I live in a rural area with only a weak AT&T cell signal as my internet option. I currently use a Netgear LTE modem (LB1120) with an external antenna and 20 dB inline booster connected directly to the Netgear’s TS9 antenna port. I then connect the Netgear to a Linksys WRT1900ACS router to provide the wifi in my house. This setup works well, but I am always looking for things to improve. Would the Pepwave MAX BR1 MK2 be an improvement to this setup? One feature that I think would help with my situation is the ability to lock the modem to Band 2. The tower I use has 3 LTE bands, 2,5, & 17. Band 2 is 20 mhz wide and has much better speeds than the other bands. Can the Pepwave be locked to a specific band? Also, how is the wifi range of the Pepwave? My current Linksys router covers the whole house with wifi. Will the Pepwave be at least as good on wifi range?
Good Afternoon
If you went for the new LTE-A model, you can utilise two bands at a time increasing your throughput!
You are able to lock a Pepwave modem down to a single or multiple frequencies, this is done via the “Cellular Details” menu. There is an option of “Band selection”. (My screenshot is from a LTE-A model so show more bands)
Regarding the wifi covering your whole house, could you please share some details of you house e.g. size, number of rooms and wall material & thickness.
The Pepwave BR1 MK2 wifi specifications are;
802.11ac/a/n 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi AP 802.1b/g/n 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi WAN
Transmit Power 2.4 GHz 24dBm & 5 GHz 17dBm (BR1 Pro is 2.4 GHz 26dBm or 5 GHz 25dBm)
Thanks for the reply. My house is 1.5 story (some of the attic finished) with about 2200 sq ft on the bottom and 1000 sq ft on top. The wall material is the standard 2’x4’ studs with drywall on the walls. The floor between the 2 levels is wood with carpet. My current router is in the center of the house on the upper floor. I have to put it there due to running coax between the outer antenna and booster. I found the specs of the Linksys router to be 19 dBm for 2.4 gHz and 21 dBm for 5gHz. It also has 4 x 3.8 dBi antennas. The Linksys covers the house well. So, it looks like BR1 MK2 would be stronger on 2.4 gHz at least and should do fine. Is that correct?
