MAX Transit Mini Problems

Everything Else Wireless Carrier Troubleshooting
1

Hi,

I recently got this MAX Transit Mini. I first tried it with my T-Mobile data prepaid sim. It is a 5G account and it worked but not 5G speeds. That was expected.

Then I swapped the sim to my Verizon prepaid data sim. It worked but was very slow compared to my WiFi hotspot 8800L. I usually get 40-60 Mbps in the hotspot downloads. In the Transit I only got 4-8 Mbps download speeds.

I left the Verizon sim in for a day. Then it quit working. No internet. Would not connect to Verizon. I tried rebooting and no change.

I took the Verizon sim out and put it back into the WiFi 8800L. It took a while but it is now working again. Getting 40-60 Mbps download again.

What could be the problem? The WiFi 8800L has no external antenna on it.

2

What are the plans you are using?
Have you compared apples to apples (bands, towers, signal, same exact location, etc)?

3

As stated I am using T-Mobile and Verizon. Same location. At home.

4

Is this a hotspot plan? As far as the speed, it’s worth noting that the 8800L has a Cat18 modem vs the Cat4 in the Transit Mini. So the Mini can only connect to one band at a time and that band might be slow or congested. The 8800L could be connected to four bands at the same location.

What does the WAN connection status show when you’re having this issue? Connecting? Obtaining IP?

5

Both are hotspot plans. T-Mobile and Verizon.

If that is the speed from Verizon that I can expect I’m in trouble.

It showed connecting after it lost the signal.

6

I’d say one band versus four at a time, will yield a huge difference.

Start playing with the bands and manually test each.

7

I’m testing Verizon again. In my house. First speed test is the same as the other day.

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8

This was my speed test a couple of days ago after putting the sim back into the 8800L hotspot.

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9

The difference in ping readings is suggestive.

I’d go with the suggestion of @mystery - test each of the bands available (which is something you can do on a MAX Transit) and see if and how the choice of band affects the connection. The band that the carrier selects is not necessarily the best one for you.

Also make sure you are testing against the same server every time (speedtest.com can bounce around a bit).

Cheers,

Z

10

Ok. I’m testing tonight at home. Eventually I will be moving this router to our motorhome.

I tried all of the different bands. Got varying results. Three didn’t connect at all. I picked the one that had the best speed and so far it is much better than before. 20-24 Mbps.

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I’m not familiar with the different bands. Does this mean that when it is in the motorhome that I might have to change bands at different places to get good speeds?

Thanks for your help.

11

If you leave the band selection at “auto” then the carrier will pick the band, based on the local circumstances. So you don’t have to run through the exercise every time you change location. But when you find yourself with an unsatisfactory bandwidth then you now have this additional tool to work with.

Our set-ups are fairly stable (mostly stationary devices), but having moved some of them around (between the mountains and the metroplexes of the coast) I have had occasions where the band explorations were very much worth it - and some where the setup worked well good enough on auto.

So - YMMV :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Z