Since T-Mobile‘s Home Internet uses over-the-air 5G, you should be able to use it anywhere where 5G is available. Since it’s officially billed as an alternative to wired connection though, you are technically only allowed to use it at one address.
Of course, that didn’t stop anyone from taking their gateway device anywhere they wanted and presumably because T-Mobile has another plan (Away) specifically for those who want to be able to connect to 5G on the go, the carrier is now trying to restrict where you can use the device.
The device already had an integrated GPS but it was never put to use. Now we know why it was there: to track users to enforce location requirements.
The carrier tries to justify this address validation by saying that its home internet services are designed to be used at specific place with sufficient capacity to ensure a good experience.
T-Mobile customers using their gateway at any location other than the address they signed up at will be asked to either move back their gateway, change the address on their account, or switch to a new plan.
Most users are likely to be annoyed at the policy for different reasons. For instance, until now, it was possible to use Home Internet even in areas where is wasn’t officially available by using an alternate address and now that won’t be possible. Some might be shocked that T-Mobile employees used nearby addresses to sign them up instead of using their actual address.
T-Mobile will begin notifying users not complying with location requirements on May 8.