✅ MoFi 5500 5G Router - Features - Speed Test - T-Mobile 5G Home Internet MOFI5500-5GXeLTE
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- čas přidán 3. 02. 2023
- MoFi is well known, lets see how their 5500 cellular modem and router compare to others. I also reference the Arcadyan KVD21 and Chester Tech Repairs 5G Router. Here's how each stack up compared to each other on T-Mobile 5G Home Internet service. I have tested the Arcadyan KVD21, Sagemcom 5688W, Peplink Balance 20x with 5G FlexModule Mini, Peplink Pepwave Max BF1 Pro 5G and the Chester Tech Repair custom gateway as well as others in the past. The stock gateways provide you with NO way to adjust these settings so you really need to go aftermarket to Peplink, Chester, MoFi or others to open the door to faster internet.
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The one I test here is the MOFI5500-5GXeLTE-EM9191
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#Mofi5500 #mofi #chestercellularrouters #chestertechrepairs #hotspotking #5g #tmobile #verizon #IMEI #magic #BYOD #speedtest - Věda a technologie
Thanks Nater for sharing you deep knowledge and show your viewers actual apples to apples tests. I find it amazing how much I learn from you most of the time in just your ‘side comments’. Thanks. 👍💯😊
Nater thank you for this !!! you sir are doing Gods work for T-mobile ;)
I've been using a MoFi 4500-4GXeLTEV2 for a number years on Verizon's network as a substitute hotspot device with good results. I've been curious about the MoFi 5500 with 5G capability. Thanks for the review, very helpful.
Wow, nice explanation!! Well I was looking to upgrade my mofi4500 to the 5500 5g but after watching your video I opted to go with Wi-Fi 6 Industrial LTE 5G NR Wireless Modem Router Bundle Fixed Wireless Access Point Quectel CAT19-RM520N-GL/ Qualcomm IPQ5018 from Chester Tech Repairs.... again, thank you for the video
Hey Nate…sure appreciate your videos!!
Would love to see a review on the Netgear M1 and/or M2!
Nate, you don't mention what sim card you are using in this tests. Is it the sim from the TMo box or one from some other non home internet plan?
Good report… thanks 👍
Glad you enjoyed it
I noticed the ping was higher with the non TMO devices. Is this normal? Considering the Chester but was hoping ping would actually improve.
Great job!
Thanks!
Thank you for this test, it's one I've been curious about. I presume you had both the Mofi and the Chester in the same antenna orientation.
I was surprised the Mofi appentently did not aggregate more than 1 lte band. As I recall they advertise that it should aggregate up to 5 bands in lte and 2 in 5g.
As someone else pointed out the Mofi was using a different lte band than the other 2. I wonder if that band had a higher traffic load at the time you where running the testing.
Looking forward to your next series of tests.
Hey Nate, I used your code and got the Chester (same modem as yours) I'm gonna test it out for about a month then do a review, so far so good ! Thanks as always for the content !
Awesome thank you!
What has been your experience so far with the Chester?
@@raphaelness1239 it has been the best thing I could've done for the service (still not perfect) but miles better than any stock gateway ( I've tried 2 different models) the option for 5G SA alone has given me a ping in the mid teens and double the download bandwidth that I got from the Nokia and Arcaydian.
Looking forward to watching this, although Nate let me know it won't be all sunshine and unicorns. What is that thing sitting on my router :)
It's a potato 🥔...aka a Nater Tater!
@@NaterTater Duh, of course...they used to call me kartoffelkopf, i.e. potato head.
A DMZ means that any system that is accessible from the internet are in a separate subnet from the rest of your computers. Then all external traffic is only allowed into that subnet and automatically blocked from accessing any other network. This means while your web server may be hacked, it is much less likely your personal computer gets hacked.
Hey Nate it has been a while.
I have this MoFi5500 and using it now. I have a real problem with 5G here. So until T-Mobile gets off of there butts and upgrade here I am stuck with 4GLTE. BUT I am locked to band 2 and band 41 and getting about 100-150 Mbps down and 20 up. I haven't put any external antennas on yet because I found that the 4X4 Yagis were to high because of my elevation here. So they are coming off the 60ft tower down to 15ft. I sat the router outside and even though my signal was low the speeds were better. I also have Starlink but because of the lack of customer service it was a waste of $600.00. I may have been better to used the money for toilet paper.
ANYONE thinking about Starlink may want to read more before ordering it.
Have a great day everyone....
Thanks for all the info!
Is there any way you can help me figure out how to get my iptv working on T-Mobile home internet
Hey Nate, If I use DMZ to forward traffic to my router, do I will get port forwarding feature at the end. I have business Tmobile account. ?
Perhaps if you also pay for the static IP that is an option on t-mobile 5g business internet
Does the Chester have a TTL setting? Thanks for the video. Have had a MOFI 4500 for 2 years. Works great, but am looking to upgrade to 5G. I have great 5Guc signal at my location.
Yes it does. See the full settings options on this video: czcams.com/video/mj0b4FnJen8/video.html
For the Chester do we have to get a business sim or can I move it out of the ark modem and just stick it in?
You can move it out of yourTM HI device. The Chester router has a setting to "clone" you IMEI from the TM HI device. I have one and it has changed my opinion if the TM service. I have an external 4x4 MIMO antenna and with the Chester I've been extremely pleased.
Thanks for the video Nater. I am currently looking into differnent internet options because I live in a rural area with limited options. I started looking at 5g service options and the hotspots Verizon and T-Mobile offer. But now I came across this video and see third party 5g routers and I didn’t think the cell carriers allowed anyone to use their sim cards in third party devices. Does Verizon and T-Mobile allow the use of third party routers on their network? Thanks again for the content you share
Verizon is forced to allow (czcams.com/video/tJhnv_XUfSg/video.html), T-mobile not so much but still ways (czcams.com/video/mj0b4FnJen8/video.html)
Thanx Nater...Out of the 3 gateways t-mobile has,which one,in your opinion,is the fastest one? I mean in your own use??? Thank you!
czcams.com/video/Sp0ReGuUnI0/video.html
Nate i got the Chester modem per your recommendation, unfortunately im getting the SAME speed average as the stock T-Mobile gateway , around 150- 225meg . Tried to play with the 5G settings, (sa / nsa, uncheck bands, etc.) nothing that I'm doing is increasing the speeds at all, The tower is only 3 miles next to my house and its on my 4th floor window facing the tower. Is there a setting im missing or need to combine , i even have the latest firmware he just released 1.9 . nothing im doing is changing the same speeds as before . I want to hit at least 300+ to make this worth it for me
very interesting, I've alway seen faster even on the same bands. One key benefit is the chester aggregated more bands than the stock tmobile units. What bands are you getting? Use "at+qcainfo" in the at commands to see all of them. You might have to play with them some to find the best combo and sometimes it takes a few minutes for it to aggregate more bands. For example I might get better speeds if I uncheck B66 and force it to use B2 for LTE.
@@NaterTater testing now at 1am I'm getting 250 d / 60 u,
At+qcainfo +QCAINFO: "PCC",875,75,"LTE BAND 2",1,75,-86,-16,-50,4 +QCAINFO: "SCC",1100,50,"LTE BAND 2",1,366,-92,-15,-66,0,0,-,- +QCAINFO: "SCC",66786,100,"LTE BAND 66",1,324,-92,-13,-69,0,0,-,- +QCAINFO: "SCC",520110,12,"NR5G BAND 41",584
How it compares to Teltonika RUTX50 or TRB500?
One of the Chester gateways can aggregate 5G bands.
I see that you have an expanded test of the Chester coming out today. Do you plan on a similar expanded test of the MOFI?
Yes, you'll see in today's video the intent was to test/compare both of them but I ran into an issue.
@@NaterTater Sounds "interesting". Looking forward watching.
On the MOFI have you tried using the Speed Band Lock utility to scan/lock the best band combinations? It is my understanding that it can scan and lock the best band signals for you. that my get it to actually use carrier aggrigation.
I havent but I will mess with that
@@NaterTater From what I've gleened from others that do have the MOFI5500 series routers leaving the band selection wide open verses locked greatly reduces it's speed. My reading between the lines is that the firmware will spend extra time hunting across all available bands degrading performance. I only found one review (EZ COM??) that suggested using the Speed Band Lock function to find and lock the optimal local bands. Hope that you're able to see improvements when experimenting with various setting changes.
I would love for you to review and compare the Inseego FX2000 that TMobile offers on their Business 5G internet side. I currently have it and the Arcadyan running side by side to see which I want to keep long term. Im considering buying the Chester unit but would love to get the Inseego running at peak performance so I don’t have to spend the extra money
The FX2000 can be set as a gateway, so if you have a firewall device, you can use it instead. The Arcadyan does not offer this. However, the antennas in the FX2000 are tiny compared to the Arcadyan and my speeds were much lower. Don't be fooled by the external antenna ports on the FX2000 -- if you are in the US, they are not useful for anything.
exactly Chad!
@@chadmcallister320 i knew the external antenna ports are advertised to not work with T-Mobile’s bands, but I did not realize the internal antenna’s are smaller than the Arcadyan’s. Thats very helpful to know. I’ve actually been getting similar speeds when connected directly to the devices (sometimes even faster on the FX2000), BUT i do have a separate router & then switches connected to the gateways. It has worked great with the Arcadyan but when I connect my existing stuff to the FX2000 i get substantially slower speeds at that router & all items down the chain from it. For example i typically get around 100-200 Mbps up / 15-30 Mbps down at the FX2000 but less than 10 Mbps when connected to my router. I have both gateways set up as they came from Tmobile. I would think if the FX2000 is having this issue then the Arcadyan would too. I do like the options the FX2000 offers & the fact that it’s free but am considering the Chester device.
Thanks again Nate for taking the time to show us alternative 5g routers. I keep forgetting to ask you when you report on these routers about the IMEI issues. The T Mobile routers both the Arcadian an Nokia that are being sold on Ebay. Wouldn't the IMEI on those routers have to correspond to the Sim card that I pull out if my original t- mobile router? In other words if I wanted to replace my existing working T-Mobile home internet router with one of those ebay T-Mobile routers wouldn't the IMEI have to match for them to work? There are a ton for sale and was just wondering how they get them to work with an existing Sim.
Many thanks again for your informative 5g router videos. Anthony
I should probably check since it isn't that hard but I think T-mobile uses a IMEI range and if so then you could buy a ebay resell of an original TMHI gateway and move your SIM to it. I'll test it.
@@NaterTater Many THANKS Nate! Was just thinking of keeping a cheap T-Mobile gateway on hand in case they bungle another firmware update that bricked over 30,000 of their routers a week or so ago. Would love to buy the Cheetah but over $500 is still over my retired limit lolo. Don't know what the T Mobile community would do without you. I've even noticed other CZcams channels tipping their hats to you.
I've done exactly this many times already due to various reasons such as breaking a UFL connector on the gateway a couple of times and other things and each time I've just swapped the active SIM that I'm currently using into the newly bought gateway and it's worked just fine time and time again. Surprising considering how guarded they are about using your sim in anything other than the original unit they send you.
@@jt_no_money2381 Much appreciated! You put my mind at ease. I'm think on purchasing a gateway as an extra just in case they send out another firmware update that fries the gateway and it takes a few days to receive a replacement
Good idea! I always try to keep a complete spare laying around at all times just in case of any issues. With how cheaply they sell for on Ebay vs what tmobile will charge you if you ever damage one and dont return it (think it was $375 they charged me at the time) if they send you one for warranty or whatever it only makes good sense to keep one around.
Do you use different APNs for the regular TMobile home internet and also the TMobile business internet account?
no both can use either fast.tmobile or fbb.tmobile
@@NaterTater Thank you
Hey any tater heads know if when I want to change to a new IMEI on the MOFI, can I just put the new sim in or do I need to change some settings?
If the plan that the sim is using is IMEI restricted then you'll have to change settings first.
@@NaterTater Thanks.. I have watched so many of your vids, my wife thinks I am nuts
Any idea why the ping is drastically larger and more severe on the non-t-mobile branded routers? How does your gateway get only like 22ms? I feel like mine is always way worse. 🤔
It varies depending on several factors like band/signal. In general I can get lower loaded pings with 3rd party gateways.
I understand you mentioned that both were in "stock" mode but to make a fair comparison (apple with apples) between the two routers, we need to make sure both were in the same band and tower, otherwise the speed comparison is meaningless to say that one is better than the other.
I can appreciate that viewpoint and I think its valid if you want to compare a chipset or some specific component of the modem. However for a user they likely dont care what band(s) its on so long as it delivers the performance. These modems have different capabilities so its pointless to intentionally handicap one so that its "fair". For example, if we have a drag race with two cars, one has a 4 cylinder engine and the other has a V8 I'd argue let the V8 run on all 8 cylinders and see how she does. You'd be arguing to have the V8 only run on 4 cylinders so that its "apples to apples". My testing is intended to replicate what type of performance you would see if you place different modems in the same location. The Chester router can and does aggregate more bands together than other ones typically.
@@NaterTater I think this is a correct assessment of what people would care about. If the Chester uses magic pixie dust to conjure up and extra 100mbps I don't care, the only relevant stats are speed, ping, and reliability.
TMI, ok I’m a dummy when it comes to this stuff but I do have a few questions. I just got the vz mifi 3100 and it was a upgrade from the 8800 so they say but my question is can I take the sim from it and put in the 5500? Also how hard will it be to clone as you would say for someone with little knowledge on this or will the instructions come with it. Thanks
No need to clone on verizon home internet sim.
@@NaterTater it’s not home internet, it’s a mifi 3100 hotspot
Seems while there is plenty of 4G stuff, while 5G is still pretty far and few between.
I'd like to have myself:
A) A good outdoor 5G modem with at least a 1Gb Ethernet and/or fiber port (for antenna pole mounting et al).
B) A good basic stand alone tabletop (w/optional wall mount) 5G modem.
With NO Wi-Fi on them at all. I hate that they put Wi-Fi on them, I'd rather they be focused on great 5G firmware with a lot of configuration, channel locking, etc., to a single Ethernet WAN output.
Could have limited extras, doesn't even need a DNS, etc. Sort of like how you can buy a lot of cable modems this way.
Let your router handle the routing.
With external SMA antenna jacks, w/MIMO 4X4 support.
And somewhere around a $500 USD price point.
Can always add as good as an external router that you want to buy. Could be a Wi-Fi mesh setup or just all wired, etc., the modem is more of a constant, separate device.
Maybe there is already good option here, I can't find one without Wi-Fi though.
Yea can just turn off the radios, but then if I'm already shelling out $1200 that seems a bit overpriced and I'd rather pay a bit less if the Wi-Fi part makes any difference.
This technology is out there. Maybe I/we could make our own using an Open source phone, with Open source firmware.
Add 4X SMA antenna connectors and a single RJ45 WAN output and put it in a metal box with a fan.
Or maybe just using one of the Snapdragon development boards, but they are not cheap.
Need microwave level test equipment though. My scope is only 20Mhz 😛
Can someone please tell me how to change the phone number and SIM number on this router? I tried to over type the numbers in the configuration but it won't allow me to do so. Thanks
The phone number is tied to the SIM you insert, cant change that on a modem. If you mean change IMEI you'll need to contact MOFI support.
Chester for the win! I had no doubts......I have to say though the MOFI looks good physically, just has a bad personality.
Do I need a hotspot plan to use this method as a main source of internet?
typically I'd recommend against a hotspot plan due to the cost or data/speed limitations but yes that would work
I don't see anywhere to enter a coupon code when checking out using your link for the chester? also, what is the coupon code? Thanks
Hey Wayne, check out the video description. Let me know if you still have questions.
NaterTater is the code … add to cart then click show order summary at the top it’ll give you a discount code drop down
@@stillhere153 Thanks, works like a charm.
BUY Chester 5G Gateway: chestertechrepairs.com/products/wifi6-industrial-lte-5g-nr-wireless-modem-router-unlimited-hotspot-rv
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mofinetwork.com/product/mofi5500-5gxelte-em9191-combo-cat20-lte-5g-router/
MoFi Network Store on Amazon: amzn.to/3lbgkkP
The one I test here is the MOFI5500-5GXeLTE-EM9191
Get 5% off Waveform antenna and signal booster products with this link: www.waveform.com/natertater or just use code "NATERTATER" at checkout. Then you can go to the Peplink BR1 5G Pro product page: www.waveform.com/products/peplink-max-br1-pro-5g?variant=39840236535911
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Question: will a router help mitigate or even prevent latency issues when using T-Mobile internet? Connection is strong, speeds are decent BUT when gaming I have terrible lag spikes filled with packet loss. Before I spend more money, curious if anyone knows if hardware will fix it. Cheers.
I have the same questions. Everyone focuses on down and up speed but never mentions the actual latency which has a MASSIVE affect on gaming.
My videos show latency values for all or most of the testing.
@Nater Tater True, but the focus is always on improving bandwidth and never on what's the best way to increase ping. I've watched probably 2 dozen similar videos on this topic because I'm about to move out to the country. I do some PC gaming and I'm a little concerned that one of my hobbies is going to be seriously hampered or non existent due to high latency internet.
@SilverWitness I guess I'd say check out my videos. I often comment about ping and ways to reduce it. Many thumbnails even call it out. Ping is less understood by many and thus like any "advertising" creators focus on what people know or "want" to hear.
@Nater Tater Ok I'll look around your channel some more to see what ya got. Thanks for the responses!
Another helpful video. I have a couple questions. I assume that this MoFi device is using your business T-Mobile SIM card, correct?
2nd do you plan on doing a deep dive on the Chester router and connections to external antennas? Keep up the great content! Thank you!
Yes, if you need you can email mofi support for a special diagnostic firmware to revise IMEI. I plan to do a video with the Chester and the 4x4 MIMO!
Which modem does your Chester have?
Cat19-rm520-gl
Chester modems are sold out !!! (2/14/23).
Not seeing the EN9191 on the linked page🙄
EM9191 but yes it doesnt appear to be on their amazon page at the moment.
You might want to go directly to the MOFI Network website. Thier Amazon store doesn't always list all of the routers. The web store has the same price as the Amazon store usually.
Can I use it with Verizon without terminating my Verizon service
Yes
that chester one looks very similar to the UOTEK 5G SIM Card Router CPE on amazon. can you tell me if the specs are similar? i was trying to decide between the mofi & the uotek & im thinking the uotek may be a little faster and will allow me to change the imei easier. do you know if im correct? sorry, this is all very new to me.
There are other 5g routers with the same case but you need to look to see what modem card and router board it has to tell the performance.
UWB? Sub6 isn’t it?
According to Verizon it is but in the past UWB was often saved for the mmWave frequencies 25-40Ghz range. Versus Sub 6Ghz. They are very different.
Does it do “IMEI REPAIR” magic?
yes, might have to email Mofi for a diagnostic firmware
What is IMEI repair to begin with? 😂
Taktical 5G router do you know anything about this router
I dont
@@NaterTater Sorry about that I might’ve been mistaken about the name
I am speed hungry
Are you using the T-Mobile home internet sim card that comes with T-Mobile gateway? If so what settings did you change to make it work?
I can't get my T-Mobile home internet sim to work on my own cellular router.
Yes. IMEI needs to match. czcams.com/video/mj0b4FnJen8/video.html
@@NaterTater Looking in my LTE router settings I can change my APN name via manual settings. Would that be the same as IMEI?
@@kevinroberts781 no. Many dont have easy IMEI changes like the Chester Cheetah I show on my channel.
Have you heard about this new MOFI6500-5GXeLTE-RM520 4G/LTE/5G ROUTER x62 5G Solution?
Upload is not 5g according to website
5G NSA uses a 4G LTE anchor but 5G SA does not.
$$$
the test results are not accurate. You were on band 66 with chester and with mofi you were on band 2
How does that make them not accurate?
@@NaterTater well if your comparing 2 separate devices, you should use the same bands to compare. You cant say one device is faster using different bands as the speeds would be inaccurate
@Samurai I understand your point but I disagree. The results are accurate and they illustrate the best achieved for each unit in the same spot at the same time. I share the band info so viewers are aware.
@@NaterTater understandable. I’m just saying different bands out of different speeds, so if your trying to advise your viewers on the best device to get for their money the test should be the same down to the T.
@Samurai so if you have these two routers at your house, you plug them in on auto settings, each one picks a different 4G anchor and one is much faster than the other one.... you'd say it's not the one you want? I'd argue people could care less what band is picked so long as it delivers the performance. For the record on the same band the Chester is faster but they each have nuisances and their peak performance are on different 4G anchors atleast when I was testing them.
Please please stop running speed tests over wifi and buy an ethernet adapter. There's plenty of them online, even belkin makes them, they have a usb-c and lightning versions. Also when running these tests speedtest gets QCI priority and doesn't do a full test such as Nperf
Hey Justin, thanks for watching. I have multiple ethernet to usb adapters and have used them in the past. I have yet to find a time that they differ in speed vs 5ghz wifi. If anything, with my tablet that i do testing on it seems to prefer wifi.
Wifi 6 is on par with Ethernet in most cases quit tweakin
The reason his vid is so good is because he reviews and tests as we’d use it day to day… everyone wants Wi-Fi speeds to a device such as a galaxy tab, surface book, Chromebook or an iPad… none of which have Ethernet ports ❤
@@xxina3965 Yea, if he has decent modern hardware and configured properly, the Wi-Fi is going to have only so much loss (5%-20% maybe?). And if he tests with the same Wi-Fi stuff it's mostly going to be constant.
does mofi send a sim card with purchase? if not where do I buy the unlimited sim card?
You have to purchase one with a BYOD plan or a home internet plan with a device with a sim in it.