting tomorrow, April 26th, as part of T-Mobile’s new Home Internet Plus plan. The units have arrived in stores, and will be available to ship to customers as well. It’s unclear if the company will offer the device for purchase separately, though we doubt it considering it’s nearly the entire point of the new Plus plan.
