Welcome to this week’s Connectivity Intel roundup, covering the week of July 20 to 26, 2026. Here are the stories that matter for anyone running cellular, satellite, or hybrid WAN networks.
The Big Three This Week
1. Starlink Pricing Keeps Climbing
Starlink’s 2026 price adjustments continue to ripple through the community. Residential 100 Mbps moved from $50 to $55 per month and Residential MAX from $120 to $130, while Standby Mode doubled from $5 to $10. The bigger shock this week: aviation plans are doubling effective August 7, with Aviation Global Unlimited jumping from $10,000 to $20,000 monthly and business jet hardware rising from $145,000 to $200,000. For customers bonding Starlink with cellular through Peplink SpeedFusion, the takeaway is clear: plan budgets around continued price movement, and make sure your failover design lets you shift traffic to the most cost-effective link.
2. Peplink 8.6.0 Reaches RC5, GA Is Close
Peplink published Router Firmware 8.6.0 RC 5 on the community forum, and the release candidate thread has been one of the most active discussions of the week. Highlights include per-WAN bandwidth limiting via QoS, a MAC address whitelist for Layer 2 SpeedFusion tunnels, WPA2/WPA3 Personal as the new Wi-Fi default, and removal of weak certificate support. Two other threads worth watching: an important cellular firmware update recommendation for -5GH routers on Verizon, and an active community discussion about security update policy for existing devices after March 1, 2027. As always, test RC firmware in a lab before touching production routers.
3. Verizon East Coast Outage Hits Mobile and Home Internet
Verizon customers reported a significant outage affecting both mobile service and 5G Home Internet across the East Coast, with hotspots in New York City, Brooklyn, Boston, and Philadelphia, plus reports from Detroit and Indianapolis. Verizon says the issue is resolved, but it is a fresh reminder of why single-carrier fixed wireless is fragile. A dual-SIM router from Cradlepoint or Teltonika, or a bonded multi-WAN setup, keeps sites online when one carrier stumbles.
Firmware & Security Watch
T-Mobile gateway retirement. T-Mobile is retiring its original Nokia 5G21 Home Internet gateway and offering free replacements (G4AR or G5AR). If you or your customers still run the Nokia unit, order the swap before service degrades on non-standalone 5G.
Digi. Digi’s recommended DAL OS firmware 25.5.52.21 remains the current guidance for EX, IX, and TX series enterprise cellular routers. Digi continues to trend in the right direction on vulnerability counts (more below).
Teltonika. RutOS 7.23.x point releases continue rolling out across the RUT and RUTX lines, with community reports of a modem firmware fix resolving connection interruptions after upgrade.
Semtech / Sierra Wireless. Quiet week on the Sierra Wireless forum, with scheduled network maintenance and software upgrades posted to the status page. AirLink admins should confirm ALEOS versions are current.
Inseego. Following the early-July announcement that the MiFi PRO M4 with Wi-Fi 7 is now available on Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband, cross-shopping questions between the M4 and the MiFi X PRO 5G continue. Short version: X PRO targets peak 5G performance, M4 targets Wi-Fi 7 and broader availability. Browse the full Inseego lineup for details.
RouterCVE Report Card Check
Our weekly look at the RouterCVE Report Card (this week establishes our tracking baseline):
- Peplink, Cradlepoint, Inseego, and Semtech / Sierra Wireless all hold A+ grades. Inseego still shows zero CVEs on record.
- Digi (1 CVE in 30 days, A+) and Teltonika (A+) both carry Getting Better trend arrows.
- Katalyst remains Not Rated as a newer entrant, with a single CVE on record.
- On the migration-source side, the contrast is stark: Fortinet (F-, Getting Worse, 12 CVEs in 30 days), Cisco (F, 12 in 30 days), TP-Link (F-, Getting Worse), Linksys (F-, Getting Worse), and Ubiquiti (F-, 25 CVEs in 30 days). SonicWall is a bright spot at A- and improving.
Spectrum & Industry
The FCC had a busy July on supply chain security. At its July Open Meeting, the Commission took up a Third Report and Order aimed at closing component-level and supply-chain loopholes in the Covered List rules for equipment authorization. Separately, a July 17 Public Notice proposed prohibiting continued importation and marketing of certain previously authorized covered equipment. If your fleet includes gear from restricted vendors, now is the time to audit and plan migrations; comments on related rules run into early September.
5Gstore Take
Three threads tie this week together: prices are moving (Starlink), single-carrier dependence is risky (Verizon outage), and regulators are accelerating the push away from covered equipment (FCC). The common answer is a resilient, multi-path edge built on vendors with strong security track records. The report card data backs up what we see daily: Peplink, Cradlepoint, Digi, Teltonika, Inseego, and Semtech / Sierra Wireless consistently sit at the top of the class while several legacy brands pile up CVEs.
If you are planning a firmware rollout, a carrier diversity strategy, or a migration off covered or F-graded equipment, our team can help you scope it. Contact us here and we will get you sorted.
About the Author
Michael Ginsberg is the founder of 5Gstore.com, a trusted source for cellular routers and failover networking solutions since 2005. With a background in software and networking dating back to 1988, he writes about cellular connectivity, IoT infrastructure, network security, and fleet management. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn or reach the 5Gstore team through our contact page.
