Definitely not a recommended buy for Verizon customers. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same for AT&T and T-Mobile.
After 2+ weeks, with mine activated on a previously working SIM card, Verizon simply will not work reliably to make it worth sinking $1k of your hard-earned cash into this product. To summarize, here are a list of reasons why this is definitely a bad decision to buy if you intend to use this on Verizon:
- Cannot activate a new line of Service with the IMEI
- Verizon Support will not help you or allow you to activate it, as far as I can tell, they’re just reading the prompt that I see in “MyAccount” when I try to activate it or register swapping a new SIM into it. “The phone associated with the Device ID you entered is not compatible with the Verizon Wireless network.”
- When using with a previously activated SIM, the service will not stay reliably connected. I tried using this for MS Teams calls, VPN connections and the whole gamut of standard Remote work while in a fully covered area and simply put, it would drop packets like a USPS driver. This pretty much makes the use case they are aiming for completely invalid.
Netgear, please stop saying it is compatible with Verizon until you resolve these issues, or at least publish a timeline of when it will be compatible so there is some expectation instead of hopes and prayers.
EDIT: I have had a successful stability test with a T-Mobile prepaid Data SIM. I will edit if I have further updates.
EDIT2: It seems Verizon officially supports this device now as I’m able to get a positive result from https://www.verizon.com/sales/digital/byod/enterDeviceIMEI.html when I enter my IMEI. I will test with my working tablet data SIM and report back again.
EDIT3: Seems to be working just fine now. Leaving this post up though, so people know how much Verizon sucks at adopting/working with manufacturers on new products on their network.
I bought the new unlocked MR6550 from Best Buy and swapped in the SIM from my 4G Verizon hotspot. The MR6550 works intermittently…stays connected for hours sometimes, other times disconnects within mere minutes and provides a message about needing to enter correct APN. Reboot and it connects again for some random amount of time, only to drop, reconnect, drop, reconnect…sometimes not reconnecting without a restart. Unusable.
I guess it’s time to try out a data-only AT&T or T-Mobile plan now?
You need to telnet into it, and modify the ttl setting of the device. You can also configure the band lock for Verizon/TMO. These devices support all bands required.
If for whatever reason you end up messing with your IMEI you can also restore it, to the original IMEI ofc…
Here’s a guide I wrote on it.
https://gist.github.com/carlosalaniz/a0324c615a104c5d3016d5bbf78141c8
Afaik, Verizon attempts to restrict the use of VPN connections unless you have a business plan.
Don’t quote me on that, though… lol
Yes these do work fine with Verizon. I literally use mine on visible as a unlimited hotspot with hotspot data masked so I bypass the 5mbps tethering throttle on visible.
To get it working on Verizon or Visible, you first need to register your Sim to a legit Verizon compatible phone…for example I have an iPhone 12 that used to be on visible. So I use that iPhone imei.
You have to unlock the hotspot if it’s locked and alter the hotspot imei. You can do this using Sierra keygen and then issuing at commands and opening up telnet access once telnet is opened up you can change the hotspot imei to whatever you want. Literally whatever you want.
I changed it to my iPhone imei. Then I created a ttl mod script to change the hotspot ttl value to 65 (since I will be using the hotspot data from another device like my.phone or pc). This means that once the data hits the world wide web, Verizon sees a ttl value of 64, which makes them think its Phone data. Not hotspot data. Thus not tethering throttles are put in place.
Voila. Working unlimited hotspot data. I get 450mbps right now on visible doing this
That’s kinda my point. It either DOES work with. Verizon when you release the product, or it DOES NOT. This “compatibility” they claim is moot if I can’t get Verizon to allow me to use it on their network reliably.
It may connect, but it doesn’t work reliably and that’s why I am making this post. So others know.
Following up as an FYI for those having problems with a Verizon SIM…I’ve been running a T-Mobile pre-paid SIM since my last post and the MR6550 has been working flawlessly.
Forgive my ignorance as I am still learning, when pasting the code for the larger sections do I need to run each line separately or can I just copy everything including the echo at the beginning of each and press enter? I just want to make sure I am doing this correctly so I don’t mess up an expensive unit. And I truly thank you for taking the time to show this to all of us.
Will this work with the AT&t branded one?
Hi I am getting ERROR at the IMEI encryption step and the IMEI is not changing. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
This is 100% false. I run vpns on all my connections from Verizon almost 24/7.
Is this on hotspots only? Because I’ve had no problems using NordVPN on my iPhone while on Verizon.
This is generally bad advice. I (as a customer) should not have to violate the terms of service of a provider to make a device work. Netgear and Verizon need to get this shit figured out.
For this and other reasons, I dumped Verizon and went T-Mobile for all my phones/tablets/hotspots/ect.
You are a god thank you! I have been researching how to do this all damned day! currently paying $200 a month for unlimited data… NO MORE!
Any advice that could help me do the same thing to my mr6550? I already checked and it isn’t supported by dc-unlocker.
thank you for this post! it gave me the right direction to find info on how to put MR6550 firmware on my MR6500 and more.
Either way works! Echo es def important
Hey like I said, I wasn’t entirely sure. Seems to have been false information, apparently.
It may be with certain devices or plans. Maybe the nature of using the phone tethering prevents them from being able to restrict this function.
-Experience: I have a business unlimited data plan and specifically remember reading about the features of “business” plans having more to offer than consumer plans. One of the said features being VPN usage.