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We are migrating to our new platform at https://community.teltonika.lt. Moving forward, you can continue discussions on this new platform. This current platform will be temporarily maintained for reference purposes.
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by anonymous

As in my previous comments/questions about getting Verizon service to work with my RUTX11 (North America model), I've learned quite a bit, after spending 10-12 hours of time on various calls with their Support and Tier 2 Engineering teams.

Here's a short list:

  1. Verizon "Connected Devices" plans (those that would work with a router, MiFi, hotspot, smart watch, tablet) can not have SMS activated or enabled on those plans, even when the "SMS Block" feature is removed, the network refuses to transmit (send nor receive) messages to the SIM in the device. I'm now on my 3rd SIM, and all 3 of them have this prohibition. This presents an interesting problem, if you have a SIM (like T-Mobile or AT&T) in another slot which does accept SMS messages, you can `switch_sim` and trigger a failover, but you can never fail back with an SMS, if the SIM being failed to is a Verizon SIM card. This means I'll need to plug the RUTX11's PoE adapter into a smart plug that I can remotely manage to power on/off, and set the Verizon SIM as the non-default SIM card.
  2. Verizon SIM cards never reveal which tower they're connected to. Unlike T-Mobile or AT&T SIM cards, when looking at the "Cell ID" value under page `/status/network/mobile/`, it will show "N/A", because Verizon considers this a "security issue", and does not ever reveal the tower you're talking to. The greater problem here, is that without knowing which tower you're connected to, you can't easily laser-aim external, outdoor antennas at the lobes on those towers to ensure a strong signal. You just have to "guess" and hope it works.
  3. From what all of the engineers at Verizon have told me, both in the physical stores I've gone to for support, and their Tier 2 support on the phone, only "single digit percent" of people who have WAN routers (like the RUT), manage to get them working with Verizon, even if they're listed as "fully supported devices". People come in with routers they use in their RV, boats, commercial trucks and other places, and the greater majority of them never manage to get Verizon services working in the routers. I'm stubborn and didn't give up, and mine works (after multiple modem reboots, device reboots to wake the Verizon SIM up into working), but many to most give up and find another provider to make their routers work.
  4. Apparently, and this models my own personal experience, the full-size SIM cards work much better, faster than the nano-SIM cards in a full-size SIM sled. It would take 10-15 minutes for my nano-SIM to "latch" and acquire a signal from the Verizon tower. Switch that SIM out for a full-size SIM, and it was under 2-3 minutes. If you're seeing this symptom, get a new SIM card and use that. All corporate Verizon stores will hand them out for free, just make sure they re-register your device's IMEI against the new SIM. Discard the other SIM by breaking it in half, so it can't be reused again and toss it in the trash.

I'm going to come up with a plan to remotely manage the RUTX11 through a connected smart plug when it flips over to the Verizon SIM and blacklists itself from being talked to via SMS.

One request to the Teltonika developers: Can we please have a way to see the non-default SIM messages when the default SIM card is active? IOW, if Verizon is SIM1, and T-Mobile is SIM2, when failover fails to SIM1 from SIM2, I can no longer see the SMS messages (or log of these) from SIM2, and since SIM1 refuses to send/receive SMS, that page then empties out.

The last engineer I spoke with this afternoon in the corporate store a few towns away, said that if I continue to have trouble, or it stops working, to seek out another service provider, because Verizon is going to continue to be trouble with this class of devices. 

Hopefully this information helps others struggling with Verizon service on these devices.

by anonymous
For point 2) perhaps LTE Discovery on an Android phone can help you it will display an arrow pointing to the antenna. Not sure for VZ if the cell id isn't available.

1 Answer

0 votes
by anonymous
Hi,

We have a testing firmware for Verizon users in RUTOS. Would you be able to test it?

EB.
Best answer
by anonymous

Absolutely, would love to test it. DM me please with the details. I just picked up my QMAX external enclosure to put this in, and would prefer to get this working while I have easy access to the SIM cards.

Thanks!

by anonymous
i am having similar issues, my customer is committed to using Verizon even though there are better companies for these types of devices. i would also like to test the verizon firmware if possible, i have a RUT955
by anonymous
Do you have an update here @setuid? How are you doing with the RUT 7.x firmwares?
by anonymous
So far, nobody has replied back with an updated Verizon firmware, since my comment on Feb 20th., so I haven't had a chance to test this at all. It's still broken with their SIM and configuration.
by anonymous
Sorry to hear that. What FW are you running currently? Are you using RUTX_R_00.07.02.4 ?