Winegard Connect 2.0 WF-435

[RREYNOLDS51]

I am having trouble getting my Winegard Connect 2.0  WF-435 working as a hot spot with Verizon. Does anyone here have one and how did you get it to work? I can't get it to connect to my data plan. We spent most of yesterday trying to work it out with Verizon with no luck. I know of several people who have it working..what's the secret????

[johntr_vzw]

RREYNOLDS51, I can see why you reached out for help. I'd be happy to help go over the Winegard Connect, and explain why you were having trouble activating that device.

I did some research and found the Winegard Connect device isn't an approved device that can be used with the VZW network. What this means is the reason we couldn't activate it is the device won't function with a VZW SIM. We do have similar devices to the Winegard Connect, mobile hotspot generators known as Jetpacks or our 4G LTE Routers which can provide voice and internet service. You can find out more about them here: https://www.verizonwireless.com/internet-devices/

Searching, I found Winegard's website, and from I learned, they have data plans for their devices you would purchase through them. Information about their plans and devices can be found here: https://www.winegard.com/connect

I hope that's helped clarify why you were having trouble activating the device. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

JohnTr_VZW

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[Survtech1]

johntr_vzw,

I don't understand. Winegard claims the ConnecT 2.0 is compatible with Verizon. 

Approved Providers

• AT&T
• Verizon

http://www.winegard.com/connect/rv

[fuVerizon2]

This is simply not true.  I have this exact model on my RV and it works and has worked for about 3 years.  Advice to the OP, return the thing, stay away from it.  I have had to get a new sim card from Verizon about 4 times, at a cost of $15 becuase.  I would get an error message from the winegard saying sim not found.  My friend bought one recently and Verizon told her the exact same thing the employee told you.  She returned hers.  Guess what, a few days later my sim card died again, I went to the store and they gave me a new sim card for the unit ands activated it!  I am not sure how Verizon cannot even keep their story straight between the company.  They don't support the product yet many people have them and use Verizon, so they actually do support them its just some employees say they don't becuase they are unfamiliar with the product I guess, I have no idea?  Good Luck!

[RREYNOLDS51]

Congratulations! Your device works on the Verizon Wireless network.

Awesome, your WINEGARD - WF2-435 is a perfect match for our network.

[RREYNOLDS51]

For those having an issue contact Winegard. There is an issue with the latest software and they haven't come out with a patch yet but will send you a file that will work until they fix the latest software. But it does work very well once you get things set up.

[Ajbent]

Any ideas if they have fixed the software issue?

[williamhill17]

I have had the same problem and had updated the Winegard system software and modem firmware to the latest versions. From this, I was able to connect to Verizon, however, I have been experiencing disconnects from the Verizon network and getting "Denied Access" on the Winegard. After spending 8 hours of phone calls into tier 2 network support at Verizon, it appears that the Winegard device is not being fully activated on the Verizon network - it shows a "pending create" state to Verizon when the Winegard is showing "Connected"  on my end. This issue results in daily disconnects and inconsistent connectivity  I have power cycled the Winegard device countless times. Verizon states they have no support details on the Winegard device so cannot diagnose the problem - they simply cannot see it connecting to the network and therefore we have to raise a ticket with Winegard directly.

So, I think Winegard stating that this device supports the Verizon network is way over stated.
I will continue to pursue this and see if I can get a call back from Winegard support to resolve the issue with a patch or the like. 

[Roger15]

Good luck with that. Winegard told me it was Verizon's problem. I spent an hour at Verizon to get them to activate a sim card but they said the IMEI wasn't any good. So updating Winegard software will have no bearing on activation.

[Roger15]

Of course my Winegard Connect WF@-435 doesn't work with Verizon though Winegard says it should. Verizon won't activate a sim card given the IMEI. Verizon is te company from the dark side.

[williamhill17]

I can confirm that I did manage to get the Winegard working on Verizon, albeit with countless hours on 2nd lien and 3rd line support and making a trip to a Verizon store to get a replacement SIM !

My setup was 3 phones which I ported over from AT&T plus one data sim for the Winegard.
Unfortunately when the service was first activated, the phones went smoothly but the data sim was activated as a Verizon Jetpack in their system as Winegard wasnt available as a compatible device.
It was semi active in that I managed to get service intermitently but each night it would be blocked and resulted in me calling Verizon - like 15 times over the course of 3 weeks.

The process was as follows:

1. updated the latest system software and modem firmware on the Winegard to enable the "change provider" action to take place.

2.. Winegard had not been setup in Verizons product catalogue / database. I managed to find a 2nd line team to fill in a new product form and submit this to have the Winegard WF-435 added ( c.4 weeks ago now).

2. the orignal Verizon SIM that I had in the WInegard was caught in an incomplete activation state as the Verizon systems did not recognise it. Each night, a sweeping process takes place to block things on the network which dont look right - and my sim was being blocked or reset. The only expedient way to break the cycle was to go to a Verizon retail store and pickup a new SIM, switch it out int he Winegard and provide the new sim ID and the WF-435 IMEI to Verizon again to have it re-activated.  

These steps enabled a complete activation cycle on the Verizon network and we havnt had any nightly resets/ or blocking. The tech support verified that it was activated completely. It stills shows up as a Jetpack in My Verizon app but then under that label Winegard WF435 is shown. 

I hope that helps as I know how frustrating and time consuming this can be.

best of luck

W

[sroper]

Thank you williamhill17 for such complete and thorough explanation.  I have the same system, am hoping to use it with verizon and you've done a real service here.

[hrtmoto]

if you don't mind me asking, what plan is your winegard 2.0 set up as & what is you payment?

[colokidd1]

How did you go about updating the firmware for the modem, I was able to update the software through the control panel but they don't mention the firmware on any of their menus?

[vzw_customer_support]

I want to make sure that you get the help you need with that Winegard product,colokidd1. Since Verizon doesn't have official support or resources available for this product, you'll want to reach out to Winegard for help. Here is their support page: https://winegard.com/support Does this help clarify? RyanM_VZW

[dougmoss54]

I've had similar problems setting up my Winegard to use Verizon.

Finally, after getting it set up, I find that Verizon is logging incredibly large data usage and I had 5 GB of data used up in only one day. doing only web surfing and listening to about ten minutes of music on Pandora.  Looking back at the my Data Usage page on Verizon and correlating it to my actual usage times, it looks like it was logging 500 MB of data for two songs played on Pandora, and 1 GB for  5 minutes of checking my email (without downloads of files) and web surfing.

Is anyone aware of any special configuration issues or settings that need to be set up on either the  Winegard or through Verizon so that this unusually high data usage isn't charged?

I've tried to talk to Verizon technical support, but they are apparently too busy to answer their phones.

Doug

[vzw_customer_support]

We understand your concern with the data consumption and we'd like to help. How many and what type of devices do you have connected? 

ChristianP_VZW

[dougmoss54]

I have the Winegard Connect 2.0 receiver that collects the 4G cell signal.  The Winegard then generates a wifi signal.  Connected to the wifi signal we have two iPhones and two iPads.

The usages seems excessive.  For example, on 10/14, we streamed for about an hour (aboutt a dozen songs) on Pandora, the total data recorded by Verizon was over 2.5 GB, whereas, for an hour of streaming on Pandora, it should have been approximately 90 MB.

Quote from Pandora:  "Pandora Plus or Premium: Wi-Fi or mobile data uses 192 Kbps automatically and will use approximately 90 MB per hour."

Thanks for looking into this.

Doug

[vzw_customer_support]

Thanks for sharing that additional information, Dougmoss54. I understand you have two iPhones and two iPads connected to your Winegard Connect 2.0 receiver. To gain clarity, are these devices also activated on your wireless account? I ask because your total data usage is for your entire account. Therefore, all data usage on your devices associated with your account would be included in the total usage you see. To ensure you're not using data inadvertently, we recommend turning off Wi-Fi assist on all your Apple devices using the steps mentioned here: (refer to Turn Wi-Fi Assist on or off) http://spr.ly/66091HK7P Does this information help?

ChakiaH_VZW

[dougmoss54]

ChakiaH_VZW

Thank you for your reply.  However, I don't think I have clarified the conditions.

I have two iPhones and two iPads belonging to the same AT&T account.  I also have a Winegard receiver (receives 4G signal from the Verizon towers and retransmits the internet data signal via wifi - basically a 4G-powered hotspot).

The Winegard is not an ios device, so it doesn't have a wifi-assist mode.  If I turned off the wifi assist on the AT&T iPhones/iPads, that would just cause more data to be used up through the wifi connection - which really comes from the Verizon 4G signal.  (I don't even know if my AT&T phones have a wifi-assist mode).

Is there some setting on either my AT&T phones or Winegard (which uses Verizon 4G) that I need to set so that I'm not charged for more data than I'm using?

[dougmoss54]

ChakiaH_VZW

[vzw_customer_support]

Can you please clarify, is you Winegard, associated with an active Verizon account? AlbertP_VZW