My partner needs reliable video conferencing on the go, and the existing Duo is a great solution. Depending on where we are we’ll use any of the big 3 carriers, though TMO gets used the least, and being able to bond when conditions are marginal is critical. High speed is nice but honestly not that important compared to stability and latency.
I’ve been noticing that my 5G capable phone has been getting much better signal than the transit duo on LTE, to the point of making a noticeable difference (due to saturation I assume).
Alternatives: I’ve been toying with a DC build of starlink, but realistically it’d still need to be bonded with a cell carrier to avoid hard drops, and we’d need multiple carriers to choose from, so at the end of the day having to set up the antenna all the time and still paying for multiple cell plans doesn’t seem worth it vs the simplicity of just having a parsec husky on the roof and having everything managed in one router.
If it’s not economically viable to release a 5G Duo in the next few years (modem shortage? pushing people to buy two products vs one, etc), I suppose having a BR1 Mini 5G with ATT & VZN in it by default, then being able to manually swap in TMO and fusing that with starlink would work better connectivity wise between the satellite and 4x MIMO 5G. That comes with downsides of extra cost, setup/breakdown time, space taken up, power draw, and complexity.
The BR2 pro is dual 5G. Look at all the antennas!!
It has 8 cellular antenna connections (1 x GPS and 2 x WIFI) - so the physical size to support that number of connections (and then heat dissipation of dual 5G modules) is the biggest reason you’ll not see a dual 5G transit.
Your transit Duo is a great device. Just plug a 5G router in its WAN port and then bond dual LTE and teh 5G connection.
The BR2 Pro is nearly 3 times the cost, and has a lot of functionality we don’t need there - 4 LAN, 3 WAN ports etc.
While two 4x MIMO antenna connections is optimal for maximum bandwidth and redundancy, for mobile use the dual 2x MIMO of the Duo is really all we need - the video calls are relatively low bandwidth and issues are due to over-saturation and latency (at which point there’d almost certainly be diminishing returns on the 3rd and 4th bands per carrier) over pure bandwidth.
Everyone obviously has different use cases, but for us literally a Duo with modern modems (and some extra chonk for heat dissipation) would be perfect. I can see that cannibalizing profits from more advanced models or being a niche use case not worth pursuing, but it’s a great little form factor for people with relatively straightforward networking needs (aside from stability) that are on the go, though perhaps that’s an annoying market to serve vs traditional enterprise.
Knowing that there won’t be a 5G Duo is useful to know - at some point LTE isn’t going to cut it. Amusingly in one town we’ve spent time at for the past few years that usually saturates in mid-march, she was able to get by on Verizon’s LTE a bit past that this year since the addition of 5G there helped desaturate the older LTE towers!
So, get something like a MAX BR1 MINI 5G or Max Adapter 5G, install a second external antenna, and then swap SIM cards for each carrier into the 5G device to find which carrier works best on 5G leaving the other two in the Duo on LTE to bond for any drops on the primary carrier. That’d work but is still rather fiddly.
After years with the current setup I’m finally at the point where I’m not on unpaid on call for her work environment…
The budget option would be to connect a Mini 5G into the WAN port of a B One 5G and fuse them. Managing them would be more tedious, and it wouldn’t be as power or space efficient, but it’s a dual 5G modem setup for $1100 instead of $2900. We don’t need to run docker containers or have it turn on with the engine (unless we’re scouting a new area engine is always off when we’re using it). Being capped at 400mbps is perfectly fine, we’re unlikely to get above that in the field.
The comparison table doesn’t show a ton of meaningful differences for many sort of “prosumer” folk to justify the cost of the BR2:
I (and I’m sure a lot of other people) would pay a couple hundred more to just have to manage one device.
If you would like our help with configuration/setting up a b one 5g and mini 5g , or a br1 pro 5g, and a br1 mini , we’d be help to facilitate sales and support. [email protected]
I’m capable of purchasing and setting it up myself, that’s not the issue.
I’m just pointing out it’d be more annoying logging into two local interfaces (I guess at that point incontrol might win out), paying for two support subscriptions, having to turn two devices on and off, wiring two devices onto 12V, moving SIM cards between two devices etc, than one and there’d likely be a market for a Duo 5G.
I get why they’d rather want people splashing out $3k vs $1100, and they can obviously choose to make (or not!) whatever hardware they deem in their best business interest.
I’d more likely upgrade to starlink + a single modem 5G peplink router at this point, though for now the Duo is still working well enough. The B One 5G seems like it’d be adequate honestly though I haven’t looked at it in detail.
We are a peplink partner for 9 years, which is why I offered our assistance in helping set it up.
We also recently became an Authorized Peplink and Starlink solutions provider and know a lot of the gotchas when it comes to powering a starlink off a vehicle.
For example you can enable synergy mode on the B one 5g and use the br1 mini 5g as a synergerized device. https://manual.peplink.com/documentation/peplink-b-series-user-manual/ch3-advanced-feature-summary/synergy-mode/
We keep our company running by reselling peplink products , starlink devices/plans, cellular data plans and providing support via phone and e-mail ticketing.
If you need anything we are happy to help. If not I understand as well.
Synergy mode would simplify management, but it’s still a non-ideal scenario to deal with two devices. If we have to do so, there’s IMO more benefit to just adding in starlink vs another 5G modem. I haven’t kept up with firmware updates as 8.2 caused our Duo to intermittently lock up, though hopping onto very recently 8.4.1 has been stable.
I’m not looking to upgrade immediately as stated, just have been feeling the lack of 5G recently and was curious about the product line looking forward. My partner is still able to work effectively (I’m more flexible) with the Duo and that’s what counts, but eventually we’ll need to move off of it.
Whenever your ready we could dive into the products more.
Another thought would be a usb max adapter 5g connected to the b one 5g.
It would simplify the wiring setup and present both 5g in the same interface.
Yeah I mentioned that option in post 3. It’s more expensive by around $150 iirc, the above $1100 setup was the budget way (up front at least) to get two 5G modems bonded as a contrast to the $2900 BR2 Pro. I’m unlikely to go that route, and presumably by the time we feel the need to switch out hardware there will be newer options to consider as well.
It would have been nice to know that in a year or two a Duo 5G was planned to be out, and it was being held back for engineering or modem shortages or whatever. It’s useful, if disappointing, to know there won’t be one so I can start planning around that in my head.
