Verizon SIM

Just purchased a Max-BR1-LTE-V-T. How do I get it operational on Verizon’s network? This is for a consumer account, not a business account. I assume I need them to send me an activated SIM card, but Verizon doesn’t seem to know much about these devices and is confused when you call them.

Peplink should have some helper info on their web site in regards to this. The product is for Verizon, but Verizon themselves, is not very well versed on how to do this.

Thanks

Hi Christopher,

You will need to acquire a SIM card from Verizon and they will need the IMEI number from the device in order to activate it, this is printed on the label.

Thanks,
Tim

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Thanks for the response. Here’s what I learned going through the account enable with Verizon. I think PepLink should document this information to help their Verizon customers get started. I also think PepLink and their customers would benefit from having PepLink work with Verizon to help them do a better job in supporting the product. Right now, they are kind of confused by it.

If you give Verizon the 15 digit IMEI number off the bottom of the Max-BR1, they will tell you that it is an unsupported device. What they are looking for is the MEID (HEX) which is provided on the router’s Dashboard/cellular/Details screen or, at least in my case, it is merely the IMEI number with the last digit left off.

With this number, they are then able to identify the device as a PepWave Max-BR1, but their normal account people do not seem to know how to enable it and they have to send you off to a tech support person. Once there, they have no information as to what size SIM card to send you, and I was unable to tell them since, as far as I could tell, it is not documented on the PepLink web site. After much searching, it was determined that the Max-BR1 requires a mini-SIM type card, but Verizon no longer supports these so you have to go with the micro-SIM type card from Verizon, and then purchase a micro-SIM to mini-SIM adapter. Verizon mails you the micro-SIM card. Upon receipt, you have to call them back and activate the micro-SIM card.

Total time on the phone with Verizon, believe it or not, was just under 2 hours. The tech support person was very helpful and even went as far as Googling around to find the correct SIM card type.

Thanks for the feedback Christopher, we will update our site and documentation to indicate the correct SIM card size - this makes sense.

If you are activating an LTE unit they will need the IMEI number, if it is a 3G unit then they will need the MEID number.

I’m surprised they could not get you a mini-SIM card, I know other customers have been able to get them no problem.

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Hi Christopher,

We’ve updated our products specification pages to include SIM card sizing information.

Thanks - Alan

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As an addendum, Sprint no longer supports mini sims either, just micro and nano.

Actually Sprint does have the mini size SIM cards and the part number is SIMGLW106R
Thanks.

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Wow. 2 calls to Sprint tech support and a visit to a store could not find that info. Thanks!

NP Flim63 :up:

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FWIW: I purchased and activated a Verizon mini SIM card this week (for a balance 30 LTE)

FWIW #2: I just received my Peplink Balance 30 Pro and called Verizon to order a SIM card. I gave the 15-digit IMEI to the first rep - she told me that it was an unsupported device and suggested that I return it. I said that didn’t make sense and so she transferred me to someone else. The second rep that I spoke with said he only needed the first 14 digits of the IMEI - so I gave that to him and he confirmed that the device is perfectly compatible and mailed me a SIM card.

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Hey! Can you tell me how you activated your SIM card? I have a PepWave Max BR1 Slim. The first Verizon guy was a rockstar. Checked my IMEI compatibility, ordered the Sim Card for me and helped me buy the right prepaid plan–as this is for our part time RV so we want to use it occasionally. We do not have Verizon cell accounts. So this was a new set up.

SIM card delivered and I cannot activate it. I have been on the phone for 2.5 hours and back and forth between prepaid/postpaid and everyone in between. No one knows how to activate this card! Any ideas on how to get this SIM up and running??? Does anyone have a number for a department that actually knows what to do??

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Hello! Thanks for your message. I eventually got my SIM card activated, but to be honest the process was a disaster and it took 5 agents and 2.5 hours to get it set up. The first 4 agents didn’t know what to do and they were googling “peplink” and “pepwave” to try to figure out what the device was. I presume that 99%+ of devices that they activate are cell phones and thus they didn’t know the procedure to activate something other than a cell phone. Eventually the 4th agent said that this device cannot be activated by regular agents and thus he transferred me to a special department where the 5th agent knew what was going on got it set up in about 5 mins (and I recall that he needed the full 15-digit IMEI). I think the key was that Verizon considers this device to be a “jetpack” so maybe you can get some traction if you say something like “I am calling to activate a jetpack as a new line on my account - I may need to be transferred to a special department to do this.” The BR1 mini is actually listed on the Verizon site, so it should be easier to activate than the Balance 30 Pro that I got. As a side note, I was transferred back to the 4th agent after the device was activated and he stayed on the phone with me as I rebooted the router and confirmed that it was working properly. While we were waiting for it to reboot, I told him that I shouldn’t have to pay the $40 “jetpack” activation fee because the process shouldn’t have taken 2.5 hours - he immediately agreed and made a note to refund the $40 after it appears on my next bill (I’ll have to call Verizon back and refer them to the note). Please let me know if there’s anything else that I can do to help! It certainly shouldn’t be this difficult…

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Thank you so much for responding. Sounds like we had identical conversations and frustrations. I continued to tell them I was calling to activate the SIM card they provided me for my jet pack. Still no go!

Prepaid right? Not post paid? I now have numbers for both departments. Please let me know.

So are you recommending I ask for the “sales” department? What kind of sales? Devices? BYOD? Data Plans?

I purchased a prepaid data plan when they sent me the Sim, as it’s for our RV and we don’t need it every month. I opened an account just for this as my husbands Verizon is his corporate account.

Now I have an IMEI, SIM card number, location number, order number and a phone number they assigned to it that I’ve never used. And with all that they can’t figure it out!

With all this said—are you happy with your WiFi now?

SALES==SUCCESS

Yes, finally! You have to ask for sales for new or additional lines.

DONE!

Thank you for your help! You have no idea how helpful your response was. I even read it to the service rep!

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Yay! Great to hear that you finally got it working. :slight_smile: And to answer your last question: we are using cellular as a backup in case our primary WAN goes down, and thus far it has worked well.

I’m about ready to go down this path as well. I lost my 8800L, VZ sent me a new SIM, and since Asurion has the 8800L backordered I decided to purchase a BR1 MINI LTEA. One thing I noticed is that the IMEI is not on the bottom label, but I was able to get it from the config.

As verizon customer support is closed now, I’m going to have to tackle this first thing tomorrow. Any guidance ahead of time would be greatly appreciated as I don’t have all day to spend on the phone with support

thanks

Brian

Just checking: have you tried using the SIM with the Mini LTEA without further ado? Any error messages when you log into MyVerizon for the account? (I have seen them complaining about inappropriate equipment there.)
FWIW, I retired a BR1 today in favor of a BR1 Mini LTEA, and it is happily connecting to the world via Verizon.

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Just got off the phone with VZ and activation was pretty painless. The tech I spoke to said that the IMEI was in their system as valid and said the rep I spoke to should have been able to add the device. He didn’t know why I couldn’t add it via the website and said if he could add it, the website should have been able to as well.

But I’m in business. Now to track down a plan for ATT.

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