I’ve just purchased and received a MAX-BR1-MINI-LTE-US-T which advertises Verizon network compatibility. When I enter the IMEI on Verizon’s website, it tells me that the device is not compatible. I found a similar post from 2017 that indicated IMEIs may not be submitted to VZW before new units are sent out. Could this be the same case again? Is there some other way I need to activate service?
Verizon has some issues and is really trying to make it difficult for residential customers to activate commercial devices. I just went through this know from my experience that they openly support these devices with their post paid services but not on their prepaid offer. In addition, if you already have an account and attempt to add one of these to your account it will show as not compatible. However, if you call they will be able to validate it and get you a SIM so you can activate and connect it.
There is one way to get it to recognize the IMEI,
- Start up a fresh browser with cookies cleared
- Navigate to verizonwireless.com
- Drop down the plans tab and select single device plans
- Select Bring your own
- Select “Switch Now”. Do not select “I’m with Verizon“
- Enter your IMEI and get this screen.
I have the LTE-A version but both are certified.
Oh, and it works fine on a prepaid plan but you need to activate the SIM on a supported Jetpack first.
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I am facing the same situation - bought the MAX BR1 Mini LTEA, and need Verizon prepaid since this is for my RV that is only used occasionally. The local Verizon corporate store gave me a SIM card, but were unable to activate it. Several departments on the phone just said it is not supported. Finally I spoke to their Sales Team where I was offered postpaid only. Your advice here seems to offer a way, but I don’t understand what to do first. Do I first go to the store and have my SIM card activated with prepaid on a jetpack (do I have to buy it or can I just use theirs?) and then move it to the Pepwave? Once that is done, After that do I still need to follow your procedure to get the Pepwave IMEI recognized? Thanks for your patience in clarifying this.
What plan do you have?
I have no plan for the Pepwave (or any other router or hotspot), and am planning to return it if I cannot activate on a plan I like.Currently Verizon prepaid is the only plan I am aware of that fits my needs: Pay as I go for months when I decide to take an RV trip, $40 or so for 6 GB or so, with the option to buy another data volume for another month and another price. The carrier must have good coverage out in the boondocks of the West. This is for Internet data. For voice service I have a ridiculously cheap Sprint postpaid plan that does provide data on the phone, but when I travel by RV I am OK with losing voice coverage, which I expect to do.
This is OP, I accidentally created a second forum account 
After hours of fighting with Verizon, I finally got my Max BR1 Mini activated. First, I got a tech on the phone who “tricked” the system into letting him sell me a prepaid data plan for the Max. They shipped me a SIM and I paid up front (MISTAKE). The sim arrived and didn’t work. Took me several more hours to get another tech on the phone from postpaid who told me VZW was blocking my device on prepaid and my only option was postpaid (arg). She then proceeded to tell me I could activate a post-paid unlimited data plan for the device for $20 / mo! Too good to be true, of course. Despite the fact that the VZW tech sent me a receipt by email stating clearly that my monthly cost would be 20$/mo, my online bill now shows the full 80$ advertised price 
Worse yet, I’ve still been unable to recoup the 78$ I paid the pre-paid tech to activate a prepaid data plan for the device. The only person I’ve been able to speak to on the pre-paid side told me they were putting me on hold to work on a refund and hung up on me. I’m debating just issuing a charge-back…
I understand this isn’t Pepwave’s fault, but advertising a device a “Verizon certified” when it’s this much of a nightmare to activate is ethically questionable at best.
Now, I’m paying 80$ for a post-paid “unlimited” plan, of which I can only use 15GB of because there’s no actual phone tied to the account… This kind of crap should be illegal.
Another bad story. Interesting to note how much of the traffic on this forum relates to stupid problems with the carriers – particularly in the USA. The hardware works but the carriers do a miserable job working with their customers. Sad.
I’ll send you a PM with a “sorta solution.”
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I have no idea why they make it so hard - don’t they want your money?
Nowhere else have I seen such convoluted nonsense for getting and using a SIM.
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Incredible, isn’t it? They’re all that way and the two largest, Verizon and AT&T, are the worst. I suppose the issue is both arrogance and incompetency – and more of the former than the latter. I am both saddened and aghast at the amount of traffic on this forum that relates to these issues. The folks raising them are often hugely frustrated. They’ve bought first-class equipment from a world-class manufacturer and want to use it in a very reasonable manner – and then the carriers’ Sales Prevention and Customer Frustration Management departments take over to ensure a miserable experience for the poor schmuck who just wants a good product at a fair price. Uuuugh.
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@Rick-DC what is the “sorta solution” for verizon prepaid ? i am on a post-paid now but trying to switch it to prepaid cuz its cheaper. Please PM me. thx
I had a similar issue at my local Verizon store. I tried to buy the Pre-Paid sim and the representative told me he would need to "force a dummy IMEI number to make it work. When I asked him if I could return the sim if it didn’t work, he went to ask his manager who told him that the only sim that would work is a pre-paid one. With that, I left the store. I also called Sprectrum as they use the Verizon system and they told me that they don’t support the Peplink.
Hi all,
We just received our Pepwave MAX Transit Duo and can’t seem to get a plan directly with one of the carriers. The resellers posted on the Mobile Internet Resource Center seem to be either unreliable, shady, or both, so I am looking for a plan direct from a carrier. Is this possible anymore? Is there a simple solution that has been posted somewhere to activating a plan with this router?
We are NOT heavy data users and are looking for an option to work on the road from our RV occasionally. We purchased this router in combination with an external MIMO antenna in hopes of getting a stronger and more consistent signal.
Thank you in advance!
There are definitely plans. These are enterprise devices. you might have to setup a business account. As you are experiencing, consumer plans are few and non-existent, at least with the USA carriers.
Would be interesting to see a list of the business plans available for pepwave devices that aren’t advertised on the consumer websites.
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My MAX Transit Duo is currently down (cellular modem appears bad) and we have a trip coming up this weekend so I went ahead and bought a VZW MiFi Jetpack with a 30gb pre-paid plan. It came pre-activated so I was planning to just move the SIM to my MAX Transit Duo once I get a replacement from Peplink. Should I worry about my account getting blocked from doing that? I’ve heard that other carriers are cracking down on stuff like that.