Home Internet and wifi extender

WilliamF wrote:

I use a separate EAP1250 access point nowhere near the router and it works fine. I just hooked it up to an ethernet connection via a switch on the same LAN as the router. I configured it with a static IP address which works with the router’s fixed subnet and basically ignore the Wifi that came with it. This seems to work well and has a much better signal in my home and garage (for the wifi enabled sprinkler control). It isn’t mounted to the roof, just next to the switch.

EAP1250 - Wi-Fi 5 Wave 2 AC1300 Compact Indoor Wireless AP

I expect this will work with any standalone access point which doesn’t just retransmit another signal.

I don’t know what you just said but I want it if it works. I have no clue about networking,subnets,static IP’s etc, will this work for dummies? Lol I’ve gotten a Linksys, TP Link and net gear extenders and none work. 

NikonD7500 wrote:

There is no reason why a wifi extender cannot work with the home internet service.  If you’re looking to buy an extender I would suggest confirming that it will work with an existing wifi router (the home internet box essentially contains a wifi router).

Don’t waste your money. It does not help with T-Mobile Internet, we’ve tried several. 

MisterK wrote:

I’ve tested with success using my two Apple AirPort Extreme routers. First test was a short ethernet cable to the first AIrPort and wireless to the second AriPort. That worked fine. Then I set it up connecting one AirPort to the Gateway with a long Ethernet cable (in the walls in my house already). That works fine too. No noticeable signal loss. I don’t see anyway to connect any router or extender to the Gateway without an ethernet cable.

Can you give some details on how you setup your AirPort Extreme. I was trying to use one of mine to extend my network and I am running into issues. 

Reply to MisterK on connecting AirPort Extreme to T-M Gateway.

Great to hear you did not have to do anything special when plugging in the Airport Extreme, but were the SSID and password the same or different?

I use a separate EAP1250 access point nowhere near the router and it works fine. I just hooked it up to an ethernet connection via a switch on the same LAN as the router. I configured it with a static IP address which works with the router’s fixed subnet and basically ignore the Wifi that came with it. This seems to work well and has a much better signal in my home and garage (for the wifi enabled sprinkler control). It isn’t mounted to the roof, just next to the switch.

EAP1250 - Wi-Fi 5 Wave 2 AC1300 Compact Indoor Wireless AP

I expect this will work with any standalone access point which doesn’t just retransmit another signal.

I did not do anything special. I connected one Airport to the T-Mobile gateway with an Ethernet cable, and I set up the other Airport as a wireless extension of the network. I have since stop using the Airports and I sold them. I did a bunch of testing placing the Gateway in different locations in my large house. I found that smack dab in the middle is the best. I get better speeds with it there even though the signal gets reduced on the outer fringes of the house. I cannot connect to my network if I am in my concrete bunker storage room, but that’s ok since I don’t spend much time in there.

The best solution will be the time when T-Mobile offers some type of Mesh extender(s). I see this in my IP web address setup, and on the Home Internet apps too.

To:MisterK

I was very interested to read ofyour success connecting Apple Airports as I need to do the same to reach all parts of my house. What configuration changes did you have to make to the Ethernet-connected AirPort?  SSID and password same as T-M Gateway or different? Change mode from Create Network? Change IP address range, disable DHCP?, etc.

I will be very interested to hear if and how the extender works. There’s no dedicated gateway WiFi 6 extender (that I know of) to wirelessly extend the gateway. That means a router would need to be hardwired to the gateway, and then an extender/beacon/node needs to be used to extend from the router. It’s unfortunate that the WiFi extender feature on the gateway is such a mystery.

See this. Somehow we are supposed to be able to connect a mesh network (system), but there’s no documentation on how to do that.

My Apple AirPort Extreme sends out the 5GHz network from my gateway.

nartino wrote:

Is there any reason I cannot use a wifi extender with my home internet service?

II've tried two different TP Link extenders and neither one would see the 5G band, if you find an extender that works with the T-Mobile gateway please let me know! Thanks if I find out I'll add to this post