Question Anyone rolling a Pepwave MaxTransit CAT-20 5G?

[MapNerd]

I just received mine from Santa Neal today too. Haven't opened the box yet.

Let me know what antenna you decide on. Was going to order pepwave, but then the parsac conversation started, so I am holding.

I use the pepwave wifi as a client only. My Lan wifi system is separate. Still want a 7 in one on the roof for this modem, and my cat 6 redundant will be in the mid bath.

I also have the Husky Parsec, but I need to get on the roof the figure out the placement. I pulled the above using just the paddle antennas. When I connected the Husky, my speeds took an 80% hit. Not sure why. I have had great experiences with it previously, but something is up so I have to figure that out. In the mean time, the paddles will more than do.

 

[redbaron]

Was the husky inside? The dB gain is most likely too much for interior, as the rf interference will be amplified.

 

[MapNerd]

Was the husky inside? The dB gain is most likely too much for interior, as the rf interference will be amplified.

No. I have had it mounted on my roof for about 6 months now.

 

[redbaron]

No. I have had it mounted on my roof for about 6 months now.

Ouch...then the speed decrease doesn't make sense at all.

 

[Neal]

I believe it's his placement and Girards blocking. Mine on the AC with no obstruction 360 line of site are ideal. The pepwave 421 would be my other recommendation for smaller and lower profile. Just pay attention to cable length that comes on the antenna per your needs. Pepwave I think is 6.5ft, Parsec's have different options. Shorter is obviously better but it depends on your needs.

 

[Neal]

View attachment 9865
Well I got a Pepwave Max BR1 Pro 5G CAT-20 unit and if I haven’t caught up to @Neal’s download speeds yet, he must be dragging a fiber optic cable behind his rig

This surpasses my best but I think it's because yours is a 5G connection. Next time I travel I'll get the AT&T 100 GB plan again as it's 5G.

 

[MapNerd]

I wanted to see if a large portion of my speed gains in the MaxTransit BR1 Pro 5G could be associated with the unit, or the antenna setup (Husky Parsec v Paddles).

The best the MaxTransit Duo CAT-12 could do, sitting in the exact same spot as the BR1 Pro, with the same SIM cards, connected to paddle antennas was 16mbps down/3mbps up which is useable but barely.

Meanwhile, the MaxTransit BR1 Pro 5G beat most home internet connections last night. It’s nuts. Streaming sites loaded instantly, no buffering, no drops, no issues and the WiFi Is strong.

The BR1 Pro 5G is worth every single penny. I am excited to see what it does when I get my rooftop antenna placement issues sorted.

 

[lemondrop9344]

MapNerd, redbaron,
Congrats on your purchase of the BR1 Pro 5G CAT-20. MapNerd.........awesome results on the speed test.
In another post, Neal & I were discussing the setup of the Peplink CAT-20 devices, specifically on the Verizon network. Based on what I've been reading on various forums, some people have not had any trouble utilizng a Verizon plan & others do nothing but struggle. My assumption has been the issue is somehow associated with the lack of certification.
Neal advised (Neal correct me if I mis-state this)he had no trouble using an existing Verizon data plan sim when he moved it to new Peplink devices, including his new 5G device. He has yet to attempt provisioning a non-certified Peplink with a new data plan (new sim & phone #) from Verizon.
This would seem to suggets, if you have an existing Verizon data plan in a Peplink device, it will most likely go into & function in one of the 5G devices. This is the route I ultimately had to take when I provisioned with my CAT-18 prior to certification in May of 2020.
With all that said, I have a question. Have any forum members successfully provisioned a Peplink 5G device with a new data plan from Verizon?
Please understand, my intent is to try & understand why some users apparently have no issues with the Peplink 5G products & others come away frustrated. Verizon is the cellular phone carrier, as well as, a secondary provider, for data only plans for myself & our HQ,s location. We do not really want to drop Verizon & it's not yet been necessary to add T-Mobile service to the existing mix.
Please humor me. Thanks!

 

[Neal]

I wanted to see if a large portion of my speed gains in the MaxTransit BR1 Pro 5G could be associated with the unit, or the antenna setup (Husky Parsec v Paddles).

The best the MaxTransit Duo CAT-12 could do, sitting in the exact same spot as the BR1 Pro, with the same SIM cards, connected to paddle antennas was 16mbps down/3mbps up which is useable but barely.

Meanwhile, the MaxTransit BR1 Pro 5G beat most home internet connections last night. It’s nuts. Streaming sites loaded instantly, no buffering, no drops, no issues and the WiFi Is strong.

The BR1 Pro 5G is worth every single penny. I am excited to see what it does when I get my rooftop antenna placement issues sorted.

 

[MapNerd]

MapNerd, redbaron,
Congrats on your purchase of the BR1 Pro 5G CAT-20. MapNerd.........awesome results on the speed test.
In another post, Neal & I were discussing the setup of the Peplink CAT-20 devices, specifically on the Verizon network. Based on what I've been reading on various forums, some people have not had any trouble utilizng a Verizon plan & others do nothing but struggle. My assumption has been the issue is somehow associated with the lack of certification.
Neal advised (Neal correct me if I mis-state this)he had no trouble using an existing Verizon data plan sim when he moved it to new Peplink devices, including his new 5G device. He has yet to attempt provisioning a non-certified Peplink with a new data plan (new sim & phone #) from Verizon.
This would seem to suggets, if you have an existing Verizon data plan in a Peplink device, it will most likely go into & function in one of the 5G devices. This is the route I ultimately had to take when I provisioned with my CAT-18 prior to certification in May of 2020.
With all that said, I have a question. Have any forum members successfully provisioned a Peplink 5G device with a new data plan from Verizon?
Please understand, my intent is to try & understand why some users apparently have no issues with the Peplink 5G products & others come away frustrated. Verizon is the cellular phone carrier, as well as, a secondary provider, for data only plans for myself & our HQ,s location. We do not really want to drop Verizon & it's not yet been necessary to add T-Mobile service to the existing mix.
Please humor me. Thanks!

I have not tried as a mix of AT&T & T-Mobile has been perfect for me. In my travels, the few places where AT&T has not been good enough, T-Mobile has been great, and vice versa. I am in Orlando currently and the BR1 Pro can only manage to get 25-30mbps down from AT&T but from T-Mobile, we’ll you saw it. That said, AT&T is my primary because they have just proven to have the best coverage and speeds in the majority of places compared to T-Mobile. I can’t speak to VZW because I haven’t used them. I would not make T-Mobile my primary though. Their coverage is still too spotty. That might get better with the Sprint merge though. If I couldn’t use AT&T tomorrow, I would first look to VZW and try to make it work.

5GStore has a 30-day return policy so you could get a 5G pepwave, play with it for a couple weeks and if you can’t get satisfactory results, return it.