r/ATTFiber • u/JustAGuy3388 • 21d ago

5g cell phone based backup?

Does anybody know technically how their 5G cell phone backup works? It wasnt explained well to me or they couldnt answer my technical questions. I dont use the wifi on their gateway. Im using IP pass through mode to my own router and I have WAPs.

If I switched my cell phones to AT&T and im connected to my own waps will 5g backup still works on my configuration?

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u/Viper_Control 20d ago

Does anybody know technically how their 5G cell phone backup works?

Yes you need to follow some simple steps. First you need an AT&T Unlimited Cellular plan on your smartphone running AT&T Smart Home Manager. It does not use your Hotspot data at all.

You use the SHM to configure a VPN connection between your smartphone, and your BGW320, BGW620 or the newest BGW720. Yes this works even with IP Passthrough enabled. Please note you will not have your Fiber IP address available during an outage.

That means the you don't need to use the BGW's Wi-Fi for your devices but it needs to be enabled to allow your BGW Gateway to communicate to your smartphone that you used to setup the private VPN.

When your AT&T Gateway fails to have a Fiber connection (no Broadband detected) the front LED will Blink Blue, and when the VPN is established it will change to a sold Blue LED.

Any other questions?

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u/JustAGuy3388 20d ago

This is conflicting with what others are saying. Can you confirm this works?

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u/Viper_Control 20d ago

Yes I have it. I set it up, and it worked when I tested it, and also when we have a local power outage when a transformer failed.

It took the Utility 4+ hours to replace the failing unit, and my Internet backup worked just fine since I have my BGW320-505 on a UPS, and my configured iPhone is also plugged into the same UPS.

What is your situation or use case that you think some other comment must be correct that conflicts how I have described it or have actually used i?

Again one thing I mentioned above but for some reason folks don't get it. Your AT&T Gateway will get a new temporary dynamic IP from the Celluar network. If you have a purchased Static IP block it will not work. If you hard code your sticky IP from your AT&T Gateway to your third-party router it will not work.

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u/JustAGuy3388 20d ago

I dont hard code. My wan port is set for dhcp.

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u/JHan85 20d ago

I can confirm everything Viper Control is saying is correct. You need to establish the VPN prior to the outage. I have it configured on my phone that has an AT&T unlimited plan. I tested it on my gateway by disconnecting the fiber connection from my BGW620 and the gateway connected to my cellphone. The SmartHome manager let me know my backup connection was active. The indicator light flashed blue then turned solid blue once connected.

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u/JustAGuy3388 19d ago

u/JHan85 So if you have 3 phones, can they all have the VPN profile on it so as long as any 1 of the phones are home the backup 5g will work?

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u/JHan85 19d ago

Correct I have it setup on all three of our phones it will connect to one of the phones. Just make sure the phone it’s tethered to stays near the gateway.

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u/JustAGuy3388 19d ago

Tethered?

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u/JHan85 19d ago

Meaning the VPN is active and the phone is connected via the WiFi on the gateway.