Pepwave or ???

[Gizmo]

Still reading and researching which Pepwave would be the biggest bang for. the bucks. First I have two hotspots sims and one is the grandfathered Verizon plan and the other is a T-mobile 5g plan and both are unlimited.

1. I was looking at Pepwave 5G but only has one modem and planning on using the WIFI Wan to connect to the 5G modem. Plus it has CAT 20 modems but the cost of 1499 is a little steep. I have not had great luck with WIFI over Wan seems to cut the throughput about in half with other brand routers I have used. I understand there is no USB port on the modem so can tether it. I could test for the fastest connection and switch SIMs.
2. Max Transit Duo with CAT 6 and CAT 12 modem. Cost less and would be able to install both Sims and maybe load balance. The biggest negative is I lose the 5G from T-Mobile but I would still have band 71.

Which one would choose or is there a better solution?

 

[Neal]

I would not buy any cellular router today and forward that's less than CAT 18. Beyond that you have to choose your solution. Back when I used BR1 MK2's it was more cost effective to buy two to have two active radios (cellular). I have 2 x Pepwave BR1 Pro 5G's and enjoy the setup but yeah, it's costly. They have a new BR2 router with two radios but it's the same net cost. The Wi-Fi WAN issue is a simple fix which is to use a separate Wi-Fi router. I thought Pepwave was doing away with Wi-Fi radios altogether, I guess not, or not yet. Not a big deal as again you can pick your fav Wi-Fi router to suck in the external sources as desired.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

We’ve been implementing the Cradlepoint IBR1700 which has a much more robust radio system. Additionally, it has a secondary dock for another modem to give you TWO live modems, for a total capacity of four SIMs.

My cellular engineer is crazy smart and has more knowledge about the reasons and capabilities of these routers than anyone could comprehend.

In mortal terms, the 1700 is markedly more capable, better built, and designed. Their WiFi and cellular radios are more robust, and provide better bands and channel management. It has 1 WAN and 4 LAN ports which are fully configurable.

Currently, the 1200 modem is still only 4G/LTE. This fall, Cradlepoint will release their 5G modems for the 1700 making it the undisputed best in the field.

FYI, the 1700 is THE TOP class router, even over their 1900, which is 5G, yet has fewer radios; not nearly the same class as the 1700.

Fully loaded, the 1700 will be around 2.5 times the cost of a Transit.

Hope this gives you food for thought.

 

[lemondrop9344]

An alternate solution for your consideration.
Purchase the BR1 Pro 4G LTE for approximately $400.00 less than the 5G model. It has a CAT-20 modem & while it has only 1 modem, you can insert 2 SIMS. Take the $400.00 you saved & put it towards the acquisition of a Starlink DISHY. The Peplink device has the capability to effectively manage the various signal sources.

It can be argued the Starlink is not yet ready for prime time, however, I would submit the same argument could be made for 5G.

My son has a similar setup (Peplink CAT-18) & recently took a 2 week trip from Southport, NC to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl (on Stralink wait list) with an over night stay off I-95 nears Savannah, Ga (also on Starlink wait list). He has the Starlink residential plan with roaming. He was able to connect to Stalink throughout the entire time. While in the RV park in Ft. Lauderdale, he was able to broadcast his Starlink signal to members of his group so they could stream to their TVs. Some were up to 300' away. Poynting 7-1 antenna is installed on a bracket in the back of the travel trailer & the DISHY is installed on a tripod.

So much of what a user needs depends on the configuration of equipment (LAN) in your RV along with where & how you travel, along with how much you are willing to spend. From my perspective, I view this setup as difficult combination to beat for my configuration. Come on Starlink, ship my DISHY!
Good luck in you search.

 

[Gizmo]

@Neal
I am narrowing my search down and tired of reading specs so I'm just going to ask. Does the Pepwave BR1 Pro 5G have a USB port for tethering? I don't see it mentioned so I guess it doesn't. Also, could you verify that the BR1 has WAN over Wifi and band locking?

Thanks everyone for the comments.

 

[Neal]

@Neal
I am narrowing my search down and tired of reading specs so I'm just going to ask. Does the Pepwave BR1 Pro 5G have a USB port for tethering? I don't see it mentioned so I guess it doesn't. Also, could you verify that the BR1 has WAN over Wifi and band locking?

Thanks everyone for the comments.

No, I think the BR2 Pro adds that.

Not sure what you mean by band locking? Choosing 2.4 vs 5 - yes.

 

[Gizmo]

No, I think the BR2 Pro adds that.

Not sure what you mean by band locking? Choosing 2.4 vs 5 - yes.

Band locking is if you are on a T-Moble band that is being managed you can lock that band out and select say band 71 that isn't being managed or has better throughput.

 

[Gizmo]

@Neal
OK, I found a Youtube Video that Band Locking was included in the 8.2.1 update for the BR1 5G. I don't use it often but does become useful once in a while. It was a feature on my MOFI.

 

[Neal]

Sorry, was out at an event. Yes, you can custom select bands. That's been around for quite a while. I tried it back in the BR1 MK2 days and was not successful with it. Pepwave seems to do the job better on its own but it's available for you to customize as you found out.

 

[Gizmo]

We place an order for the BR1 5g and should be here in a couple of days. I guess I'm going to retire my Wifi Ranger Core that I bought right after it was released. That was the best RV Router I ever purchased and one of the most reliable and it just worked.

 

[lemondrop9344]

Sorry, was out at an event. Yes, you can custom select bands. That's been around for quite a while. I tried it back in the BR1 MK2 days and was not successful with it. Pepwave seems to do the job better on its own but it's available for you to customize as you found out.

I have the Max BR1 Pro with the 4G CAT-20. Band selection is available with the 8.2.1 firmware release.
I played around with band selection and was never able to achieve superior results than what the device would do on its own.

 

[Gizmo]

@lemondrop9344
This is my first Pepwave with a modem ( I have Solo) so my experience has been with the MOFI which may or may not select bands like the Pepwave. What I found on T-Mobile it selects the band with the strongest signal, not with the highest throughput. The MOFI would select I believe band 16 and I could lock all the bands except 71 and most of the time I would get maybe a weaker signal but more thoughtput. I'm not sure if T-Mobile manages bands or complete towers. I have gone though checking each band for the hightest thoughput but that lot time and effort for little gain. I dont really care if i'm 40 or 42 on speedtest but if i'm getting 1 or 2 speed test I start band locking to see if I can better thoughput.

Note - this is just my opinion and nothing more.

 

[jbh]

Sometimes I've achieved far higher speeds locking one or two bands rather than letting the unit auto-select. It apparently goes for the strongest signal. Pepwave Max Transit.

 

[lemondrop9344]

GIZMO,
The MAX BR1 PRO series, along with other Peplink products, does band aggregation if the bands are available on the tower.
T-Mobile coverage was not that prevalent in the geographical areas I frequent when I 1st acquired my Peplink Device back in May, 2020, so I did not consider them. A lot has changed since then.
On my current device, as well as the previous device (CAT-18), I typically would see 4 band aggregation with AT&T & 3 band aggregation with Verizon.
You can also play around with multiple sources in Priority 1 to attain increased reliability. For example, one can put either of the ceullular sims in priority1 as well as a WiFi signal from a RV park. The Peplink device will manage the signals. Until you see the UI (user interface) on the Peplink device, I suspect none of this makes sense.
If you have not yet become a member of the Peplink forum, I would encourage you to do so. While some of the discussions can be overly technical (at least for me), many forum members go out of their way to help.

 

[Gizmo]

@lemondrop9344
I have the Pepwave Solo which doesn't have modems so I have seen the interface. I have been really disappointed in Verizon lately and have been pleasantly surprised with T-Mobile. For the last two years, I have all three seem west of the Mississippi I have found that in most places T-Mobile (M2000) is giving me the best service with my AT&T phones with Verizon(8800) bringing up the rear. This is just using hotspots most of the time. Looking forward to BR1Pro 5G.
My intinial plan is to put the Verizon sim in the Pepwave and use WAN over WIFI for the M2000 T-Mobile since the T-Mobile connection is Caylx and TOS states it has to be in the M2000 only. I live in the city limits and my Verizon seldom gets above 2 or 3 on speed test so hopefully Pepwave will improve on that. Things may change as I learn more...

 

[lemondrop9344]

Is SOLO a typo or do you have the Pepwave SOHO router? Assuming you have the SOHO, the question about the USB port makes sense.
In our home office (Southport, NC) we are using a Balance One core as our primary router for the network, We also use a Max Transit CAT-18 as well as Starlink for fail over when cable internet fails (hurricane season) or when the owner travels in the RV.
With all that said, the owner (my son) uses iPhones & their OS is not compatible with the USB port on the Peplink Balance router.

 

[Gizmo]

Got my Pepwave BR1 Pro 5G into day and setup and running. Currently we are running the Verizon sim in the Pepwave and using WIFI Wan to connect to the M2000 hotspot with my Calyx T-Mobile 5G SIM. I did get boost of speed put the the Verizon sim in the BR1 from average of 0.5 to 4 or 5.
I did pull the Calyx SIM and tested it in the BR1 and come right on line no problems so all reading I have done about not working at least in my case wasn't the case.
I not sure why but seems that I'm getting boost of speed running the M2000 though the BR1. Using WIFI WAN so seems there would be some overhead.
So far extremely happy with plans to add the Pepwave antenna.

 

[Gizmo]

I understand that IOS 13 made some changes that broke threthering but seems to also affect the hotspot feature of the iPhone/IPad. When I put either into hotspot mode the Pepwave BR1 Pro doesn't see a hotspot. Anyone else seen this?

 

[Neal]

I'm not sure about the tethering as I personally have never tried it.

By the way I see Pepwave just dropped the BR1 Pro 5G pricing $500. You may want to ask who you bought it from for a credit or maybe consider returning it and buying it again at the lower price.

Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G Router with Global 5G/Cat 20 LTE Modem + PrimeCare (with US certification)

This Pepwave Peplink 5G Router includes PrimeCare for 1 year. PrimeCare includes InControl, warranty with standard RMA, FusionHub license, and SpeedFusion bonding and WAN smoothing and can be renewed after the first year. If PrimeCare is not renewed, SpeedFusion features are disabled (basic...

5gstore.com

 

[Gizmo]

I have the Max BR1 Pro with the 4G CAT-20. Band selection is available with the 8.2.1 firmware release.
I played around with band selection and was never able to achieve superior results than what the device would do on its own.

I'm not sure about the tethering as I personally have never tried it.

By the way I see Pepwave just dropped the BR1 Pro 5G pricing $500. You may want to ask who you bought it from for a credit or maybe consider returning it and buying it again at the lower price.

Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G Router with Global 5G/Cat 20 LTE Modem + PrimeCare (with US certification)

This Pepwave Peplink 5G Router includes PrimeCare for 1 year. PrimeCare includes InControl, warranty with standard RMA, FusionHub license, and SpeedFusion bonding and WAN smoothing and can be renewed after the first year. If PrimeCare is not renewed, SpeedFusion features are disabled (basic...

5gstore.com

I have a 30-day return policy but here is the other option from Pepwave.