T-Mobile Home Internet Gateway - Replacement Isssues

[Judge64]

Just an FYI in case you are using T-Mobile Home Internet in your RV and you have a hardware issue with your Gateway on the road.


So we just left on our 3-month trip to Alaska and the T-Mobile Gateway that I have had for just about a year now crapped out. I know Scubawise had one go bad and he stopped by a T-Mobile store and they replaced it. I figure no problem.... I'll stop by a T-Mobile store when we get to Carlsbad, NM.

I walk into the store last night and the girl asks me how long I've had it. I told her a year..... and she basically tells me I'm out of luck if I've had it more than 14-days.

I say..... the Gateway is included as part of the $50/mo fee so why can't you give me another one. She said.... I have to call Customer Service and they will ship one to my home address.

I tell her I'm traveling and ask if they can ship it to another T-Mobile store so I can pick it up and she said she is not sure they can do that and it may have to go to my home address but I can ask.

I also ask her..... if I want to cancel my service because I can't get another Gateway can I just return it to a TMobile store..... she says it has to be shipped back if I want to cancel my service.


So when I got back to the coach I unpaused my Starlink service a week sooner than I intended to and I was online in 10-minutes. Starlink works great by the way.... Elon Musk has his stuff together! I had my Starlink service paused since last October and it was quick and easy to unpause my service and get online.


I'm going to call T-Mobile Support later today and see whether I can swap out my Gateway at a store on our next stop in Arizona. If not, I will see if they can ship a replacement to a store or I'll check with one of the campgrounds to see if they can ship it there.

If I can't get a replacement Gateway in the next week, I will be calling T-Mobile back and telling them I am cancelling my service and I'll find a UPS Store and ship the broken Gateway back to them and be done with them.

I may first try putting the SIM in my Winegard ConnecT 2 since i just saw that Winegard and TMobile are supporting the $50/mo Data Plans. Not an optimal solution since the Winegard is only 2.4GHz and I don't really feel like going on the roof to install the SIM... but it will give us Internet while moving and will work good enough until we get to our destinations and turn on Starlink.

https://winegard.com/service-plans/data-plans/t-mobile/


T-Mobile has worked great for the last year as an RV Internet solution and the price is reasonable.... but if their support on the hardware sucks, then I would keep that in mind if you have it or are thinking about getting it. I have read online that many people have had to have their Gateway's replaced over time; especially because they can run very hot.... so hardware reliability is an issue.


After having both T-Mobile and Starlink for the last year, I'm now convinced Starlink is a much better solution for RV'ing. T-Mobile and most cellular solutions will be worthless in most of western Canada and many parts of Alaska but Starlink will be humming right along. Starink costs 3x more a month (but can be paused for any length of time) and the Starlink hardware is expensive but it is industrial strength and reliable from everything I have read and experienced so far.

 

[Jimbo56]

We’re using the Verizon home cube. No service around Yosemite, Monument Valley, and strange flashing in Zion. I’m seeing a lot of White squares on poles. Are those Starlink?

 

[dkoldman]

That is unfortunate. When I could not get the $25 / mo promo, I cancelled my otherwise perfect T Mobile service. I cancelled over the phone, If I recall they sent label for me to return and said I could drop off at a UPS store and get a shipping receipt. I don't think a T Mobile store was an option? if not; maybe because they don't have the ability to process the return to provide the UPS receipt?

I then reordered about a week later and got a $35/mo rate That rate is long gone for new customers; so I was lucky.

Are you saying they said they will not replace it period for you because beyond 14 days, or that they can't replace for you in the store because it is beyond 14 days from new service?

I will have to keep all this in mind. Mine is running right now, I have had no issues working toward Year 3. If it does goes out while on the road, I would suspect they would send the new unit to home address on the account. But charge you if the original unit is not processed with a return by a certain date? I actually still had the original box and shipping box for my return. So suffice to say I did go about a week and a half with no T Mobile Home Internet. But I was home and my Spectrum internet in the house actually works in the RV when it is parked on the Port.

Thank goodness you have Starlink as a backup option. My on the road backup plan is my T Mobile phones as hot spot.

 

[rtaggio]

We’re using the Verizon home cube. No service around Yosemite, Monument Valley, and strange flashing in Zion. I’m seeing a lot of White squares on poles. Are those Starlink?

Yep !

 

[Judge64]

That is unfortunate. When I could not get the $25 / mo promo, I cancelled my otherwise perfect T Mobile service. I cancelled over the phone, If I recall they sent label for me to return and said I could drop off at a UPS store and get a shipping receipt. I don't think a T Mobile store was an option? if not; maybe because they don't have the ability to process the return to provide the UPS receipt?

I then reordered about a week later and got a $35/mo rate That rate is long gone for new customers; so I was lucky.

Are you saying they said they will not replace it period for you because beyond 14 days, or that they can't replace for you in the store because it is beyond 14 days from new service?

I will have to keep all this in mind. Mine is running right now, I have had no issues working toward Year 3. If it does goes out while on the road, I would suspect they would send the new unit to home address on the account. But charge you if the original unit is not processed with a return by a certain date? I actually still had the original box and shipping box for my return. So suffice to say I did go about a week and a half with no T Mobile Home Internet. But I was home and my Spectrum internet in the house actually works in the RV when it is parked on the Port.

Thank goodness you have Starlink as a backup option. My on the road backup plan is my T Mobile phones as hot spot.

The girl said an in-store replacement of the Gateway was only possible if it failed in the first 14-days. Then Customer Service had to deal with it via shipping after that point.

Seemd a bit ridiculous. If they are completing with the cable companies, I can go to any of the cable company locations and swap pit bad hardware. If you have to wait 2 or 3 days for a replacement, that’s a bit lame when there are T-Mobile stores all over the place.

If I can’t get then to provide an easy solution for swapping out my Gateway, I could just cancel my service and then stop by a store and start a new service again for the $50/mo.

But I’m thinking I may just cancel it anyway if they can’t make it easy to get a new Gateway since Starlink is going to provide coverage in all the places there is no cell coverage.

I have my AT&T phone I can use as a Hotspot so we have that to use while in motion.

Thanks for the tip on the return process DK! If they can email me a UPS label, that would make it easy to return before we cross the border. I’ll just have to pay UPS to box it since the original box is back home. [emoji106]

 

[HMCSW]

Just an FYI in case you are using T-Mobile Home Internet in your RV and you have a hardware issue with your Gateway on the road.


So we just left on our 3-month trip to Alaska and the T-Mobile Gateway that I have had for just about a year now crapped out. I know Scubawise had one go bad and he stopped by a T-Mobile store and they replaced it. I figure no problem.... I'll stop by a T-Mobile store when we get to Carlsbad, NM.

I walk into the store last night and the girl asks me how long I've had it. I told her a year..... and she basically tells me I'm out of luck if I've had it more than 14-days.

I say..... the Gateway is included as part of the $50/mo fee so why can't you give me another one. She said.... I have to call Customer Service and they will ship one to my home address.

I tell her I'm traveling and ask if they can ship it to another T-Mobile store so I can pick it up and she said she is not sure they can do that and it may have to go to my home address but I can ask.

I also ask her..... if I want to cancel my service because I can't get another Gateway can I just return it to a TMobile store..... she says it has to be shipped back if I want to cancel my service.


So when I got back to the coach I unpaused my Starlink service a week sooner than I intended to and I was online in 10-minutes. Starlink works great by the way.... Elon Musk has his stuff together! I had my Starlink service paused since last October and it was quick and easy to unpause my service and get online.


I'm going to call T-Mobile Support later today and see whether I can swap out my Gateway at a store on our next stop in Arizona. If not, I will see if they can ship a replacement to a store or I'll check with one of the campgrounds to see if they can ship it there.

If I can't get a replacement Gateway in the next week, I will be calling T-Mobile back and telling them I am cancelling my service and I'll find a UPS Store and ship the broken Gateway back to them and be done with them.

I may first try putting the SIM in my Winegard ConnecT 2 since i just saw that Winegard and TMobile are supporting the $50/mo Data Plans. Not an optimal solution since the Winegard is only 2.4GHz and I don't really feel like going on the roof to install the SIM... but it will give us Internet while moving and will work good enough until we get to our destinations and turn on Starlink.

https://winegard.com/service-plans/data-plans/t-mobile/


T-Mobile has worked great for the last year as an RV Internet solution and the price is reasonable.... but if their support on the hardware sucks, then I would keep that in mind if you have it or are thinking about getting it. I have read online that many people have had to have their Gateway's replaced over time; especially because they can run very hot.... so hardware reliability is an issue.


After having both T-Mobile and Starlink for the last year, I'm now convinced Starlink is a much better solution for RV'ing. T-Mobile and most cellular solutions will be worthless in most of western Canada and many parts of Alaska but Starlink will be humming right along. Starink costs 3x more a month (but can be paused for any length of time) and the Starlink hardware is expensive but it is industrial strength and reliable from everything I have read and experienced so far.

Starlink is awesome. We use it for our home wifi and take it with us on trips.

 

[HMCSW]

Yep !

I have yet to be at a location where Starlink was not the fastest option. Hurricane UT last year.Throughout California,Oregon,Washington,Idaho. Heading to Moab and Yellowstone and expect the same.

 

[dkoldman]

The girl said an in-store replacement of the Gateway was only possible if it failed in the first 14-days. Then Customer Service had to deal with it via shipping after that point.

Seemd a bit ridiculous. If they are completing with the cable companies, I can go to any of the cable company locations and swap pit bad hardware. If you have to wait 2 or 3 days for a replacement, that’s a bit lame when there are T-Mobile stores all over the place.

If I can’t get then to provide an easy solution for swapping out my Gateway, I could just cancel my service and then stop by a store and start a new service again for the $50/mo.

But I’m thinking I may just cancel it anyway if they can’t make it easy to get a new Gateway since Starlink is going to provide coverage in all the places there is no cell coverage.

I have my AT&T phone I can use as a Hotspot so we have that to use while in motion.

Thanks for the tip on the return process DK! If they can email me a UPS label, that would make it easy to return before we cross the border. I’ll just have to pay UPS to box it since the original box is back home. [emoji106]

Unless they changed their policy, you were correct in your expectation.

I found my Return instructions. Note: This is of based on last year. See below.

Returning your equipment is easy.
Hi DCOLEMAN,

Ready to return the equipment listed below? Either stop by a participating T-Mobile store and drop it off there to complete your return or follow these three steps to ship your equipment to us.
1. Print your attached pre-paid shipping label.
2. Pack the equipment in a secured box and adhere the shipping label.
3. Ship the equipment by dropping it off at your nearest UPS or UPS Drop Box location

Please make sure you return the equipment on time, undamaged and in good working condition. For more details on T-Mobile’s return eligibility rules, check out our Return Policy.

Just so you know, T-Mobile return labels can only be used for the intended purpose of returning items covered by the return policy. Any other items returned using T-Mobile return labels may be considered abandoned, and they’ll be disposed of after sixty days.

If you have any questions and want to chat, please click here.

Sincerely,
Your T-Mobile Team
​

You might try another store when you get out of New Mexico, Unless your name is Scuba no T-Mobile Store in New Mexico is going to be of much help

 

[dkoldman]

I don't think it is a like for like technology comparison of Starlink to Verizon, AT&T, or T Mobile Mobile Internet? If Starlink was $35/mo ( actually $50/mo), I may switch too; but then again; I like my simple box that is plug and play portable. I carry my T Mobile black box in my Navigator too to have WiFi in the vehicle leverage all of the Lincoln Play toys.

I am not retired and can't travel like most of you guys. I have yet to be anywhere I didn't have T Mobile service. If I was in some place with no service, I didn't notice because I wasn't trying to use.

 

[16ACE27]

Starlink is awesome. We use it for our home wifi and take it with us on trips.

Starlink is awesomely expensive! (FTFY)

Still waiting for the promised $70 a month plan with $100 equipment costs. Every time you turn around they change plans and the price goes up.

I got on the AT&T Mobley Connected Car plan years ago for $20 a month + taxes (about $23 total). Price has never gone up. Some months it's rarely used, other months we use the dogmeat out of it. Except for a couple of places in the Blue Ridge Parkway (one right outside of Ashville) we always have enough bandwidth to stream on two TVs - rarely use the OTA antenna anymore.
It's supposed to be 22 Gb a month high speed data then you get "deprioritized". Never been in that state that I know of.
The Mobley is long gone(stored away in case I ever need it) but the SIM live on in it's third, third-party modem.

We may have to change one of our phone's SIMs to a Verizon Tower carrier when we head out west, but for our Central and East coast travels, this works for us.

 

[ducksface]

Open a new tmobile account and get free box at the store?
THEN Cancel old broken t mobile?

 

[dkoldman]

Open a new tmobile account and get free box at the store?
THEN Cancel old broken t mobile?

They may have changed since I was last screwing around with them, but at the time T Mobile would only allow one device per address. Which was logical. But what was un-logical; if you provided them a 2nd address then they said only one device per account (meaning a T Mobile phone number) Yeah; so even though I got 5 T Mobile phones; they see as only 1 account

I had to cancel 1st, them a week later I created a new account.

 

[Judge64]

Unless they changed their policy, you were correct in your expectation.

I found my Return instructions. Note: This is of based on last year. See below.

Returning your equipment is easy.
Hi DCOLEMAN,

Ready to return the equipment listed below? Either stop by a participating T-Mobile store and drop it off there to complete your return or follow these three steps to ship your equipment to us.
1.Print your attached pre-paid shipping label.
2.Pack the equipment in a secured box and adhere the shipping label.
3.Ship the equipment by dropping it off at your nearest UPS or UPS Drop Box location

Please make sure you return the equipment on time, undamaged and in good working condition. For more details on T-Mobile’s return eligibility rules, check out our Return Policy.

Just so you know, T-Mobile return labels can only be used for the intended purpose of returning items covered by the return policy. Any other items returned using T-Mobile return labels may be considered abandoned, and they’ll be disposed of after sixty days.

If you have any questions and want to chat, please click here.

Sincerely,
Your T-Mobile Team
​

You might try another store when you get out of New Mexico, Unless your name is Scuba no T-Mobile Store in New Mexico is going to be of much help

DK…. You are the man!

I was actually going to try another T-Mobile in Tucson on Tuesday when when we head there tomorrow. It was a small store and the girl was young so I figured I would go with the three strike rule before cancelling altogether.

I’ll try a store in Tucons and if they won’t swap it out, I’ll tell them I want them to cancel me on the spot and take the Gateway back. That might be enough for them to do something vs lose a customer.

 

[Judge64]

We have been on many places in the last 5 years where there wasn’t cell coverage. That’s why I went with a dual carrier approach to have the best chance of having some type of coverage. But there was one ty of times there was no AT&T or Verizon Coverage.

Last year between T-Mobile and Starlink it was the first season we had 100% coverage. There were several places I had no T-Mobile (or AT&T) coverage.


Starlink may be expensive from some perspectives but if you’re not a full-timer, it becomes about the same as any other plan.

I use Starlink ~3 months a year and pause the service the rest of the time. That adds up to $450 a year.

I can pause T-Mobile 6 months a year so that’s $360 per year for my puposes.

So that puts me at $810 a year. If I drop T-Mobile and use Starlink 3 or 4 months a year that costs me $450 - $600 per season and as close to 100% coverage as you can get. I call that very reasonable given the coverage, speed and reliability.

If you’re a full-timer, Starlink becomes expensive…. but it comes down how much it is worth to each individual’s needs.

 

[happy-THOR]

Starlink would be the absolute winner if they could get their mobile/roam system down to $100 or less.

 

[dkoldman]

Starlink would be the absolute winner if they could get their mobile/roam system down to $100 or less.

I still don't think it would be absolute for all, and defer to Judge's previous statement...

"...but it comes down how much it is worth to each individual’s needs."​

The Goal is Quality Internet, when, and where you need at the lowest cost.

For my needs T Mobile is 99% where people go or are; so all things (service and availability) are equal in that aspect; so cost is still the main differential.

Starlink would have to give me their $600 equipment for free and charge less than $35 / mo for me to consider the change. Even if they did, I would likely NOT change because I want my device to be easily concealed in my vehicles or whereever I may take.

With that said; and why I say you can't really compare the two. In my view Starlink is THE ONLY CHOICE for Internet anywhere. It cost what it cost and has a lot of value for millions who use it. But a lost of people don't need that. In fact T-Mobile, AT&T & Verizon Home Internet is designed to only provide Internet at your Home address.

So in my case I pay $420/year and I have service year around with no worries. My device serves Triple duty, for my RV & SUV for wherever I go, and for my home as backup.

 

[happy-THOR]

T-mobile , ATT, and Verizon home do not service our home area. I see their ads and envy the speed at low cost that is available.

 

[happy-THOR]

What steps do full time RVer's take to get T-Mobile Home Internet?

 

[Jimbo56]

What steps do full time RVer's take to get T-Mobile Home Internet?

T Mobile was not available at my address. Verizon was. I got mine online from Verizon. I’m not a Verizon customer. I pay a flat rate $50 per month. I use it at home for streaming. So far the only 2 areas we haven’t had service is Zion and Yosemite. Ours is unlimited. No speed reduction after a certain amount of usage. We can connect up to 10 devices.

 

[happy-THOR]

Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile are not available for our home so they will not sell their Home Internet to us.... For 2 years they have, "Been coming soon".