New TMO-G4SE internet gateway installed 6 days ago (1/3), everything worked out of the box. I disconnected the ethernet cable from my Cox modem (to my Netgear R6700 router), and connected it to the LAN port on the T-Mobile gateway. All my existing APs and SSIDs stayed the same - that's were most of the smart home devices are connected. It was seamless. Can't remember if I rebooted the router or not.
Yesterday morning (1/9) I woke up to find all the old Wi-Fi SSIDs were still on, but nothing connected to them was getting internet (waiting for an IP address...). Every night the Netgear gets power cycled using a timer switch so that it will reboot, so I presume the reboot on night 6 is when they lost internet.
Interestingly, ethernet connections to the Netgear kept working.
T-Mobile tech support were no help. "your third-party equipment might be incompatible, we can sell you a new mesh wi-fi, call Netgear...)
2 x hard resets on the TMO gateway , plus untold number of reboots of the router, brought everything back.
I can't find a solution in the usual places, reddit, youtube, etc., I'm guessing I need to change something in the Netgear router? Change the router to AP or bridge mode? There's nothing to change in the TMO gateway, all you can do is disable the wifi.
What can I look for in the router the next time this happens to the wifi?
p.s. for this particular problem, other sources suggest turning off wifi on the gateway? Is that just to avoid interference? Since most times people would place routers very close to gateways?
Turning off the wifi will reduce/eliminate interference but it will not prevent the two routers from getting in the way of each other.
what about wifi extenders that were linked to the router before? they seem to be unavailable now.
That is probably a NAT issue. Nothing to do with interference.
AP up and running, but I'm not convinced the problem is fixed yet, still having some devices lose internet.
You'll have to provide details of what is actually happening. Sadly "not convinced" doesn't give us much to go on.
When experimenting with your setup remember to restart things as required.
Be sure to restart your network in this sequence:
Turn off and unplug modem.
Turn off router and computers.
Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
New TMO-G4SE internet gateway installed 6 days ago (1/3), everything worked out of the box. I disconnected the ethernet cable from my Cox modem (to my Netgear R6700 router), and connected it to the LAN port on the T-Mobile gateway. All my existing APs and SSIDs stayed the same - that's were most of the smart home devices are connected. It was seamless. Can't remember if I rebooted the router or not.
Yesterday morning (1/9) I woke up to find all the old Wi-Fi SSIDs were still on, but nothing connected to them was getting internet (waiting for an IP address...). Every night the Netgear gets power cycled using a timer switch so that it will reboot, so I presume the reboot on night 6 is when they lost internet.
Interestingly, ethernet connections to the Netgear kept working.
T-Mobile tech support were no help. "your third-party equipment might be incompatible, we can sell you a new mesh wi-fi, call Netgear...)
2 x hard resets on the TMO gateway , plus untold number of reboots of the router, brought everything back.
I can't find a solution in the usual places, reddit, youtube, etc., I'm guessing I need to change something in the Netgear router? Change the router to AP or bridge mode? There's nothing to change in the TMO gateway, all you can do is disable the wifi.
What can I look for in the router the next time this happens to the wifi?
Thanks in advance.
Is your gateway and R6700 router located in close proximity (under a few feet) to each other? If yes, you could be experiencing some RF interference.
Your gateway is attempting to perform router functions on your local network and at the same time your R6700 in router mode is attempting the same thing. It is called double NAT and is not recommended for your reasons above. Also explained here: https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-double-NAT-and-why-is-it-bad.
Yes, it would be good to configure your R6700 to access point mode and that should help. Access point mode disables the router mode and some other features. Here is the list:
Router and gateway are 30-50 feet apart, in different rooms.
I saw other posts warning about double-NAT-ing but no one explained it as clearly as you just did - thank you. Sounds simple - why couldn't T-Mobile tech support tell me to try that.
p.s. for this particular problem, other sources suggest turning off wifi on the gateway? Is that just to avoid interference? Since most times people would place routers very close to gateways?
what about wifi extenders that were linked to the router before? they seem to be unavailable now.
AP up and running, but I'm not convinced the problem is fixed yet, still having some devices lose internet.
p.s. for this particular problem, other sources suggest turning off wifi on the gateway? Is that just to avoid interference? Since most times people would place routers very close to gateways?
Turning off the wifi will reduce/eliminate interference but it will not prevent the two routers from getting in the way of each other.
what about wifi extenders that were linked to the router before? they seem to be unavailable now.
That is probably a NAT issue. Nothing to do with interference.
AP up and running, but I'm not convinced the problem is fixed yet, still having some devices lose internet.
You'll have to provide details of what is actually happening. Sadly "not convinced" doesn't give us much to go on.
When experimenting with your setup remember to restart things as required.
Be sure to restart your network in this sequence:
Turn off and unplug modem.
Turn off router and computers.
Plug in and turn on modem. Wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
Turn on the router and wait 2 minutes for it to connect.
p.s. for this particular problem, other sources suggest turning off wifi on the gateway? Is that just to avoid interference? Since most times people would place routers very close to gateways?
what about wifi extenders that were linked to the router before? they seem to be unavailable now.
AP up and running, but I'm not convinced the problem is fixed yet, still having some devices lose internet.
If your router and gateway are 30-50 feet apart, you will not have any interference.
Are you using the same SSID and password for each transmitter (router and gateway)? It is OK if you do.
I do not know how much channel configuration control you have over the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands on your gateway. Suggest you configure different channel numbers between the two transmitters. For the 2.4 GHz band, choose channels 1, 6, or 11 on one device and then one of the other two on the other device. Avoid auto channel selection on one or both devices if possible.
Do the same thing on the 5 GHz bands. Select channel 44 on one device and 56 on the other. There is no auto selection option on the 5 GHz band.
You should reset and reconfigure your Wi-Fi extenders since you configured your router as an access point. You can still tie the extenders back to the access point.
The network restart sequence @michaelkenward laid out is very important. Your gateway is a combination modem/router. The 2 minutes wait time is a minimum. Give your devices ample time to connect and stabilize after they are powered up. Look for LED indicators that show an internet connection is available before moving ahead to the next step.
I went back to router mode on the Netgear and didn't connect it to the TMO gateway - I wanted to get all the smart home devices working again with Alexa. I essentially scrubbed all the changes and started over from a place where I know everything is working. I power cycled all the smart home devices to get them re-connected to wifi, and I think I will need to do that again when the Netgear changes to AP mode.
I'm about to start over - change Netgear to AP mode then connect it to the gateway - but another question arises.
I have another old router (Linksys) in AP mode connected to the Netgear router via ethernet. I use it for a TV (via ethernet) in a different room, and have some nearby device connected to its wifi.
When the Netgear changes to AP mode, should I leave the Linksys in AP mode or change it to bridge mode, or what?
Do I really need to disable wifi on the TMO gateway when the Netgear is in AP mode? That's what all the articles and tribal-knowledge say, but is it just to avoid interference? As I said, the gateway and router are 30-50 feet apart.
I went back to router mode on the Netgear and didn't connect it to the TMO gateway - I wanted to get all the smart home devices working again with Alexa. I essentially scrubbed all the changes and started over from a place where I know everything is working. I power cycled all the smart home devices to get them re-connected to wifi, and I think I will need to do that again when the Netgear changes to AP mode.
I'm about to start over - change Netgear to AP mode then connect it to the gateway - but another question arises.
I have another old router (Linksys) in AP mode connected to the Netgear router via ethernet. I use it for a TV (via ethernet) in a different room, and have some nearby device connected to its wifi.
When the Netgear changes to AP mode, should I leave the Linksys in AP mode or change it to bridge mode, or what?
Leave the Linksys in AP mode. Power it down and disconnect the Ethernet cable while you are making the changes to the Netgear device. When you are done making changes, reconnect the Ethernet cable and power it back up.
Do I really need to disable wifi on the TMO gateway when the Netgear is in AP mode? That's what all the articles and tribal-knowledge say, but is it just to avoid interference? As I said, the gateway and router are 30-50 feet apart.
So far so good, all the SSIDs are up and look stable so far.
The Linksys manual says to plug the ethernet cable from the Netgear into a LAN port and not the Internet port, which is what I did. But the Netgear articles on AP mode didn't mention this - ethernet from the gateway goes to the internet port on the R6700, and it seems to be working. Thoughts or comments?
The Linksys manual says to plug the ethernet cable from the Netgear into a LAN port and not the Internet port, which is what I did. But the Netgear articles on AP mode didn't mention this - ethernet from the gateway goes to the internet port on the R6700, and it seems to be working. Thoughts or comments?
