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You cannot remove AT&T's gateway. You can neutralize it. The BGW320 handles authentication and talks to the ONT, so it has to stay in the chain — but IP passthrough mode forwards all traffic straight to your own router, which then behaves as the primary router for your network. That is the setup you want, and it is a supported feature rather than a hack.
Will your own router work with AT&T Fiber?
Yes, behind the gateway. The distinction matters because it is different from both cable and Fios:
Provider
Can you remove their box?
What you do instead
Verizon Fios
No ONT, but no router needed — plug straight in
Nothing; it just works
AT&T Fiber
No — the BGW320 authenticates
Enable IP passthrough to your router
Cable (Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox)
Yes, with an approved modem
Buy an approved DOCSIS 3.1 modem
How AT&T differs from the other fiber and cable providers.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
What IP passthrough does, and why to use it
Without it, you have two routers in series: the gateway handing out private addresses to your router, which hands out more private addresses to your devices. That is double NAT, and it breaks port forwarding, some games, some VPNs and some smart-home remote access, while adding latency for no benefit.
With IP passthrough enabled and pointed at your router, the gateway passes the public address through and stops routing. Your router becomes the real edge of your network, its firewall and port rules work normally, and the gateway is reduced to the authentication box it has to be.
Try this first
Turn off the gateway's Wi-Fi once your router is in place
Leaving both radios on means two networks competing for the same airtime in the same building, and devices bouncing between them. Disable the BGW320's 2.4 and 5 GHz radios in its settings once your own router is working, or you will have created the interference problem described on the interference page.
What renting actually costs you
Worth knowing
On the fee figures below
Equipment fees vary by provider, plan, promotion and market, and published sources disagree — which is itself the useful fact. We give the range from named sources, dated, and then tell you to read your own bill, because the line on your bill is the only number that applies to you. We do not invent a single figure and present it as universal.
Allconnect lists AT&T at $0 for modem and router rental, included at no cost. So on AT&T the case for your own router is not financial — it is about quality and placement:
Better radios and a current Wi-Fi standard, which a gateway several years into its service life will not have.
Placement. The gateway lives where the fiber entered, and that is rarely where the Wi-Fi should be. With passthrough you can run Ethernet to a sensible spot and put the router there.
Control. Static leases, proper QoS, VLANs, custom DNS — the things a provider-managed gateway either hides or does badly.
Picks by plan speed
Your plan
Router needs
Notes
300 to 500 Mbps
Any decent Wi-Fi 6 router
Passthrough still worth enabling
1 Gbps
Gigabit WAN minimum, tri-band preferred
Wi-Fi limits you before the port does
2 Gbps and above
2.5 Gbps or 10 Gbps WAN port
And wire anything that matters
Multi-gig with a lot of wired gear
Several 2.5 Gbps LAN ports
The router becomes your switch
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
If coverage is the problem, not the box
AT&T Fiber plans are fast enough that coverage is nearly always the real complaint. If wired speed matches your plan and the far bedroom does not, start at dead zones and then size a system — with the mesh base unit behind the gateway in passthrough.
How we picked
Compatibility and approved-list facts come from the sources named below, checked on 26 September 2026. We do not run a lab, so hardware performance context comes from outlets that do. Verify the exact model number against your provider's own current approved-equipment list before ordering — those lists change, and they differ by speed tier. What we do and do not assert.
Quick picks
Ranked by our published scoring rubric (at&t fit, wired i/o, coverage, value). Tap any row to jump to the full write-up, or go straight to the retailer from the right-hand column. How we score.
#
Product
Best for
Score
Price
1
Illustrative
ASUS RT-BE96UThe settings depth to configure a passthrough setup properly, included rather than subscribed, plus AiMesh for later.
Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen. Scores are our editorial assessment from published specifications and independent testing by named outlets — not our own lab results. What we do and do not test.
The picks in full
Illustrative
#1 · Running the network behind a BGW320
ASUS RT-BE96U
ASUS · Premium
The premium standalone pick for people who want to configure things — deep firmware, no subscription for the good features.
Key specifications
Standard
Wi-Fi 7
Firmware
ASUS's full feature set, no paywall
Mesh
Pairs with other AiMesh units later
Score 8.6/10
AT&T fit9.5
Wired I/O8.5
Coverage8.5
Value7.5
What it gets right
+AiMesh means you can start with one box and add nodes without replacing it
+Security and parental controls included rather than subscribed
#ad We do not publish a price we cannot verify, so the button opens Amazon's own listing. How we are funded.
Common questions
Can I use my own router with AT&T Fiber?+−
Yes, but behind their gateway. The BGW320 handles authentication and ONT communication so it cannot be removed, but enabling IP passthrough forwards all traffic to your own router, which then acts as the primary router for your network.
What is IP passthrough on the AT&T BGW320?+−
A gateway mode that passes the public address straight to a chosen device — your router — and stops the gateway routing. It eliminates double NAT, so port forwarding, gaming and VPNs behave normally instead of being broken by two layers of address translation.
Should I turn off the AT&T gateway's Wi-Fi?+−
Yes, once your own router is working. Two sets of radios in one building compete for the same airtime and devices bounce between the networks. Disable the gateway's 2.4 and 5 GHz radios in its settings.
Illustrative
