Am I able to just buy the Gateway for Fiber?

No, you're required to use AT&T's gateway, with the monthly fee. You can use your own router behind the gateway, but not in place of it.

No, they would prefer to scam you instead, even though there are numerous third-party fiber enabled modems out there.

While I hate the way AT&T has their fiber set up, I don't see how it's a scam.  It's not like they hide the fact that they want you to use their gateway.  Plus, at the current time there is nothing stopping you from completely bypassing the gateway.

Thanks for the responses. @tonydi Are you saying I don't actually need the gateway? I've never had fiber before and I'm just used to the Arris Surfboard modem that I own. Is there something other than the Gateway that I would use as the 'modem'?

You would need at minimum a third party router and a small gigabit switch for the most simple means of bypassing.  That's outlined here .  There are other ways that are more complex but which address the small limitations of this method but those require more advanced equipment and technical abilities.

We can help with your router question, @mwq27!

The AT&T gateway that you were provided will need to be connected to the network for authentication purposes, but you can use your own equipment to host the network in your home.

In order to do so, you'll need to set up IP Passthrough or DMZplus, depending on the model gateway you were provided.

Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

John, AT&T Community Specialist

So, if you have your own gateway of the same model as the one you're renting, can you use that and get rid of the rental one? That is the current law as I understand it.

In my case it's a Nokia BGW320-505. Also, where can you buy one?

Your understanding is wrong, that's not what the current law says.  It's designed to stop ISPs from billing you to use your own equipment, something which seemed unfathomable but yet existed.  AT&T has never had such a policy.

You can't legitimately buy the equipment necessary to connect your fiber service.  You might be able to buy one on eBay or even Amazon, but those are typically units that belong to AT&T and people have just taken when they moved, etc.

There are no third-party modems or gateways that work on AT&T fiber and likely never will be.

Thanks. But if I buy such equipment on eBay, then it would be my own equipment, no?  Or are you saying it would still be AT&T property no matter the circumstances of the sale?

And surely one could buy the same model device new from China or something.

Would AT&T then allow me to use this, whatever the law is?  And if they don't, wouldn't that then be in violation of the law?

If you bought one it would be yours.  But AT&T requires that you use the equipment they provide with the service so they'd never authenticate a device you bought elsewhere.  And you aren't going to buy a new gateway from anywhere on this planet that has the necessary certificates to use on your service.

You can't avoid the equipment fee, period, full stop.  Now, if you don't want to use the lousy gateway there are ways to bypass it (see one of my posts earlier in this thread) but you'll still be on the hook for the fee even if the AT&T gateway is sitting in a box in your closet.