Welcome to RVForums.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest RV Community on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, review campgrounds
  • Get the most out of the RV Lifestyle
  • Invite everyone to RVForums.com and let's have fun
  • Commercial/Vendors welcome

Pepwave - Band Locking

Welcome to RVForums.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends and let's have fun
  • Commercial/Vendors welcome
  • Friendliest RV community on the web

Gizmo

RVF VIP
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Messages
484
Location
Kansas
RV Year
2017
RV Make
Newmar
RV Model
Ventana LE
RV Length
40
TOW/TOAD
2020 Jeep Rubicon
I was just watching the MobileMustHaves video and they were talking about band locking to improve cell performance with a Pepwave router. I have been struggling with Verizon for months at my home location getting less the 4 on the speed test and sometimes not even getting as high as 1. I check which bands I was logging into and found that my Primary and 1st Secondary was using cell tower band 4. I want down to where you turn off and on bands and turned band 4 off the saved config and waiting for it to reconnect. I check and now the modem was using band 66. I check the speed test and not I’m getting between 60 and 80 on the speed test. The only con I can see is forgetting to enable the bands when you move from location to location but that in my departure/arrival checklist now.

I guess the easy way to do is to leave all bands to enable and go down the list shutting off bands and running a speed test till you find which band is fastest. -OR- Be line me and anything about 30 does 90% of what I need to do.

I have fighting slow version connections for months but since I had other connections to the internet I wasn’t worried about not having good Verizon service at home.

I am probably the last person to find out this little bit of knowledge but just maybe there someone else out there that can use this info.
 
I should have knocked on wood because after a few hours it will not connect to band 66 and check the other Verizon bands and they are all less than 1 on the speed test.
 
I believe that Verizon and and all the rest of the major carriers have the ability to steer you to the band of their choice based on their bandwidth load on any given tower. What you expereienced is going to be common throughout the industry unnfortunately.
 
I believe that Verizon and and all the rest of the major carriers have the ability to steer you to the band of their choice based on their bandwidth load on any given tower. What you expereienced is going to be common throughout the industry unnfortunately.
I'm about fed up with Verizon's grandfathered plan. Seems that between AT&T Phones and Cyalx 5G, Verizon is a distant third in a speed test and many times unusable. I'm about ready to get the FMCA AT&T plan even if limited to 25Mbps, heck that better than what I'm getting from Verizon.
 
I went with a Pepwave max transit duo with a Verizon and an ATT sim in the two modems. When traveling for the last year we have only had one instance where neither had coverage, and that was an extremey remote situation. Speed though is another matter and like you said can suck or be great depending on where you are. Personally I have long ago decided there is no universal, entire US coverage best carrier. They are going to vary wildly across the country. If your going to be mobile and crossing the country its just part of the price of the lifestyle and make the best of it. If your going to be in a specific area more than any other, resesarch the best carrier performance for that specific area and invest in it. BTW, I also picked up Starlink, and once parked it does the heavy lifting with cellular as a backup. While mobile I depend on the two carriers to keep us connected. My wife and I still work, her full time so we MUST have internet we can use. Hope this helps.
 
We also have the Pepwave Max Transit Duo.
Similar experience to Scottkd2, multiple carriers and each spot is different.
In a couple locations we have found the band lock to be useful, but most of the time it works best when it can hop around is it best sees fit. But there are times the speed can get slowwwww.
In some cases the strongest signal may be an over subscribed tower (slow speed), in these cases the band locking may help by forcing you to a tower further away (weaker signal) but that further tower may not be as busy, providing a faster throughput.
Like Scottkd2 we needed stable and fast internet for full time work. As a result we also added Starlink and that is now our primary with the Pepwave now only having 1 ATT sim in it, to act as our backup.
Finally we have 25gb on each phone hot spot data plan with Verizon as our backup to the backup.
If it wasn’t for full time work requirement, would most likely go with Starlink and cut out Pepwave/ATT. Keeping some form of cell phone hot spot data as the only backup.
 
As long as my 41.66 Per month Unlimited T-Mobile 5G using an M2000 hotspot from Calyx performs as it has been Starlink is not in the cards for me. I put the SIM in 5G Pepwave and in Air Capital RV Park in Kansas and I topped 700 on the speed test. I have Verizon as backup and not proving to be a good choice since it is slowww. When I get to Florida in a couple of weeks and Verizon doesn't perform better I just get the AT&T card from FMCA and drop the Verizon. The speed test below was from Tucson Recon West and I spent 3 1/2 months there and I don't think it ever got below 350 even in prime time.

t-mobile512 tag - 1.jpeg
 
We had the M2000 with T-Mobile with FMCA. It was our primary, until that contract between FMCA and T-Mobile ended. 🥺

When FMCA went to att, we tried using it for a few months but finally gave up. Streaming would buffer every few minutes, but that could be livable, just frustrating.

The big issue is that we still more reliable for full time work, and att was far from being reliable. It was embarrassing how poor my zoom calls were not working.

So we transitioned to Starlink.

Sure do miss the ‘M2000 on T-Mobile.
 
We had the M2000 with T-Mobile with FMCA. It was our primary, until that contract between FMCA and T-Mobile ended. 🥺

When FMCA went to att, we tried using it for a few months but finally gave up. Streaming would buffer every few minutes, but that could be livable, just frustrating.

The big issue is that we still more reliable for full time work, and att was far from being reliable. It was embarrassing how poor my zoom calls were not working.

So we transitioned to Starlink.

Sure do miss the ‘M2000 on T-Mobile.
Calyx has the T-Mobile 5G deal that is similar to the one FMCA had. It is truly unlimited since I have streamed 1080P using over 600 GB in a month. The features that FMCA had that Calyx doesn't are being able to pause service and paying by the month. The calyx is 750.00 (62.50 a month) for the first year and 500.00 (41.66 per month) for the second year. We had both the FMCA and Calyx one for a couple of months and they both used the M2000 but the Calyx hotspot was several software updates that the FMCA didn't. Calyx one seems to be faster and more stable than the FMCA.

That is good to know about the AT&T connection. Since AT&T phones at a higher priority, it seems to be faster than Verizon hotspot. Since FMCA doesn't have a contract it is easy to try and see if works and it can be placed in your own device.
 
Never could make an FMCA supplied sim work in the Pepwave. Gave up after a number of tries.
 

Latest resources

Back
Top