Peplink Help!

["EZ"]

EZ.... In reviewing the recent comments on the Peplink forum, it appears not all the 5G models have been certified for use by AT&T & Verizon. Supposedly this will happen sometime in September. I suspect this may be part of your problem.
With regards to T-Mobile, I believe the 5G models have been certified for use on their network.
Having installed multiple Peplink devices (no 5G models) with both Verizon & AT&T cellular plans, I have never encountered any issues if I was using a SIM with the appropriate data plan for the Peplink device. All the devices powered up & connected with the default settings from the factory.
Remove all SIM cards. You should be able to connect to the UI on the device via the Ethernet WAN port. Reset the device to 'FACTORY DEFAULT' & let it boot up. I believe from reading the string associated with your trials & tribulations, you have a T-Mobile plan. Insert this SIM in port A & make it the primary. Adjust any settings that are unique to the T-Mobile SIM & it should connect (takes a minute or two).
The attached is a cut & paste from the 5G Store, which clearly indicates AT&T & Verizon certifications are pending. Can it be made to work prior to certification, probably. I would be very surprised if the 5G store is going to help you to circumvent the lack of certification.
Good luck, once you get it working I think you will be very happy with it.


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Believe it or not I've already done all that. I figured the AT&T SIM was having issues booting up because it wasn't certified (although we ran the AT&T SIM card all last week in Panama City and used up 40G) so obviously it was working pretty good. Since it was slower than the T-Mobile I was saving the T-Mobile SIM for my wife to work from since we had no clue how many Gigs she was going to need per day to do her job. Then out of nowhere we got booted off the system and for 4 straight days we couldn't get either SIM to boot up. I did a reboot to factory settings. I took cards out and put them back in. I tried using only one card at a time. I tried them both. I tried Priority #1 and #2. I dragged the cell down to "disable" then dragged the cell back to Priority #1 to re-set the SIMs. I've done everything you can do except change settings that shouldn't have to be changed. 5G Store or T-Mobile or AT&T may have to change some settings on their end but everything is OK on my end that I can see. Funny thing is..........after dinner tonight I tried to boot up the T-Mobile SIM card and it started up just like it was supposed to!! Like nothing has ever been wrong! But for the last 4 days I've had to run my Peplink off of my companies hot spot they gave me for my company laptop. I'm sure they are going to notice the increase in Gigs used. It is NOT an unlimited plan. Since we had to use my company wi-fi hot spot we haven't been able to watch TV. That sucks. I've GOT TO be able to watch the Georgia/Clemson football game on Saturday!!!! Since I have the T-Mobile SIM booted up and running I am NOT going to touch anything. I hope it stays connected until the game on Saturday!! This week has been exasperating!!!

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Hmmm, if LemonDrop's presumption is/was correct, that would indicate that the 5G modems are not downward compatible...and I can't believe that's the case.

That said, even IF the device was 5G capable, like my iPhone 12 is, it still doesn't mean it always connects with 5G for data. I've had to disable 5G on numerous occasions to continue getting data across.

So...I do wonder if this is something that can be done with a new 5G PepWave that's trying to connect to a 5G network, but can't. I haven't looked for a setting to disable 5G yet.

 

[lemondrop9344]

With regards to the Peplink 5G Max Transit certification..... I am only replaying what I've read from the Peplink forum.
If I'm following the thread correctly, EZ is presently connected on the T-Mobile network. If I understand 5G, it comes in a couple of flavors & the data plans for T-Mobile, AT&T & Verizon state if 5G isn't available you will get 4G LTE or whatever. I've only looked at the data only plans as SIMs activated with a phone plan have proven to be problematic with some of the Peplink products.
I don't think my presumption (non certification for AT&T & Verizon) would indicate the 5G modems are not downward compatible. I suspect this could be easily validated with EZ determining if he receives a 4G LTE signal when he is some where without 5G coverage. I would agree that the Peplink devices not being backwards compatible is highly unlikely.
I suspect the issue(s) you are encountering with your 5G device are associated with the lack of device certification and/or the type of plan you are using. Several posters on the Peplink forum have indicated no trouble with initial connections, (AT&T & Verizon), but, subsequently it quit working. This would suggest to me, the carriers are becoming a little more sophisticated in detecting the equipment being used & bouncing equipment off the network if they are not certified.
For what it's worth, I have 4 Verizon data only plans distributed between 4 different devices. Verizon 2nd level support indicated the SIM cards were not device specific. I have validated this by switching SIMs between the devices & used adapter cards where necessary. In each instance, Verizon identified the device or the modem module correctly. In all instances, the factory default setting were used. This was tested on Peplink CAT-18 & Sierra Wireless CAT-6 devices. This device identification was not happening in the June/July 2020 time frame.
The following was posted on the Peplink forum about 3 days ago.