Long term Peplink user, joined specifically to add my support to this unfortunate issue.
Own two MAX BR1 Pro 5G, and now two Sim Injectors - to discover this variant of the MAX BR1 Pro doesn’t support SIM Injectors.
Quite a specific requirement on a time sensitive project, so this model was perfect fit, and is pretty powerful to have 200Mbps SpeedFusion with encryption. It just needs more SIMs.
@Jonathan: Pretty much for the exact reasons as others have posted; ours are installed on a large boat, where we need the SIMs to be separate from the modems. Also for ease of use for the operator. We have multiple SIMs for multiple countries, and switching them in and out in and out of the MAX BR1 Pros causes the cables to be moved around, and I suspect one of the SIM slots is now damaged - Peplink didn’t design the units with the SIMs (that are removable) on the front of the unit. And instead put them right on the back of the unit next to the antenna cables (which you don’t want removable or touched at all).
@Alex: Doesn’t help those who already own and installed the units - twice the cost, and width. Peplink isn’t a brand where you would normally throw away 5G devices after a year.
@Colt_Sammons: Installed fw 1.1.115 on SIM injector, and running 8.3.0 on MAX BR1 Pro 5G, even with SIM Proxy enabled in support.cgi - no difference that I can find.
Please could someone from Peplink provide an update.
I just bought a new X62 BR1 Pro 5G and a Mini SIM injector to be used in Synergy Mode with an older x55 BR1 Pro 5G. The Mini indicates that the BR1 Pro (HW 5/6, CAT-4 & CAT-6) is supported.
In trying to set this up, it appears that the brand new MAX BR1 Pro 5G x62 doesn’t support SIM injection? I don’t have room in my boat’s radar arch to fit a BR2 Pro but, can accommodate two of the BR1 Pro. Besides, two BR1 Pro’s provide redundancy, in case one fails (I had this happen 6 months ago with a BR1 Pro failure in Synergy Mode and would have been dead if a single BR2 failed).
I hope this is just a configuration issue because I’m dead in the water if this brand new hardware doesn’t support basic SIM injection.
As far as I can find the BR1 Pro 5G only has HW1 revision, the new modem chip is just another SKU with different modem chip in it but rest same hardware.
It is sadly a hardware limitation and in the datasheet it is not mentioned that it supports SIM Injection technique. The BR1 Pro 5G HW1 and BR1 Pro CAT20 HW7 models don’t have the necessary hardware for SIM Injection, they do have the eSIM chip which can be used with FW8.4.0 onwards. So maybe that might give you a solution? SIM Injection and eSIM use different techniques and chips on the PCB inside the Peplink.
We are mainly using the Balance 20X with FlexModule and the Balance 310-5G.
The B310-5G HW1 supports SIM Injection, but not eSIM. The B310-5G HW2 supports both.
The B20X supports SIM Injection when combined with a FlexModule Mini, as the technique for it is in the module. eSIM is supported with B20X HW3 onwards.
My response to the product group on this major hole in the product line:
Unfortunately all of those models are too big to fit in my boat’s radar arch, don’t support 5G, or are inappropriate for the marine environment (e.g. domes). Two BR1 Pro 5G’s in synergy mode do fit. However, SIM management is constrained in that location, demanding remote management.
I’d highly recommend having better and/or more visible documentation that calls out this limitation of the BR1. I wasted a lot of time and money on this solution and I’m sure I’m not the only one. It seems extremely short sighted to eliminate this functionality on a newly released piece of x62 hardware.
Since all 5G hardware implementations have a fundamental requirement of short antenna runs, this is a rather puzzling response.
As we are all aware, long 5G antenna lead runs result in exponential signal loss with 5G. Therefore, the majority of 5G hardware solutions are going to be remote and/or in a hard to access location.
Given that, it would be reasonable to expect that all 5G Cellular Routers would support SIM injection as a basic requirement.
Furthermore, listing Max BR1 Pro support for the SIM injectors (with specific HW versions that are difficult for a consumer to decipher) furthers confusion for architecting 5G solutions that fundamentally exclude the newest BR1 Pro 5G x62, that would depend on remote SIM management compounds frustration from your user base.
Since all 5G hardware implementations have a fundamental requirement of short antenna runs, this is a rather puzzling hardware omission. It’s even more puzzling that Peplink representatives continue to as for use case scenarios to support this functionality on the on going revisions of the Max BR1 5G.
As we are all aware, long 5G antenna lead runs result in exponential signal loss with 5G. Therefore, the majority of 5G hardware solutions are going to be remote and/or in a hard to access location.
Given that, it would be reasonable to expect that all 5G Cellular Routers would support SIM injection as a basic requirement.
Compound that with Peplink’s Marine Antenna Product line, eliminating the Max BR1 5G routers as an option (that can fit in limited spaces on a boat while being expanded to multiple cellular modems with Synergy Mode), and it starts creating a major hole in the marine product line for basic 5G support.
Sorry guys. I agree this is confusing and our team will work on the fix.
For your situation, please drop me a PM with your email. I’ll have our team to work out a solution. And yes, the SIM injection is a cool technology and we should expand this further.