Tag: Pepwave

Adding Firewall Rules to Secure Your Peplink

Firewalls establish a security barrier between your devices and the Internet by using rules to allow or deny access in and out of your network. 

In the case of our Peplink routers, the firewall configuration may differ from other routers, but the result is always the same. 

You may want your network locked down from any incoming connections and only allow your personal devices access out to the Internet. Or you might have devices on your network separated in different VLANs. Should you need to allow communication with one of these devices, but deny other connections, set up an Internal network rule to accomplish this. 

For more information, check out our Peplink firewall demo video on YouTube. Have questions? Just reach out to your friends at 5Gstore today!

By 5G , , , , , ,

5G Solutions Are Hard to Find, But Do You Need it?

With the fast approaching holiday season, everything from toys to kitchen appliances is getting dangerously low on stock. Shipments from overseas are delayed more and more with each day. It’s unfortunate that one of the most affordable 5G cellular routers on the market today is now included in that growing list. The Pepwave MAX Transit 5G may be available soon, but is your 5G service ready? 

Just earlier this week, we talked about the confusing advertising regarding 5G service. What you see as 5G, or are told is 5G, may not truly be 5G. And what about the blazing fast speed tests you’ve seen reported online from other users? The truth is that the 5G you have may not be any better than the 4G LTE connection you had previously. 

There’s also carrier restrictions on new cellular devices. Each device must go through a certification process. This is much like an approval process in which the carrier takes time to review the device and verify that it will work with their network. Once this approval is provided, the cellular devices’ IMEI number (a unique identifier) gets loaded into the carriers’ systems. Now, when a user like yourself goes to a store to activate their cellular device, the carrier can identify that it is supported and verify the compatible data plans. At this time, the Transit 5G is still pending certification with Verizon, but users can activate them on AT&T, T-Mobile, and US Cellular. 

The BR1 Pro 5G – which is now the most affordable 5G cellular router on the market – is also not yet certified with Verizon, but is with the others (AT&T, T-Mobile, and US Cellular). While this does mean new users cannot get a SIM card to use with them, users with already active SIM cards MAY* be able to connect to at least 4G LTE service – that is, until the certification process is complete, at which point it will allow a 5G connection. 

By now, we hope you may have gathered that 5G is not quite relevant for all users at this time. In most cases, unless you are a large company or working in rescue or healthcare services (where 24/7 connectivity and high bandwidth is important), LTE connections will be sufficient. 

If you are still looking for a more affordable 5G solution however, consider the Pepwave MAX Adapter 5G. This is a small, portable modem that connects via USB. Use it with just about any Peplink or Pepwave router that supports a USB port (e.g. the Balance 20X). 

Should the Transit 5G, or even the Transit Cat 18 LTE, be on your mind, add your name to our sign up sheets – Transit 5G – Transit Cat 18 LTE. 

*5Gstore has tested a Verizon LTE SIM/ data plan with the Transit 5G and BR1 Pro 5G and were successful in connecting to LTE service. Although this did work for a short test, we CANNOT guarantee that this will work for all users, nor with all carriers. 
Edited 10/28/2021 to update carrier certification details.
By 5G , , , , , ,

Tech Tip: How to Use VLANs to Secure Your Router Network

IoT devices – such as cameras, smart thermostats & doorbells – can generally be less secure than most network attached devices (i.e. computers, network drives, servers, etc). Still, they require Internet service to operate and allow you remote access for control and monitoring. In effort to better secure these devices from the rest of your network, this is where creating a “VLAN” can help. This stands for “Virtual Local Area Network.” This is much like creating a Guest WiFi network on your router, so it can be done on just about any router including Sierra Wireless, CradlePoint, Peplink and Digi devices. 

Check out our video on how to create a VLAN for IoT security here! 

For more videos like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

By 5G , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Working Remote in Rural Kentucky on LTE

In our business, even before the pandemic, we’ve been helping customers find ways to work remotely. As an experiment I wanted to test this out for myself. So, I took a week trip to our family farmhouse in Isonville, KY. This is in a remote area with lots of hills and little to no cellular reception. In the recent past we have been able to achieve a better signal, though it usually teeters around one bar, if we are lucky!  

Knowing the challenge of getting a good enough cellular signal – and that I would need to be able to maintain VoIP calls and load webpages and videos correctly – I decided to go with two styles of antennas. One would be an outdoor omni-directional antenna and the other would be an outdoor high gain Yagi antenna. The Omni-directional antenna I went with was a SureCall Ultra-Wideband LTE/5G Antenna. The Yagi antenna was a SureCall Ultra Wide Band Outdoor Yagi Antenna. 

My antenna setup

I also decided since this would be a test for future use, I wanted to do a temporary setup. I bought some standard 2 foot length 1.25 inch PVC tubing from the local hardware store and a few fittings to fashion a temporary mounting pole in the upstairs room of the farmhouse. The Peplink router I used was a Pepwave MAX BR1 Mini LTE-A. 

Armed with my Pepwave Max BR1 Mini, the antennas and the PVC I went to work on getting the antennas mounted and aligned for the best signal acquisition I could obtain. I used the data from cell mapper to get an idea of where I needed to aim the Surecall Wide-Band Yagi Antenna and an app on my phone (which I use when I go hiking) called GPS Status (iOS Link | Android Link) to aim the antenna precisely.

Results from GPS Status

Using the stock antennas on the Pepwave Max BR1 Mini on the second floor I had a signal value of -119dBm, and this is a horrible signal to be sure. After connecting the omni-directional antenna to Cellular Main and the Surecall Wide-Band Yagi Antenna to Cellular Diversity I was able to acquire a signal value of -73dBm. This was a HUGE improvement. I ran a speed test with the stock antennas, and I was only able to get about 4.5Mbps down and 0.4Mbps up. With the antennas in place, I was able to get 19.8Mbps down and 8.7Mbps up. This was about 15.5 miles to the nearest tower from the farmhouse.

Distance from farmhouse to tower; Frequency bands use in the area

As another test I decided to try and use my old cellular router, a Netgear LB1120. This is what I had used prior to receiving the Pepwave Max BR1 Mini. With the stock antennas I had absolutely no signal. With the SureCall Wide-Band Yagi antenna, I aimed it at the one and only cellular tower that had the band it supported in the area (Band 4.) The result was staggering, to say the least. I went from no signal to a signal of -89dBm. Now while that doesn’t sound like a huge improvement, let me explain why this result was so jaw dropping. The tower I was connected to was just shy of 24 miles away!

Distance from farmhouse to cell tower
Additional frequency info for the area

My results with these antennas have given me the ability to have a future permanent setup at a very remote rural location that I can reliably work from. With a relatively low budget. I know that other people in “Rural America” have this exact same issue with not being able to get steady service in an area that is usually not serviceable. My results are a testament to how well these antennas perform.

You can check out the products we used (just with longer cables) at the following link: https://5gstore.com/cart/33660

If you have any questions please give us a call and we will be happy to assist you Monday – Friday 9am to 6pm CST (833) 547-8673.

Tests performed and addressed in this article were done, and details written by David W. with the 5Gstore team.

By 5G , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update your Pepwave BR1 & Transit Mini Before the 3G Sunset

Are you using the Pepwave MAX BR1 Mini (Cat 4) or Transit Mini cellular routers?

With the pending shutdown of 3G services next year, we want to make sure you upgrade your device. If the update is not completed before the 3G shutdown, it may fail to reestablish its cellular connection.

For the firmware download (to use for a manual firmware update), click here. When you’re ready, simply log into the Pepwave web admin page and go to the System -> Firmware page and begin with the Manual Upgrade.

Transit Mini
BR1 Mini/ BR1 Mini Core
By 5G , , , , , , , ,

SD-WAN Branch Solutions by Peplink

5G is in our scope! Internet technologies are advancing. Security risks are increasing, along with the number of local and remote connections to manage. Many companies find themselves in a state of urgency to find the best solution, but run into confusion trying to understand what they need and how it will work for them. Not to mention having the adequate support when required. Together with Peplink, 5Gstore can assist your team at every level.

First, familiarize yourself with the terminology. For example…

  • SD-WAN means Software Defined Wide Area Network. This is a virtual Internet connection rather than a physical one coming from the cable or phone company. When you hear about Peplink’s SpeedFusion technology, this would be considered an SD-WAN. SpeedFusion creates one connection from many by establishing a VPN link between 2 or more sites – whether those be physical sites using a Peplink or Pepwave router, or a virtual site like Peplink’s FusionHub or SpeedFusion Cloud service.
  • SaaS stands for Software as a Service. If you’ve used our Remote Power IP Switches, or a security camera such as those from Nest or Amazon, think of the mobile application you use on your phone to access the Switch or Camera. In other words, this is a cloud based application rather than an application you might download onto your computer.
  • Bandwidth Bonding is part of Peplink’s SpeedFusion VPN technology. This can take any WAN connection (Wired, Cellular, or WiFi) and combine the bandwidth speeds, LESS a 19% overhead. For comparison, that’s only about 5% more than the commonly used IPSec VPN. Still, it’s important to note that high latency differences between connections can also affect the overall bonded speeds. Working with our Peplink certified sales and support engineers, we can help provide insight on factors to consider and configurations that could help combat the issues individual WAN connections may be experiencing.
  • Load Balancing, in comparison to bonding, still can utilize all your WAN connections simultaneously. However, it does not combine them together. Instead, it allows devices and types of applications/ traffic to be sent over a specific WAN connection or multiple. If your individual WAN connections are fast and stable enough for certain connections, this could save on cost.
  • Failover and the different types of failover is a good transition here as with load balancing, you do not have session persistence like you would with SpeedFusion Hot Failover. This feature can be used alongside bonding since it’s essentially the base for the other SpeedFusion features (i.e. WAN Smoothing and Bonding).

With all this in mind, even if your company only has a few users, it’s possible your bandwidth and/ or network availability needs will continue to grow with the industry. If you don’t grow with it, your legacy setup could compromise business. This doesn’t have quite as much to do with bandwidth (LTE is still more than enough for some), but more so with security, as hackers continue to find new ways into our devices.

We’ve listed some popular branch solutions as example hardware solutions for your reference below. When needed, contact the experts at 5Gstore and we’ll help guide you through the rest of the process!

Balance SDX

  • Deploy at headquarter or datacenter
  • SpeedFusion VPN provides reliable and fast access to the network resources
  • Modular design offers flexible choices of interchangeable connection interfaces, upgradeable to 5G

MAX HD4 MBX

  • Wireless SD-WAN router with up to 4 bonded LTE connections ensures high performance and 100% uptime in remote branches
  • Access corporate network resources with SpeedFusion VPN in minutes, rather than weeks with wired line

MAX HD2

  • Wireless SD-WAN router with 2 bonded LTE connections for smaller mobile branches
  • Access corporate network resources with SpeedFusion VPN in minutes

MAX Transit Duo

  • Lightweight wireless SD-WAN router with 2 LTE slots for unbreakable connectivity to HQ resources
  • Great for pop-up site or “office in a box” type setup
  • Affordable, easily scalable and manage
By 5G , , , , , , , , , , , ,