Reading and learning about Peplink products for a soon to be purchased Class A motorhome.
Plan to ‘dry camp’ extensively without AC power, etc., using solar to power the coach and want to have the best setup I can get for cellular service for phone, internet and streaming for TV (YouTube TV, Discovery+ etc.)
Will also visit RV parks and will need good WiFi reception.
Will the new Peplink mobility 22G be the best antenna coupled with a router?
Will need to drive 3 TVs, but only one at a time, 2 laptops, and 2 cell phones.
Currently use Verizon as my carrier and have a MiFi 8800L Jetpack for remote work usage.
Will mostly travel the East coast but planning trips to the Midwest and Rockies.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Have been full timing since December 2019. After considerable research, I purchased a Peplink Max Transit CAT-18. I have been very happy with it.
With that said… you need to establish realistic expectations regarding cellular internet service in the US. My experience equates ‘dry camping’ to ‘off the grid’. Availability of a decent cellular signal from any carrier may or may not be available.
WIFI provided by RV parks is notorious for being substandard. If you happen to be at a park with good WIFI, consider it a bonus. Just don’t count on it being available all the time.
In so far as Verizon is your primary carrier, I would encourage you to to determine the ‘certification status’ of any Peplink device that you intend to use on the Verizon 5G networks. I’m not sure they are yet certified for use on Verizon’s network.
Personally, as a RV nomad, I would hold off going with any Peplink 5G device (for that matter any 5G cellular router/modem) until such time as the carriers have rolled out coverage a bit more. If you are ‘off the grid’, having a 5G signal is questionable. I think you would be paying for capability you would not be able to consistently use. There seems to be a premium price for 5G network devices. One more thought, I would wait until the Qualcom Snapdragon X65 is the chip in the 5G unit.
As a general rule, I think you will find that it would be wise to have at least 2 cellular providers (redundancy). I use AT&T as my primary & Verizon as my backup. T-Mobile/Sprint seems to be providing good coverage also.
If you haven’t yet done so, I would take a look at the Mobile Internet Resource Center to see what they have to say. They have a free & paid section where they review/test hardware & various cellular data plans.
Keep in mind… ‘the best setup’ you can buy will most likely be exponentially more expensive than a 'good setup, but, will likely not exponentially improve your capability.
Good luck.
Thanks for the reply.
The Peplink Mobility from what I understand will support 5G but also 4G. Was trying to plan for the future so I would not have to buy something new in the next year or two.
What configuration do you have and would you change anything?
Ed,
Keep in mind I made my purchase over a year ago. With that said, I wanted all the things you specified, as well as, Ethernet connectivity for a few of the devices on the LAN in my RV (specifically a NAS device).
I evaluated Peplink, Cradlepoint & some other vendors & narrowed my choices to a Max Transit Cat DUO (2 CAT 12 modems) & a Max Transit CAT 18 with one CAT 18 modem. In my mind, I could not cost justify the additional expense (base price, annual Prime Care subscription, & data plans to fully populate the device) associated with the Max Transit Cat DUO vs. the Max Transit CAT-18. Based on my requirement & use, the additional cost was simply not worth it for some potential gains in performance & reliability. Nothing I was doing was ‘mission critical’ & could not wait for a few minutes.
At the time I purchased my device, the unit was not Verizon certified. I knew that going in, but, was told it should work with Verizon. It can be made to work when not certified, but, it’s a hassle. I believe the various carriers are now more proactive in monitoring cellular router/modem devices & it is becoming more difficult to ‘game’ the system. ‘Gaming’ the system can be very time consuming & frustrating, especially when you are a RV nomad wandering around the country.
Streaming video content to your TV consumes ‘bunches’ of data. I have a total of 3 TVs with ROKU devices controlling them. Depending on the quality of the signal, I can stream 2 of them concurrently at 720p resolution without any buffering while I work on my PC over the internet. Working on my PC could involve ZOOM/SKYPE meetings, connecting to remote servers, transferring large files between NAS devices & of course just browsing the net. Where possible, I connect my devices by Ethernet. My highest monthly combined cellular usage was right at 600GB/month when I was attempting to stress test the setup. It was a struggle for me to use that much data. I frequently saw 4 band carrier aggregation with my AT&T connection, while Verizon was usually around 2 bands. A lot of what you can receive is more dependent on the carrier than the equipment.
As a general rule, I am not an early adopter of the latest & greatest technology. The higher price you pay rarely is rewarded with performance commensurate with the price.
If I were purchasing today, I would go with the same setup I have now. A Peplink Max Transit CAT-18 with 2 cellular data only plans for AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile/Sprint. When I have a good WIFI signal, I use that to stream media to the TV’s through the Peplink. The WIFI signal serves as a backup (almost instantaneous), if the cellular signal drops. I have yet to install my external antenna as the included paddle antennas have proved to be very adequate. Have not yet gone to locations I would consider of the grid yet.
Please take the time to research the status of the current 5G offerings from the major carriers to understand what & where you will be receiving with regards to the 5G signals. Would also encourage you to research the Qualcom Snapdragon X65 chip with regards to its 5G capabilities.
Only you can determine if the latest & greatest being offered is worth the price differential.
Sorry to ramble on.
Was told by Peplink that the Mobility 42G does not have an IMEI number since it was an antenna and thus does not need to be certified on the Verizon network. The MAX BR1 MK2 does have a cellular modem and has an IMEI number and is certified for the Verizon network.
Just a comment about vzw certification. It’s pretty well known by now that MAX routers are certified. I just started playing with my cat 18 and plugged its imei into vzw’s byod check. Not only did I get the happy green "your device is compatible " message the system displayed the complete model number of my router.
In my experience antenna do not need certification. I am running a 42G as it supports band 71 for t mobile 5G….agree with lemondrop on the point of being an early adopter but then I am an explorer and glutton for punishment. I am going through setup pains for the new max br1 pro 5g. The Wi-Fi wan is very good especially compared to the 2019 br1 mini….still working to get cellular to connect. If you’re willing to wrestle with emerging tech then go for it. If your not going down the proven path of 4g is much easier but certainly not easy
Oh boy! My CAT-18 may be having an issue with the cellular modem as I get a ‘NO DEVICE DETECTED’ message (see post elsewhere). Of course this happens on the weekend. Thankfully I have decent WiFi available so I can continue to work until I figure out what is going on.
I see there is a Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro PrimeCare Router with CAT-20 Modem (not 5G) that has recently become available. That may be something I need to look at if the current device needs to go out for repair, or, if it just needs to be replaced.
Does anyone have any experience with this model? It supposedly has all the bells & whistles of the 5G model except it’s only a 4G modem.