Device limits on 5G Home Internet gateway

[PlaneMichael]

Does anyone know of any type of work-around for the 2.4GHz device limit of 10 on the 5G Gateway Router? Verizon limits 10 devices to connect to the 2.4GHz and 30 devices on the 5.0GHz. As many smart home devices use the 2.4GHz, this created issues of the Gateway no longer sending an internet signal when more than 10 devices tried to connect to the 2.4GHz. In the interim, I've given the 2.4 and 5.0 separate ssid and turned of band steering so that I have more control over which devices connect to which freq. That being said, 10 devices is still not enough to operate all the devices within my smart home. Bulbs, cameras, printer, thermostat, and a few other items ALL demand 2.4GHz. Looking for any viable solutions.

[Cang_Household · Accepted solution]

Connecting that many devices to the same access point would drag down the performance on faster clients.

My suggestion would be have a separate access point for connecting all the IoT devices, then reserve the faster bandwidth from the gateway to phones and laptops.

You are probably on the 5G side. On the Fios side, we have the old WCB3000N very suitable for your purpose. Used WCB3000N cost like $20.

[PlaneMichael]

I'm currently running AT&T fiber optics along side the new 5G as I expected some issues. Though the 5G is substantially cheaper, If I have to add a second access point (I'm guessing I would have to pay for a second service) then I might as well stay with the fiber optic line. I had high hopes for the 5G service but, thus far, it's coming up short. AT&T is the only "hard line" offered in our particular neighborhood (no fios) so 5G from Verizon was a welcome option.

[Cang_Household]

Objectively, fiber optic broadband like Fios, AT&T fiber, Altice Fiber, and Comcast Gig Pro fiber, have better stability and performance than any radio-based broadband.

Nonetheless, the issue you are encountering is not an inherent deficit of 5G technology, but a limitation on the 5G Internet Gateway. If I am not mistaken, that gateway does have two LAN Ethernet ports you can plug into other network devices. If you were to have a router setting around and not being used, you can configure it as an access point to connect to your IoT devices, so you don't have to spend more money.

Fios and 5G Home will be mutually exclusive. 5G can achieve around 2400Mbps, similar to current Fios 2G offering in NYC metro area.

[PlaneMichael]

This is EXCELLENT information. I wasn't sure if this was possible as I had read conflicting information. You are correct, there are 2 LAN outlets on the 5G Gateway. So that I understand, if I run a separate router through the LAN, the 5G Gateway would only see this and NOT all the items connected to the other router? Are there any resources on how I would go about setting this up? I know just enough about all this to get into trouble.

I started looking at this type option as many of the devices in my home need the wifi only and not the internet. I recall years ago when I first had internet via cable, I had to provide my own router and connect it to the modem to have wifi in the home. That's basically what I want to do here; use the 5G Gateway as a modem and connect my own router. I don't mind spending the money on a new router as the money I'll save by switching to Verizon 5G and cutting my F/O will pay for a top-of-the-line router in a matter of months.

Any more info you can provide is most appreciated!

[Cang_Household]

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@PlaneMichael wrote:

If I run a separate router through the LAN, the 5G Gateway would only see this and NOT all the items connected to the other router?

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5G Gateway Router would only see the IP packets flowing through the LAN ports. I believe the 10 device limits is only enforced on the built-in access point interface, not on the wired interface.

To setup your own router as an access point, you can just post your model number and screenshots of the administrative interface here and we will direct you how to setup. Break the convention a bit, technically you can use a Fios router for this purpose. Fios routers are full-blown routers minus the "modem" part. The ONT on the Fios side is not really called a modem, but an optical-electrical media converter. Same for 5G, the receptor is not a modem, but a cellular media converter.

[InBoise]

Very useful information. Thanks to these apparently early posters about the 5G home internet gateway. 

I took my excellent router offline to leave connections to Verizon's 5G home internet Gateway. The latest gateway (bigger box) has only one ethernet port, so I've used a couple of Gigabit ethernet switches to add ethernet ports, which work well for that purpose. Still, I have 12 wifi devices, some through an extender using the same ssdi as the verizon gateway -- I guess that means that the gateway sees 12 wifi devices. Would I be better off reintroducing my router and setting up a separate ssdi instead to avoid the occasional loss of internet? I'd hoped to avoid several device resets, but maybe that's not a good idea. Any thoughts appreciated. Apologies for this too-long posting. Thanks.

[PlaneMichael]

I'm still tweaking the setup but adding a router to the LAN on the Verizon 5G Gateway seems to be working pretty well.

I initially set it up as an access point but the the Gateway still wanted to assign addresses. Setting up the Netgear WAC510 as a router instead of an access point all the Gateway sees is the one attached LAN router. I'm running 18 devices (9 - 2.4, 9 - 5) currently and able to use band steering through the NG router. To help with stability, I've also set up binding so that the LAN address never changes. This seems to have helped overall but will need a little more time to analyze.

[#9]

Hi how did you setup the access point eventually? Which LAN you use to connect to mesh points LAN1 or 2? I just got 5G Gateway and trying to setup connect to my google wifi and still trying... Hate to hear that there is limitation on number of connected device to Gateway....

[PlaneMichael]

Though I'm using a Netgear WAC510, I'm actually using as a router rather than an access point. Reason being that using the Netgear as a router allows it to assign device IP addresses. I plugged the router into the LAN 1 Gateway and the gateway only sees 1 device. . .the Netgear router. I've not connected any extenders just yet but given where I have to place the Gateway (front corner of the house) for adequate reception, router does not adequately cover our home.

Still trying to decide if I'm going to keep the Verizon as it is still lacking in stability. The Gateway loses internet signal multiple times each day and occasionally has to be reset to reconnect. Not overly impressed with the service at this time and even less impressed with the knowledge of the support. Just seems like it was a rush to get it all turned on with still too many bugs in the system and not enough training for the support staff.