You can ask AT&T for the unlock code. But it is not recommended since AT&T M6 doesn't support T-Mobile bands. You can try our retail SKU MR6150-100NAS. It has both AT&T and T-Mobile band supports and it is unlocked. Thanks

On AT&T M6, we didn't enable T-Mo bands. Also AT&T and T-Mo have different CA, EN-DC support as well. If they are not set based on the network capability, the device performance will be significantly impacted. Thanks

This is a big issue for me. Both units have the exact same modem internally. It is a matter of sending a different cellular firmware to the modem, which could even be done OTA. It seems as if Netgear just wants us to buy new devices, without enabling the capability on the devices in the first place. I am having huge issues with AT&T. For example, LTE or as ATT calls it 5Ge does not work when using the default ATT APN nrbroadband, but when using APN "broadband" it works fine. Except it will not connect to mmWave or High band on "broadband" apn. This is on the AT&T business wireless broadband 100mbps plan. i have troubleshooted with ATT for 6 months, and we finally realized that the default LTE APN would have to change, which is what the device seems to do on its own. The mobile broadband disconnects and reconnects constantly when trying to attach to a 5G tower. Its as if the Carrier aggregation is not working for 5G NSA or for LTE. or 5G SA. These are all very big issues. I am on the latest ATT FW release, and still having these issues. I own six of these MR6500 devices, and all 6 behave the same way. ATT only solution is to replace device under warranty, which won't fix anything because netgear is still making the same crappy firmware. I am in a big Sub6 and mmWave market, in Atlanta. I am getting about 120 down and 35 up on my MR1100 and it stays connected on a zoom call, all day. With the MR6500 it experiences regular signal drops and session termination. Session termination only occurs when the entire connection is lost. This usually would only happen when there is not a secondary 5G band or Secondary LTE band to use with CA. These modems support up to 7x CA, yet it doesnt appear netgear is using it at all. At this point, it would almost be easier to remove the x65 M2 chip from the modem and place in a USB converter and use it that way, with a custom flashed modem firmware, actually fixing this modem.

adamjj wrote: This is a big issue for me. Both units have the exact same modem internally. It is a matter of sending a different cellular firmware to the modem, which could even be done OTA. It seems as if Netgear just wants us to buy new devices, without enabling the capability on the devices in the first place. I am having huge issues with AT&T. For example, LTE or as ATT calls it 5Ge does not work when using the default ATT APN broadband, but when using APN "broadband" it works fine. Except it will not connect to mmWave or High band on "broadband" apn. This is on the AT&T business wireless broadband 100mbps plan. i have troubleshooted with ATT for 6 months, and we finally realized that the default LTE APN would have to change, which is what the device seems to do on its own. The mobile broadband disconnects and reconnects constantly when trying to attach to a 5G tower. Its as if the Carrier aggregation is not working for 5G NSA or for LTE. or 5G SA. These are all very big issues. I am on the latest ATT FW release, and still having these issues. I own six of these MR6500 devices, and all 6 behave the same way. ATT only solution is to replace device under warranty, which won't fix anything because netgear is still making the same crappy firmware. I am in a big Sub6 and mmWave market, in Atlanta. I am getting about 120 down and 35 up on my MR1100 and it stays connected on a zoom call, all day. With the MR6500 it experiences regular signal drops and session termination. Session termination only occurs when the entire connection is lost. This usually would only happen when there is not a secondary 5G band or Secondary LTE band to use with CA. These modems support up to 7x CA, yet it doesnt appear netgear is using it at all. At this point, it would almost be easier to remove the x65 M2 chip from the modem and place in a USB converter and use it that way, with a custom flashed modem firmware, actually fixing this modem. This is your AT&T subscription issue. For using 5G, you need to get the new AT&T SIM with 5G subscription. Then the device will set the APN as nrbroadband. The device can't enable what is limited by the carrier subscriptions. Thanks John

Does Netgear have to pay the FCC or Qualcomm for each band you enable on the modem or something? Will it at least work on T-Mobile 4G, but not 5G? I checked the band support on the M6 Pro and LTE bands 2, 4, 5, and 66 are supported. Those are used by both AT&T and T-Mobile for 4G LTE.

Can I unlock the AT&T M6 Pro hotspot and use with T-Mobile?

10 Replies

JohnPeng
NETGEAR Expert
Nov 14, 2022
You can ask AT&T for the unlock code. But it is not recommended since AT&T M6 doesn't support T-Mobile bands. You can try our retail SKU MR6150-100NAS. It has both AT&T and T-Mobile band supports and it is unlocked.

Thanks
- hummous
  Guide
  Nov 14, 2022
  Hi, thanks for the reply. What are the T-Mobile bands? I'm just confused since the iPhone 14 has the same Qualcomm X65 modem, and it has all T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon bands.
  - JohnPeng
    NETGEAR Expert
    Nov 14, 2022
    On AT&T M6, we didn't enable T-Mo bands. Also AT&T and T-Mo have different CA, EN-DC support as well. If they are not set based on the network capability, the device performance will be significantly impacted.
    
    Thanks

Forum Discussion

Can I unlock the AT&T M6 Pro hotspot and use with T-Mobile?