SIM Data Plans that work with MAX Transit

I have attempted to get a data SIM plan from USMobile, as well as T-Mobile directly. Both show that the IMEI from my MAX Transit DUO is not supported.

I already have an AT&T plan, so I’m looking for other options to use as a second cellular connection.

What DATA plans with an activated SIM have you been able to get working?

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They shouldn’t need the IMEI number… if you push hard enough, they generally relent and figure out a way.

Google Fi data SIMs work great (they will use T-Mobile and T-Mobile roaming partners), but this assumes you have an active Google Fi voice plan.

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I have an AT&T SIM as my primary.

I was able to use USMobile (T-Mobile reseller), but it’s only good for 15GB per month, so only good in emergencies. They don’t officially support SIM’s in a router according to their chat line, but it says somewhere on the website that it works in GSM mode in a router and I can confirm that it does. A better method has been to simply Hotspot my T-Mobile phone, leave it always on, and connect to that in the Pepwave.

I also got a phone from visible.com and hot-spotted it. They limit to 5Mpbs for hotspots, but works well as a backup plan. I have the phone sitting next to the router. I haven’t really experienced any slow downs with it yet, even thought they do say they will prioritize traffic as needed since they are the budget extension of Verizon.

Not exactly a clean setup, but it’s working on the road so far. Way too many moving parts and I will trim down the services, but I wanted to shotgun approach it for the road to see what worked.

USCellular and Sprint are the only two I haven’t worked with.

Thanks for the input.

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Did you ever figure this out? I have the same problem and can’t figure out how I got duped into buying this expensive paperweight of a hotspot. Pretty upset. I told the guys at 5g.com what I was trying to do and they acted like it was not an issue. It’s a real BIG ISSUE as I can’t use the device like I intended.

I kept my setup. Seems the cheapest route. I’ve had to manipulate the router settings to stabilize WiFi, eliminate AWS expenses, etc.

More specifically, what are you trying to do and what do you have in place now abwnurse?

Tim_S, It is now May 20th, a little past the end of April. I have just received my MAX Transit Cat18 & Verizon tells me the IMEI # is not supported.
When is support anticipated for this product? How do you get Verizon to activate a SIM card without an IMEI #? Supposedly a no brainer from the partner I purchased it from. Can some workarounds be suggested until the unit is certified by Verizon?
Thanks for any help.

FYI. I have used a BR1 Max 4G router with Consumer Cellular, which in turn, uses T-Mobile. It works, but the company has very little technical horsepower for dealing with a device like this. I am dangling by a thread should something go wrong. For example, it only works with Googles DNS servers. There is really no one at Consumer Cellular to ask techie questions.

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Michael,

Thanks for your response.

We have recently downsized to our RV from our Ethernet wired house. Big change with respect to connectivity & bandwidth.

I have a small consulting business & really needed something more robust than the Sierra Wireless EM7455 in my laptop. I knew going in to this the device had not yet been certified by Verizon. Was led to believe it would be no big deal by the seller. Am a little disappointed, but, can’t lay all the blame on the seller.

Having the Sierra Wireless activated a few years ago with Verizon was a pain & it had been certified for some time. I suspect all the cellular carriers are short on technical expertise for small time users.

gk

This website might be of help

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Michael,

Yes, I am familiar with that site. Not much information on the cat18 version of my device anywhere that I’ve been able to locate.

Everyone seems to agree you can take an existing activated SIM card, or add another SIM card to products in Verizon’s approved list & the cat18 version of MAX Transit will work.

Supposedly, the SIM card for my Sierra Wireless device will work with an adapter, so, I’m going to try that. Adapter will be here in a few days.

Thanks for the suggestion.

gk

Hello @lemondrop9344,
Many carriers/ISPs allow roaming onto their networks from hardware that comes into from overseas (like travellers with mobile phones). It is a long shot, though in the cellular configuration:

  • First, see what cellular frequencies it is choosing, and then turn them off one at a time, or turn all frequencies off and then turn them on one at a time, it could be a local tower issue with one or two frequencies getting used.
  • Second, check what version the cellular modem has of firmware (separate to the firmware of the router). Component vendors bring our special chipset firmware for various networks around the world regularly. There may be a new version available (we had an issue in Australia with Telstra, and a new version of firmware from the chipset vendor fixed the problem).
  • Last, try turning on the “Allow Roaming” option on the cellular settings of the router.

Happy to Help,
Marcus :slight_smile:

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Thanks to all that have responded. This has been my 1st time using this forum & looking at this string of posts it’s apparent I messed up.
I have recently purchased a Max Transit LTEA with cat 18. At the time of purchase, I knew the unit was not certified by Verizon.
In going through the various posts I saw a post from a Tom (from Peplink?) who indicated the device would be certified by Verizon in April. Wanted to know if there is a time frame when it will be certified?
I have tried to get a SIM card & activate the device on line as well as a local Verizon franchise dealer. Not much help, but to make a long story short, if they can’t get the Verizon system to recognize the IMEI # associated with the unit… they deem it not compatible with their system & that is the end of the conversation.
Other posts have suggested there is a way for Verizon to do a work around, but, don’t elaborate how.
And finally, it’s been suggested to take an activated SIM (must meet certain criteria) and plug it in to the device. For the time being, this is the approach I will use, once the adapter arrives. I will take the SIM from my Sierra Wireless EM7455, place it in an adpater to get this thing up & running until Verizon issues a certification.
Once I get it functioning, I am sure there will be a lot of questions, but for right now, I’m just looking for a way to get it working on the Verizon system. While suggestions on other providers are always appreciated, that is not what I am trying to accomplish right now.
Thanks to all.

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Hello @lemondrop9344,
In addition to all of the previous responses from participants here in the forum, there is some other good news that your local Certified Peplink Partner can help with (thanks to Tim at Peplink for the good news).
In addition, we suggest raising a support ticket so you can get your MAX Transit Cat-18 working with Verizon.

To create a support ticket, go to https://www.peplink.com/company/contact-us/ and click on “Open a Support Ticket”.

Happy to Help,
Marcus :slight_smile:

I am looking at getting UBR LTE and currently have a T-Mobile SIM provisioned for voice/data. Has anyone had any luck using a cell SIM in a Peplink device? I really don’t want to get a data only plan.

I’ve tried my verizon cell sim in the peplink br1 mini. The peplink tried to connect, but in the end never connected to verizon. Once I put the sim back into my phone, I realized I no longer had data connection for my phone. Had to go to verizon store and get a new sim for the phone. Not sure if the wardware is killing the sim or if something is occurring on the verizon side that shut down my sim. The verizon tech people were never able to figure out what was happening.

I also tried to setup a sim for AT&T but like most everyone else on this forum, they said that the device was not supported

Is this a Verizon phone SIM with a current “unlimited” (not grandfathered) plan? The exact issue happened to me. I was trying to confirm if my Cat 18 B310X was working as the AT&T SIM I had wasn’t working in it.

It connected for a brief moment, then Verizon sent me an email saying it wasn’t compatible, and as soon as I put the SIM back in my iPhone, 3G worked but I just couldn’t get LTE data enabled. Thankfully I have a ton of old VZW SIMs from old phones so was able to get a rep to reactivate one of them for me.

But yeah, wow, what a pain. Same experience with the VZW agents not knowing what the issue was, but it sure sounds too similar to be a coincidence.

Correct - regular unlimited plan (not grandfathered). Makes me wonder if I try the same w/ a phone from say AT&T if something similar would happen. I’m very hesitant to just spend money, buying phones and plans to see what actually will work in this device.

Okay, yeah. Seems like Verizon is for some reason taking the step of just disabling the SIM or something. Weird.

I’d highly recommend using prepaid accounts instead. PagePlus, Visible, NeverThrottled, etc.

You can order a bunch of “Net 10 Wireless” SIM cards at $1 each (which is really 3 cards, one for T-Mo, 1 for AT&T, and 1 for VZW).

I’ve been activating them in a Verizon AC791L which so far seems to be working well, even for AT&T, for the most part (Visible requires a phone-based activation via their app, as far as I can tell).

Edit: Millenicom also works well in my own testing, though their T-Mobile based plan won’t work in a Cat 18 device.

thanks for the info!!!

Not much help unless you pay the $85 bait and switch membership fee. Just use Google for free.