Verizon killing Grandfathered Unlimited Plans

Verizon Wireless is no longer letting customers with legacy unlimited accounts purchase devices at a subsidy while retaining unlimited data. Older data only customers using 3G USB modems have already grown accustomed to this and have been doing it for years. So, just like data if you want to have the latest and greatest smartphone and retain unlimited data you'll need to pay full retail pricing for the latest smartphone.

Originally Verizon planned to allow legacy customers to have a subsidy upgrade path to upgrade to a newer 3G/4G smartphone while keeping their unlimited data service. This decision coincides with the upcoming launch of "Data Share" plans, which will allow families to pool their data plans over multiple devices. According to Verizon the following applies:

• Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
• When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
• Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.
• The same pricing and policies will be applied to all 3G and 4GLTE smartphones. 

• Family Data Plans Coming to Verizon in 2012
• Order No-Contract Verizon 3G Modems

Peplink 5.4 Firmware Launching May 22

The wait is almost over! Firmware 5.4 is online and ready to take the Balance to the next level of performance, compatibility, and flexibility. Featuring our leading SpeedFusion™ technology, plus advances like domain-based rules, HTTP health checks, the Balance Firmware 5.4 update is one of the most important releases ever. Firmware 5.4 will be publicly released on May 22 (next Tue).

Firmware 5.4 Highlights:

• SpeedFusion - SpeedFusion bonds the bandwidth of up to 13 links from various service providers into a single fat datapipe. With SpeedFusion, your clients get the fastest, most flexible, and most reliable VPNs yet.
• Video bonding - Supercharge the speed and quality of video delivery and other streaming applications with our new patent-pending video bonding technology.
• Outbound Traffic by Domain Name - Outbound Traffic by Domain Name makes it easy to route outbound corporate website traffic to faster Internet links, while redirecting leisure traffic to slower, less expensive links. Just specify desired domain names and outbound traffic routes accordingly.
• Command line interface (CLI) support - Now you can control your Peplink devices from the command line. Our new CLI interface displays device information via text interface and customized applications.
• Lots of other updates!

• Order Peplink Routers
• Order Pepwave Access Points
• Peplink Admin Interface Demo
• Why Peplink?
  
• Peplink Outbound Policy Management
  
• Peplink Seamless Failover Demo
• Cradlepoint vs. Peplink Load Balancing

Peplink Balance saved a quarter million within five years

• Improve WAN infrastructure and save money at the same time.

• Cost savings -- the Peplink Balance allowed the replacement of Hume’s existing private WAN infrastructure with multiple commodity links, instantly increasing bandwidth and saving money.
• Previously employed a 1/1Mb link at headquarters and a 512/512Kb link at branches -- total cost: $4000/month for a limited connection.
• Peplink enables Hume Doors & Timber to aggregate 4 ADSL2 links at headquarters and 2 ADSL2 links at branches.
• Now Hume enjoys 17/5Mb at headquarters and 17/2.5Mb at branches -- total cost: $600/month for an unlimited connection.
• Bandwidth soared at 15% of the cost.
• Customer service -- responsive and knowledgeable technical support staff offers detailed troubleshooting and constructive suggestions when support is needed
• Product -- the Balance is easy to set up and rock-solid, and firmware upgrades are easy.

The Peplink Balance is a one-box solution that brings instant bandwidth and stability improvements to your network using advanced load balancing technology. And thanks to the Balance’s affordable multi-link bonding, your costs drop at the same time your performance increases.

To learn more about how Peplink products can optimize your network contact us - Click: Contact us about Peplink Products

• View Peplink Balance Routers
• View Pepwave Access Points
• Why Peplink/Pepwave?
• Click: Contact us about Peplink Products

CradlePoint Releases Firmware 3.6.0

This firmware adds support for some Canadian modems along with some new features.  This firmware feature adds some new features for the higher end CradlePoint routers, but does not add any new features for the lower end (CTR35, MBR95).

The new features for the MBR1400, MBR1200B, CBA400, CBA450, IBR600, IBR650 include:

• Remote Admin Access Control (Network Settings / Firewall Configuration / Remote Administration Access Control). This feature allows the administrator to control the range of addresses the router will accept a remote administration session from (HTTP, HTTPS, SNMP, or SSH connection).
•     Added MAC address logging (Network Settings / MAC Filter / Logging). This feature logs the MAC addresses of all devices attached to the router. The admin can also set up an email alert if any unexpected MAC addresses are detected.
•     WiPipe Central Rollback. If a configuration change using WiPipe Central is made to a group of routers that make the routers unable to connect back to a WPC server, the routers will roll back to their previous configuration after a period of time.
•     Added an IP Passthrough Wizard for those products that support IP Passthrough (Getting Started / IP Passthrough Setup Wizard).
•     Added a page to the First Time Setup Wizard to help users configure simple Failure Check.
•     Added an estimator for the amount of data a ping can use during Failure Check (Connection manager / WAN Configuration Rule / General Settings / Failure Check / Active Ping). For example, an active ping every 45 seconds could use up to 6.2MB of data per month.
•     IBR650 will default to the Clearwire "clearwire-wmx.net" realm. Other products will continue to default to the Sprint "sprintpcs.com" realm.

• Fixed ability of Android devices to work with Administration UI. Android devices cannot view Statistics, but they can get to the rest of the UI.
• When using a specified subnet (172.16.41.197/27) and assign a DHCP Range, DHCP would previously fail.
• Sprint 250U getting /32 subnet mask - ipinfo={'netmask': '255.255.255.255', 'ip_address': '24.221.42.144', 'gateway': '10.42.53.46'. We can now route through this configuration.
• Modem Sierra Wireless 313U Rogers connected but user could not get out to the Internet.
• WiPipe Central client failed to stop and restart properly on WAN connection change.         

Wilson Sleek 4G-V  Makes Time Magazine

The upcoming Wilson Sleek 4G-V is starting to really gain some momentum.  It is currently trending as one of our biggest "Notify me when avaialble" item and it just got a mention in Time Magazine .

The sleek will be the first amplifier cradle that not only works with 2G/3G but with Verizon 4G LTE as well.  This means that it will improve signal on iPhones and Android phones, BUT also work with MiFi/JetPacks and improve Verizon LTE data.  The more signal you have with data, the faster things go.

Look for the Wilson Sleek 4G Kit to go on sale in the next few weeks for $129.99.  The kit includes the cradle, 12 volt power adapter and mag mount antenna.

The current Wilson Sleek has 61 Reviews and has a 4 1/2 star rating, is currently our #4 most popular product , so we expect the 4G version to do just as well

Related Links:

• Get your name on the Wilson Sleek 4G waiting list and be the first to get one 
• Wilson Sleek 4G Announcement
• Original Wilson Sleek - Youtube
  

EVDOinfo.com has long been your source for tips, tricks, hacks and suggestions for getting the most out of your EVDO service, and each week we will be highlighting a particularly interesting or popular topic in the "Tip of the Week" feature. To suggest future Tips of the Week, post your suggestions in the EVDO Forums.

Tether the Verizon MiFi 4620L Via USB

The latest hotspot available from Verizon, the 3G/4G Novatel MiFi 4620L Jetpack, is different than its predecessors: it DOES give you the option of tethering it via USB. This may not seem like a big deal for most users - after all, the beauty of the device is that it's a hotspot that provides an internet connection for multiple devices, right? But there are some advantages to tethering it directly to your computer instead of connecting via WiF, especially if you're only using the connection for one computeri:

• If you're only using it for one computer, no need to broadcast SSID and run the risk of others accessing the WiFi network
• MiFi will remain charged (since your computer will be supplying power to it via USB)
  
• The unit will auto connect
• Instead of doing a DUN-type connection, you'll have a USB/Ethernet DHCP type (unique to 4620L)
  

Unlike the MiFi 2200 (which was the only other hotspot that allowed tethering), the hotspot remains enabled when you're tethering it to one computer! This is a big advantage - with the MiFi 2200, you could tether it to one computer, but that would disable the WiFi signal, meaning you could ONLY connect the one computer you were tethered to.

Of course, there are a couple disadvantages to tethering, too: 

• If you're usinga a laptop, your battery will drain more quickly (because it will be charging/powering the MiFi)
• You need admin privileges to install the necessary drivers on Mac/Win, which may not be possible or convenient for some users (like if you're using a company-owned laptop, for example)

Tethering the MiFi 4620L to your Mac or Windows computer is fairly easy, but it's not plug-and-play. First, you need a charge and sync USB cable (the MiFi does not come with one). 3Gstore sells a 3' cable and a 6' cable, but if plan to supply your own, make sure it is capable of both charging and syncing (charge-only USB cables will not work for tethering). Once you've got the proper cable, you can follow the below steps to get your MiFi set up for tethering:

1) First, you need to enable tethering within the MiFi's web admin. While connected to the MiFi via WiFi, navigate to the web admin (http://192.168.1.1) and log in with your WiFi/admin password (the default password is printed on the white label on the bottom of your device, unless you've changed it). Navigate to the Advanced -> Settings section and check the "Enable USB tethered mode" box and save the changes:

2) Next, you need to install the drivers that will allow your computer to "see" the MiFi and use it as a modem (unlike USB modems or the MiFi 2200, you will not use VZAccess Manager to connect!).

For Windows: production.4620.verizon.mifiupdates.com/Windows/MiFi4620LWin.zip

For Mac: production.4620.verizon.mifiupdates.com/Mac/MiFi4620LMac.zip

Download the appropriate file, unzip the folder and run the installer. Here's what it looks like on a Mac (obviously Windows users will see different prompts, but it is the same auto-install "wizard" you should be familiar with):

Once the installation is complete, connect the MiFi 4620L to your computer via USB and it should automatically connect to the internet (you can disable your WiFi to confirm that you are connected via USB and not to the hotspot)!

While connected via tethering, you'll see that the 4620L's screen will count your computer as a connected device, just as if you were connected via WiFi:

What about routers? Many people have asked whether the MiFi 4620L can be tethered to a router. For now, the answer is NO - we tested it and it does NOT work with any routers via tethering (you can of course use it with routers that support WiFi as WAN by connecting it via WiFi). However, since it is possible to tether the 4620L to a computer, it is certainly possible that router manufacturers like Cradlepoint could add support for the device in a future firmware release.

Wilson Signal Detector - 867501