Ubiquity Bullet M2 vs PepLink Max BR1 Mini. Wan WiFi

[bajturner]

It was buried in a post I made earlier, but the recommendation I got was to create a new SSID and delete the default. According to the briefer the default SSID can cause network instability if it's renamed.

Maybe it's ok after the upgrade and a factory reset?

Mine has been rock solid for a couple of weeks so far...

 

[Skybolt]

Maybe it's ok after the upgrade and a factory reset?

Mine has been rock solid for a couple of weeks so far...

Hopefully, going to factory reset next time down to the boat. Hopefully it's not what @alnav described, although that fits what I am seeing. ...

 

[Skybolt]

Somewhere in this thread I had recommended Ultra Mobile (T-Mobile provider) as a cell provider for the Peplink. As of Friday T-Mobile has filtered the Peplink from their network if not sub'd as a modem plan. I went through hell yesterday trying to figure this out and countless phone calls. I gave up trying to get this working and bit the bullet and sub'd through Verizon. They have modem plans for 100gb @ $90/month and 50gb for $40. If you don't have a phone with them you can't get the 50gb and must go with the 100gb plan. So at least now I am back up and running with Verizon's 100gb plan. Speeds were pretty good on 4G so we will see how this goes.

Also a heads up, most providers are going to shutdown 3G signals by July this year. AT&T has already shut their's down already as of Feb 22nd.

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/plan-ahead-phase-out-3g-cellular-networks-and-service

 

[ttmott]

Somewhere in this thread I had recommended Ultra Mobile (T-Mobile provider) as a cell provider for the Peplink. As of Friday T-Mobile has filtered the Peplink from their network if not sub'd as a modem plan. I went through hell yesterday trying to figure this out and countless phone calls. I gave up trying to get this working and bit the bullet and sub'd through Verizon. They have modem plans for 100gb @ $90/month and 50gb for $40. If you don't have a phone with them you can't get the 50gb and must go with the 100gb plan. So at least now I am back up and running with Verizon's 100gb plan. Speeds were pretty good on 4G so we will see how this goes.

Also a heads up, most providers are going to shutdown 3G signals by July this year. AT&T has already shut their's down already as of Feb 22nd.

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/plan-ahead-phase-out-3g-cellular-networks-and-service

And the weak link is what it always has been; provider plans continuously change without notice.

 

[Skybolt]

And the weak link is what it always has been; provider plans continuously change without notice.

Unfortunately that seems to be the way these days and it's always more money more money ...

 

[dtfeld]

I tried Ultra Mobile last fall, never could get it working.

That’s about when Verizon came out with the 100 gb plans, and I jumped on it.

In the Peplink Max BR1 MK2, it has been rock solid and reasonably fast. It has been up and running 24x7 ever since with the exception of when I pulled the boat in Dec. I’m using it for YouTube TV, remote monitoring, and security camera access.

I’m between 30-40 gb usage every month since switching.

$90? More than I want to spend, but, this is a great service. I guess you do get what you pay for.

 

[dtfeld]

Also received an email about a new firmware for the Max BR’s

I’m going to look at what it brings to the table today, but first glance, not much thats useful to me…

Highlights

 

[b_arrington]

Somewhere in this thread I had recommended Ultra Mobile (T-Mobile provider) as a cell provider for the Peplink. As of Friday T-Mobile has filtered the Peplink from their network if not sub'd as a modem plan. I went through hell yesterday trying to figure this out and countless phone calls. I gave up trying to get this working and bit the bullet and sub'd through Verizon. They have modem plans for 100gb @ $90/month and 50gb for $40. If you don't have a phone with them you can't get the 50gb and must go with the 100gb plan. So at least now I am back up and running with Verizon's 100gb plan. Speeds were pretty good on 4G so we will see how this goes.

A little confused at the T-mobile part. Did you not have the peplink listed as a modem? Were you not able to use the T0-mobile service directly for your Peplink? I have my BR1 Mk2 using a T-mobile service. It's on the boat, but I haven't use it in a few months while it's in storage. I'm still paying monthly to keep the promotional 100gb/$50 plan that's no longer available to sign up for.

Also a heads up, most providers are going to shutdown 3G signals by July this year. AT&T has already shut their's down already as of Feb 22nd.

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/plan-ahead-phase-out-3g-cellular-networks-and-service

Seems like the current use case is for IoT type devices, not a cellular router for data. 3G is pretty painful to use for any kind of streaming or internet use at this point. Perhaps the main application for boating would be the original Siren Marine MTC - not sure how they are handling that. Of course the other use is things like a cellular backup for an alarm, LifeAlert, etc. that are not data-hungry.

 

[b_arrington]

Unfortunately that seems to be the way these days and it's always more money more money ...

I didn't want to fool around with the constant 3rd party changes so went with T-mobile. My wife balked a bit about keeping our plan active over the winter, but I didn't want to loose the promo I get when we signed up. If you change it, you loose it.

 

[b_arrington]

Also received an email about a new firmware for the Max BR’s

I’m going to look at what it brings to the table today, but first glance, not much thats useful to me…

Highlights

View attachment 121532

I got the same email this morning. At a glance it didn't seem to provide me much utility - I'm not using those advanced features. I may upgrade the firmware, but will wait a while to see if there are bugs. I'm in no hurry.

Let us know if you find something compelling in the update.

 

[dtfeld]

I got the same email this morning. At a glance it didn't seem to provide me much utility - I'm not using those advanced features. I may upgrade the firmware, but will wait a while to see if there are bugs. I'm in no hurry.

Let us know if you find something compelling in the update.

I agree with you, not much utility in this upgrade for my use case, so I’m going to wait a couple weeks as well.

I think the more interesting things coming out are the CAT 20 modem and 5G models. Based on what I read, my Verizon 100gb plan will utilize the 5G network and would be a worthwhile upgrade, but not at $1500. They originally released the 5G at $750, and I was considering it at that price.

 

[b_arrington]

I agree with you, not much utility in this upgrade for my use case, so I’m going to wait a couple weeks as well.

I think the more interesting things coming out are the CAT 20 modem and 5G models. Based on what I read, my Verizon 100gb plan will utilize the 5G network and would be a worthwhile upgrade, but not at $1500. They originally released the 5G at $750, and I was considering it at that price.

Yeah, that price for 5G modem is crazy at least for my use case. Especially since I just purchased my BR1 Mk2 4G unit last year. I simply have too many other things to spent that money on, and not enough need for 5G. I'm still perfectly satisfied with the 4G performance of my iPhone and iPad too.

 

[Skybolt]

A little confused at the T-mobile part. Did you not have the peplink listed as a modem? Were you not able to use the T0-mobile service directly for your Peplink? I have my BR1 Mk2 using a T-mobile service. It's on the boat, but I haven't use it in a few months while it's in storage. I'm still paying monthly to keep the promotional 100gb/$50 plan that's no longer available to sign up for.



Seems like the current use case is for IoT type devices, not a cellular router for data. 3G is pretty painful to use for any kind of streaming or internet use at this point. Perhaps the main application for boating would be the original Siren Marine MTC - not sure how they are handling that. Of course the other use is things like a cellular backup for an alarm, LifeAlert, etc. that are not data-hungry.

So yes, I did not have the modem listed as such. I missed the promo that T-Mo had going on and when I did call I got crazy numbers for data only so I went with a 3rd party subscriber program - Ultra mobile, who uses T-Mo as there primary provider. Now I switched over to Verizon as a modem as T-Mobile still didn't have any plans available like Verizon has.

Yes, there are a few things that are primarily supported by the 3G backbone and will not work any longer. Maretron's SMS100 used for SMS alarms is now being reworked to support 4G/5G. Their data plan was $19/Month and now will change as a result. I am sure others that only have 3G support will follow suit directly.

Edit:

I didn't want to fool around with the constant 3rd party changes so went with T-mobile. My wife balked a bit about keeping our plan active over the winter, but I didn't want to loose the promo I get when we signed up. If you change it, you loose it.

As did I when I first called T-Mo and then Verizon. But I have no choice now. And since I ditched DTV i can justify the extra cost of the data plan.

 

[Skybolt]

... I think the more interesting things coming out are the CAT 20 modem and 5G models. Based on what I read, my Verizon 100gb plan will utilize the 5G network and would be a worthwhile upgrade, but not at $1500. They originally released the 5G at $750, and I was considering it at that price.

Yeah at first that looked really enticing, but as you mention, not at $1500 price tag. I fear that pretty soon this will be the route to take no mater what as 4G won't be staying that long as they need the bandwidth to support the 5G network and is why they are turning off 3G.

 

[ttmott]

As far as stable long term cellular data plans go, I think there are none. I have the same voice/data plan that was provided fifteen years ago through the company I worked for; AT&T unlimited data. It is now 5G and still unlimited although the price has increased from $80 back then to $105 now. There is no way I'll scrape that gum off my shoe as the alternatives are unsavory. AT&T no longer offers such a plan reasonably, so I'll camp on this as long as possible.

 

[Skybolt]

As far as stable long term cellular data plans go, I think there are none. I have the same voice/data plan that was provided fifteen years ago through the company I worked for; AT&T unlimited data. It is now 5G and still unlimited although the price has increased from $80 back then to $105 now. There is no way I'll scrape that gum off my shoe as the alternatives are unsavory. AT&T no longer offers such a plan reasonably, so I'll camp on this as long as possible.

Your lucky that they haven't forced you to switch. That happened to me with T-mobile a few years ago. Simply just said we can't offer that plan any longer and you must pick another more recent plan. I almost dropped them at that point but then they fixed it with what is now their 55 and over plan.

 

[ttmott]

Your lucky that they haven't forced you to switch. That happened to me with T-mobile a few years ago. Simply just said we can't offer that plan any longer and you must pick another more recent plan. I almost dropped them at that point but then they fixed it with what is not their 55 and over plan.

Seems the trend - I go through the same crap every year with SiriusXM....

 

[ocgrant]

So back to not being able to get internet from Comcast at the dock. Connected to the WAP no issues but cannot get internet. I think they are blocking me. I read that I need to call them and giive them my MAC address?? Hope to do this today.

 

[Skybolt]

So back to not being able to get internet from Comcast at the dock. Connected to the WAP no issues but cannot get internet. I think they are blocking me. I read that I need to call them and giive them my MAC address?? Hope to do this today.

I went through this with the Ubiquity and how I ended up with the Peplink and a Verizon 100gb plan. Not sure about Comcast but, I got no where with the Safe Harbor Marina WiFi. They blocked the Ubiquity company part of the MAC so that no Ubiquity would work. Strange part about that is they use Ubiquity equipment on the docks. Since that debacle I only use the cell connection on the Peplink.

 

[dtfeld]

I’ve been on the Verizon plan with my Mk2 for a while now, and it’s been bulletproof. Average about 40 GB usage per month, and a little heavier during football weekends.

Not cheap, but, whats the option?

Gotta pay to play.