Winegard and Verizon setup...

[CADman_KS]

I searched all over (here and interweb), and never could really find the "answer" to this question, so I'm posting our experience here for others.

Question: How do you get a SIM card from Verizon to work?

We are long time Verizon customers. I read where people were getting SIMS for the Winegard and adding that to their Verizon accounts, although I never found any accounts of how they did that. Then, in the next post/article I read others that were in customer service nightmareville trying to get Verizon to work.

So, I finally decided that I would just try to add the Winegard to our account, and see what happened. The entire process, while easy, did take some investigation on my part. Here's the process:

1. Log into your Winegard with the 10.11.12.1 username:admin password:admin settings, and go at admin tab (I believe), and get IMEI number. (This is the hardest step of the whole process)
2. Log into your Verizon account
3. Add a new device, choosing OTHER as the type
4. Enter the IMEI you got from the Winegard
5. Accept the defaults for the phone number Verizon wants to give you. Do NOT transfer a number!
6. Complete the purchase
7. Install SIM when you get it
8. Log into Winegard and change your internet to 4G/LTE
9. Connect devices to your Winegard WIFI network

I glossed over some of the steps on the Winegard here, because that information is easily found on the internet, and here as well. I have not tried this, but I think that this can all be done on the Winegard app as well, which I have not used. I just use the 10.11.12.1 screen.

This will add the Winegard to your Verizon account, and charge you whatever your monthly agreement is with Verizon. Verizon will send you the CORRECT SIM card that will work in the Winegard, because it takes the large one, not the small one. What I don't know, though, is if we're on a plan that allows for this, and other plans may not allow for this. We are on a plan that has been grandfathered several times.

I never had to talk to any customer service people who would tell me that it wouldn't work, and who weren't willing to help, and at the end of the day it works great!

So, we've only had it for about a week, and it works fine. It appears on our account another phone our plan, and when we are using it, it appears that it is being used as a hotspot. I figured this would be the case, and because of that, we will be limited to 15GB of data download per month, and then go into a slower mode. I should know more when we get closer to the 15GB / month max.

For us, the plan that we're on adds a line for $~23/month, so it's not that bad, and it's a service that we already had, so it wasn't another bill that we had to take care of every month.

Hopefully others find this helpful...

 

[CADman_KS]

I had someone ask me where you actually install the SIM card.

This is a video from SOB, but at the point that this video starts, they show you where the SIM card goes in the Winegard 2.0 Connect:

https://youtu.be/6DGxuxZEjh8?t=162

At this point in the video, you can see how it goes on there. There is a sliding motion, and if you notice there is a little "tab" on the top of it. In order to get it OFF in our installs, you simply push that tab, and then slide it off:

https://youtu.be/6DGxuxZEjh8?t=382

Be careful when taking the modem off, because the wires are not all that long, and are fairly delicate. You can add the SIM card, CAREFULLY, without totally removing the unit...

 

[MidMO-JAY]

Thank you for taking the time to post this! It will help me as well as others...Winegard systems (in my opinion) can be a "trial and error" to work with and this information helps.

 

[CADman_KS]

Thank you for taking the time to post this! It will help me as well as others...Winegard systems (in my opinion) can be a "trial and error" to work with and this information helps.

Thank you, and I hope that it works for you as easy as it did for us!!

Good luck!!

 

[Big1]

I will be watching this I just bought a MH that have the Winegard and I would like to learn how to operate it.

 

[jetlag]

Everything cadman_ks said. In our Pinnacle, the wire connections are clearly marked, and it was easy to remove the Winegard from the ceiling. Wires, as he said, are flimsy, so caution required. The 10.11.12.1 page works well, and initially I recommend a laptop or a decent sized IPad only for ease of view and getting familiar with the program. I use the Winegard connect APP, and once familiar with the browser page, this APP is a snap.

big1, remember Winegard is nothing more than a fancy antenna, either in Wi-FI or 4G. It does not boost the signal as some have said, and Winegard will quickly tell you this, however, the antenna sits on top of the RV, and in a sense
it "boosts" your signal by making a possibly weak signal better. But this is only because of mounting location, so a very weak 4G/Wi-Fi will not work very well either.

 

[Stan&Sharon]

Message I just received from Winegard

 

[jetlag]

Message I just received from Winegard

Got the email as well. I can't remember what I did initially to get setup a year ago, lol. Getting old is tough.

You realize quite a few folks here have said they only use the web browser method and can't be convinced the APP is much easier to use.

 

[CADman_KS]

...getting old is tough.

...

lol...

 

[Spower001]

I searched all over (here and interweb), and never could really find the "answer" to this question, so I'm posting our experience here for others.

Question: How do you get a SIM card from Verizon to work?

We are long time Verizon customers. I read where people were getting SIMS for the Winegard and adding that to their Verizon accounts, although I never found any accounts of how they did that. Then, in the next post/article I read others that were in customer service nightmareville trying to get Verizon to work.

So, I finally decided that I would just try to add the Winegard to our account, and see what happened. The entire process, while easy, did take some investigation on my part. Here's the process:

1. Log into your Winegard with the 10.11.12.1 username:admin password:admin settings, and go at admin tab (I believe), and get IMEI number. (This is the hardest step of the whole process)
2. Log into your Verizon account
3. Add a new device, choosing OTHER as the type
4. Enter the IMEI you got from the Winegard
5. Accept the defaults for the phone number Verizon wants to give you. Do NOT transfer a number!
6. Complete the purchase
7. Install SIM when you get it
8. Log into Winegard and change your internet to 4G/LTE
9. Connect devices to your Winegard WIFI network

I glossed over some of the steps on the Winegard here, because that information is easily found on the internet, and here as well. I have not tried this, but I think that this can all be done on the Winegard app as well, which I have not used. I just use the 10.11.12.1 screen.

This will add the Winegard to your Verizon account, and charge you whatever your monthly agreement is with Verizon. Verizon will send you the CORRECT SIM card that will work in the Winegard, because it takes the large one, not the small one. What I don't know, though, is if we're on a plan that allows for this, and other plans may not allow for this. We are on a plan that has been grandfathered several times.

I never had to talk to any customer service people who would tell me that it wouldn't work, and who weren't willing to help, and at the end of the day it works great!

So, we've only had it for about a week, and it works fine. It appears on our account another phone our plan, and when we are using it, it appears that it is being used as a hotspot. I figured this would be the case, and because of that, we will be limited to 15GB of data download per month, and then go into a slower mode. I should know more when we get closer to the 15GB / month max.

For us, the plan that we're on adds a line for $~23/month, so it's not that bad, and it's a service that we already had, so it wasn't another bill that we had to take care of every month.

Hopefully others find this helpful...

I am a full timer and before I hit the road I did extensive research on what I would use for internet on the road. My end result was to use my (verizon) phone as a hot spot. I upgraded to the Unlimited Data plan, $90 month. This is cheaper then when I had my house and paid $50 for my phone and $60 for internet!
This method has worked great! I have all the data I want! Over 2 yrs on the road now

 

[CADman_KS]

I am a full timer and before I hit the road I did extensive research on what I would use for internet on the road. My end result was to use my (verizon) phone as a hot spot. I upgraded to the Unlimited Data plan, $90 month. This is cheaper then when I had my house and paid $50 for my phone and $60 for internet!
This method has worked great! I have all the data I want! Over 2 yrs on the road now

Thanks for the tip! I think it's good to capture more options in this thread!

A couple of things that I didn't say in my original post:

1. We are not fulltimers, so this is a seasonal thing for us
2. We DO have an unlimited plan on Verizon on our phones, but it is capped at 15GB, and then it slows you down

That number 2 thing was the reason that I wanted to get a DIFFERENT plan (number) for our hotspot. I have used my phone as a hotspot, and hit that 15GB limit, and it is SUPER painful when you get throttled to 3G speeds for internet on your phone.

And, because of the plan that we have on Verizon, we did NOT want to change everything to some other unlimited plan. We have been grandfathered on our plan, and get a pretty good deal, and changing plans would increase our monthly bill, but we might get more options.

It's all a give-and-take kind of thing in the end...

 

[Big1]

Everything cadman_ks said. In our Pinnacle, the wire connections are clearly marked, and it was easy to remove the Winegard from the ceiling. Wires, as he said, are flimsy, so caution required. The 10.11.12.1 page works well, and initially I recommend a laptop or a decent sized IPad only for ease of view and getting familiar with the program. I use the Winegard connect APP, and once familiar with the browser page, this APP is a snap.

big1, remember Winegard is nothing more than a fancy antenna, either in Wi-FI or 4G. It does not boost the signal as some have said, and Winegard will quickly tell you this, however, the antenna sits on top of the RV, and in a sense
it "boosts" your signal by making a possibly weak signal better. But this is only because of mounting location, so a very weak 4G/Wi-Fi will not work very well either.

Okay I got in touch with verizon and I was going to get them to send me there SIM card but sent we are not going out until September sometimes I opt out for not, so if and when I get it will this be my wi-fi or can I just forget about it and use the hot spot on my phone? The plan that they had is going to cost $90 a month but I wanted to get familiar with it but I told her that I will wait until when it get time for us to go.

The lady got me all sign up and was ready to send me the SIM card but I had to get a all new plan because my plan with verizon is a pay-as-you-go plan. Is it worth getting it and can I stop it at anytime because when we don't camp I don't need it?

 

[CADman_KS]

Okay I got in touch with verizon and I was going to get them to send me there SIM card but sent we are not going out until September sometimes I opt out for not, so if and when I get it will this be my wi-fi or can I just forget about it and use the hot spot on my phone? The plan that they had is going to cost $90 a month but I wanted to get familiar with it but I told her that I will wait until when it get time for us to go.

The lady got me all sign up and was ready to send me the SIM card but I had to get a all new plan because my plan with verizon is a pay-as-you-go plan. Is it worth getting it and can I stop it at anytime because when we don't camp I don't need it?

Unfortunately, I personally do not have the answers to your questions. It sound like Verizon changed you to the plan that

Unfortunately, I personally do not have the answers to most of your questions. It sound like Verizon changed you to the plan that Spower was referencing above.

As for the WIFI part, this will be able to be your WIFI in your unit, and you should not need to use your phone as a hotspot, provided that the plan Verizon put you on does have unlimited data...

 

[CADman_KS]

UPDATE on our plan...

Well, just as I suspected, when we reach our 15GB hotspot limit on the plan that we have from Verizon, we are indeed throttled down to 600Kb speed. Before we hit limit, we were getting 13Mb speed, so it is throttled.

It will remain in this mode until the next month when plan resets.

So, at the end of the day, this will probably work for us, and while it's a nuisance, for the way that we need to use internet in our unit it will work. We were using ours to watch our smart TV, and that chews up data quickly. I suspect this would not work for someone who was wanting to work remotely. It may work, if you don't transfer huge amounts of data.

Just to recap, we are on a plan that adds the Wingard as another line (phone) on our plan, and we pay $20/month. So there's a give and take there.

 

[Randyman69357]

Well, just as I suspected, when we reach our 15GB hotspot limit on the plan that we have from Verizon, we are indeed throttled down to 600Kb speed. Before we hit limit, we were getting 13Mb speed, so it is throttled.

It will remain in this mode until the next month when plan resets.

So, at the end of the day, this will probably work for us, and while it's a nuisance, for the way that we need to use internet in our unit it will work. We were using ours to watch our smart TV, and that chews up data quickly. I suspect this would not work for someone who was wanting to work remotely. It may work, if you don't transfer huge amounts of data.

Just to recap, we are on a plan that adds the Wingard as another line (phone) on our plan, and we pay $20/month. So there's a give and take there.

We have the same as you, but for $40 a month extra instead of $20, you can have 50gb of data instead of 15 gb. They even have bigger plans for more money. My wife still does some remote work when we are south for the winter, so we up our plan from 15 to 50gb for the winter and switch it back for the summer when we aren’t in the camper as much. Verizon will allow you to switch back and forth for no additional charge.

 

[CADman_KS]

We have the same as you, but for $40 a month extra instead of $20, you can have 50gb of data instead of 15 gb. They even have bigger plans for more money. My wife still does some remote work when we are south for the winter, so we up our plan from 15 to 50gb for the winter and switch it back for the summer when we aren’t in the camper as much. Verizon will allow you to switch back and forth for no additional charge.

You are correct. I set this up to see what would happen, and to see how easy/hard it was to do.

The actual process was pretty simple, but there were a lot of reports on the internet that indicated the process of getting the SIM/plan was not as easy as it was...

 

[Stan&Sharon]

I've found if I steam tv/video (i.e. youtube/netflix) we can keep our data below 150GB monthly for our Winegard. We use the RV Park's wifi when possible too, but the Verizon plan is often faster. Once you hit the 150GB it is slower but even slower is faster than some RVPark's wifi.

Each year we signup for a Verizon PrePaid plan just for the months we travel (no autopay). Here are two plans we consider:

 

[CADman_KS]

I've found if I steam tv/video (i.e. youtube/netflix) we can keep our data below 150GB monthly for our Winegard. We use the RV Park's wifi when possible too, but the Verizon plan is often faster. Once you hit the 150GB it is slower but even slower is faster than some RVPark's wifi.

Each year we signup for a Verizon PrePaid plan just for the months we travel (no autopay). Here are two plans we consider:

I hear ya on Park WIFI!!

At our brick and mortar, we have TMobile home Internet, and it works great in our location, but isn't for everyone for sure. We typically are pulling down about 400GB a month on that plan, but that is EVERYTHING internet related in our house, including smart TVs. On the road, I think that we could easily stay under the 150 for sure, and probably even the 100.

Again, the reason that we didn't go that route to start with was because I wanted to see for sure how Verizon treated the Winegard device on a normal plan, and I was only out $20 to find out. We will figure out where we go from here, but even at slow speeds, it is nice having internet at the camper, especially if you want to monitor things remotely, like our smoker. This plan would be a great optionfor monitoring, at browsing, but not ideal for media or other high data usage stuff...

 

[Big1]

On the verizon plan I see on there website but I didn't ask the lady that since I retired military that they will give me a discount, the beginning of next month I might give them a call.

 

[Alante31V]

UPDATE:

You have to go thru/call Wineguard now;

https://winegard.com/service-plans/data-plans/freedom-go


$129 month, 25Mbps up to 300GB