Hi there - just installed a Pepwave MAX, initially with Vodafone in first SIM slot and O2 in the second one.
I then removed the O2 card and replaced with an EE card. But can’t seem to get the router to identify and activate the second SIM. It seems to still think it is O2 and not EE.
I have no way of knowing if it is actually working and at what speeds - I can see the 5G icon there, but think that may be relating to the Vodafone card.
Any suggestions?
Each modem has two SIM slots, but only one is ever active at a time - if you go to the config for that WAN in the Peplink GUI you can select which slot to use either based on signal strength cutoffs, preference for a given slot or enforce a single slot to be used.
When the EE SIM was in the active slot what was the status showing - was it stuck “obtaining IP” or anything like that? Might be worth trying the SIM in another device if possible to be sure it is really active and working.
SIM reports Ic2 is do not report throughput etc. but are for tracking data usage across the various SIMs - quite handy when you have a very large number to manage or keep track of with various data packages and so on.
If you look under device reports though you should be able to get WAN quality history (signal strength, latency, loss etc.) and also throughput and data transfer over time per WAN.
Thanks Will,
I think I may have been mis-sold as I was told that the Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro 5G was a 5G Bonding Router that would bond both SIMs and use them combined for as long as both had connection/signal. I have also chosen the Weighted Balance option which says: “Traffic will be proportionally distributed among available connections according to the specified load distribution weight.”
Whereas what you are saying is that the second SIM is just a fallback option? Looks like I need to take this up with my supplier as I am not sure why I’ve paid £1k+ for a fancy single sim router.
Unfortunately not, the BR1 Pro 5G only has a single modem so one SIM in use at a time on the cellular side of things, you could obviously bring in another connection via the Etherrnet WAN or Wi-Fi WAN which can be load balanced or bonded together but that is probably not what you are looking for.
At the moment if you want a dual-modem 5G Peplink the best option is probably the BR2 Pro 5G, or if you’re not too fussed about 5G the Max Transit Pro Duo is also a very solid unit.
Bear in mind if you want bonding you also need to use of SpeedFusion, either via Peplinks service (SpeedFusion Connect Protect) or by hosting your own FusionHub somewhere.
If you just want load balancing though that can be done out of the box and the Peplink will distribute traffic across your available WANs.
Hi Will - OK that’s super-helpful. As I said, I think I have been missold this one, but I can’t see the other one in the UK for sale.
I will probably have to return it … not really quite sure why it has two SIM slots as without bonding it’s only really going to ever be used if the Vodafone network dies.
I wanted bonding, but yes also 5G. I have a simpler modem which worked fine in the office and I can’t see the point of this one.
Yeah, it is mainly redundancy - we use a lot of the Max Transit Duos for broadcast work and will often install in the “A” slot on each modem a standard SIM from one of the big operators but then have in the “B” slot a fancy all network roaming SIM (which cost a small fortune per GB) as an alternative if we are struggling at a given location.
Another common use for it is for folks who have limited data contracts so they can set the Peplink up to switch automatically between two SIMs based on data consumption - “I’ve only got 20Gb on each SIM, swap to SIM B when I’ve done 19.5Gb on SIM A” kind of thing.
Not typically something we worry about in the UK as high usage / unlimited SIMs are relatively inexpensive but in other parts of the world that is not the case 
Yes, the brief was ‘data bonding dual 5G SIM’ it’s actually for a static office with great 5G, but a prohibitive (slow) broadband supplier.
So the idea was simple - two different networks gives resilience as well as a really nice fat broadband connection with the failsafe that if one goes down, the other comes into play. Both SIMs are unlimited FWIW…
But this looks more like a portable solution which is dual in so far as you can swap the SIM traffic if you need to.
Interestingly, regardless of slot, it always goes to Vodafone first.
Hello John,
Please ensure in Australia & New Zealand that you get an RCM approved Peplink|Pepwave model.
For 5G capable dual modem models approved for Australia & New Zealand, look at these
Alternatively, you can, on some of the single modem models:
Happy to Help,
Marcus
FYI for all, the Pepwave MAX Adapter 5G won’t work added to the BR1 pro 5g as it doesn’t have a usb port.
I’d recommend Synergy Mode with two BR1 pro 5g’s tho if you aren’t able to get the BR2
