AT&T - BGW320

They will likely just end up replacing your 210 with a 320. I got a text yesterday saying I was eligible for a equipment upgrade due to my old gateway. Getting the new one today via Fedex. If you want to go for a 3rd party setup, I really like Ubiquiti UniFi.

I have the BGW320-500 modem/router with att fiber 1gb. The WiFi from the bgw320 is pretty good in the office where it is located at the end of the house. I also get good WiFi in the next 2-3 rooms but I am unable to get a connection on the other side of the house. I wanted to add an AP or possibly 2 in the house (2100 sq ft house). Is it possible to use the BGW320 modem/router combo for WiFi and then have 1-2 APs on the other side of the house for enhanced coverage and if so what settings would I need to configure on the BGW320? Also does anyone have any recommendations on if 2 APs would be good or if it could be too much and cause interference? Thank you in advance.

If you want to try and get a free solution, contact at&t and say you'd like to upgrade your router to a BGW320 router. It is wifi6 and probably good enough for a 2k, 2-story layout. They should upgrade it for free. If it isn't good enough, then look for your own solution.

I have the BGW 320-505 in passthrough mode with firewall and packet filters disabled that’s hardwired to 3 eero max 7’s with zero issues. I have a new 2 story 2,900 sq. Ft. with 95 devices.

Greetings all, Title says it all. I have the BG320-505. I am well aware just how terrible this router is. Furthermore, it's my understanding that the dual-band is there to "benefit" older, less compatible devices. Nonetheless, I'm finding the router really, **really** limiting. I can't use AX, 40MHz, or 160MHz unless I use "enhanced mode" aka the dual-band. You can't adjust the channels for the 5GHz manually, instead it's set to automatic in both the app and gateway. I'm also not a large fan of how it cannot differentiate between a virtual machine, and my endpoint device. As an example, on my previous network I used pfSense via prefix delegation hosted on VMware. When online, my router (I had GFiber) was able to differentiate what device was online, and made the difference between the VM and the device. In my case now, if the VM is online, the router automatically assigns my DHCP allocated IP that is associated with the endpoint to the VM. If the VM is turned off, the issue goes away. It's very frustrating to have a good set up, and then something as restrictive as this takes it all down. Another con is the lack of port forwarding options. If I port forward say 25565 (Minecraft) on Device A, and attempt to forward it on Device B, I get a pinhole conflict. I understand that UPnP has its own vulnerabilities, but it's rather inconvenient at the same time. We should at least be given the option to enable it for devices that support it. My final nitpick has yet again have to do with the NAT. Since the NAT is automatically strict, port forwarding only seems to work so well on this router. I host a server with the proper ports forwarded. Unfortunately, I had to create a tunnel to connect to the server over the internet. Not difficult by any means, just again, inconvenient. A pro is the allowance of WPA3 and WPA2 at the same time. GFiber allows this, but more often than not, a lot of devices stop working. I do have one question though; why is the "Configure" tab in "Broadband" hidden? Y'all are probably wondering, "why hasn't he just upgraded his router?". As a full-time Cybersec student, it is a little more complicated for my time. I have multiple classes towards graduation, so I don't have time for a job right now. The goal, though, is to upgrade to a router that supports Wi-Fi 6. All of my devices, aside from two security cameras, support it. It doesn't bother me much that the cameras fallback to 5. I have my current router directly connected to the ONT. A lot of people, and I'd also personally do this, recommend using passthrough mode. Are there any reasons otherwise? My only other question is recommending routers. What do y'all use? I've thought about UNFi Ubiquiti, Nighthawk, and Acer, but I'm open to other solutions. TLDR; I need to upgrade my router as the current one sucks, and ATT Fiber is my only Fiber option.

It is indeed, thank you for that. I think I'd much rather prefer to upgrade my router to a router that allows me more customization options for that standard, though.

But...why? Do you have a massive home and don't think the ATT router will cover it? This is usually the only reason that actually makes sense to get your own these days. I would recommend getting the ATT hardware. These are usually very good hardware, and if anything goes wrong you call ATT to have them replace it or send a tech out. If you buy your own router you have to set it up yourself, figure out your own issues. From what I hear the hardware ATT uses is comparable to a lot of the $300+ Netgear Nighthawk routers. If you still want to buy your own, and know how to support wifi/set everything up/deal with issues (ATT probably will not help you if you have your own router), etc then get a good Netgear Nighthawk router. I personally wouldn't buy anything less than a AX5400 but that's going to be fairly identical to the BG320 that ATT is going to install and service for $10/mo. Not to mention that if ATT releases new hardware for their internet, you can usually upgrade it for free if you still have their service.

I received a text stating the same, with the following link: https://www.att.com/support/article/internet/000106712 Naturally, I have the BGW320 Wi-Fi gateway and 4920 Wi-Fi extenders. My extenders are hardwired with CAT5/6 and have worked well. I would love to find extender replacements for purchase and avoid the monthly fee. I don't need install assistance. Any recommendations? Thank you.

The 320 and 620 have damn good wifi….AT&T mesh extenders are garbage tho

Yep, the BGW320-505 has some annoying shortcomings, just like the CenturyLink-branded C3000Z DSL modem/router I used when still on DSL. As you say, the solution is to have your own router, with the AT&T box in IP Passthrough mode. My previous one was a Ubiquiti Dream Router. I upgraded it once I went from ADSL (~140 Mbps down/20 Mbps up) to AT&T fiber (1 Gbit/s both ways) because that model maxed out at 700 Mbit/s (despite having a "gigabit" WAN port, this was a processing limitation apparently). I replaced that Dream Router with a Dream Router 7, which as well as being more than capable of handling the full gigabit, and also does WiFi 7. Which tier of AT&T fiber do you have? Particularly if you're OK with not having the latest and greatest WiFi, I see a few routers on the market that can handle a full gigabit wired, for $100 or less. Would that work for you? The extra-mega-elegant solution is to cut out the AT&T box entirely, by purchasing your own SFP+ module (WAS-110) and programming it to "masquerade" as the BGW320-505. But then you need something with an SFP+ port to plug that into, and it gets to be a few hundred $ in hardware.

if it went down for some reason and you had a repair appointment, they should replace it with a BGW320, which has wifi6.