Sprint's Compression software...

horsessmellfunny · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 1:07 am Post subject: Sprint's Compression software...

Ok, so I decided to go with Sprint because they have insanely fast EVDO around here. I was actually pulling 800kbps (100kbps actual) download the other day in a fairly busy part of Colorado Springs.

Anyways, enough said about how grand the service is. The software.. I am not that thrilled about. When connecting to non EVDO, it takes forever to connect and authenticate. Thats not my gripe. The stupid acceleration and compression software!! ARGH! I didnt even install it when I did the initial install, but it is still there. Did it get insalled during the 2 updates I had to do? I certainly hope not. I have no way of removing it. I try the registry, add/remove, etc NOTHING!! It is driving me nuts! When im in non EVDO, the images are so scaled down u can barely see the images. Even in EVDO, it still compresses them. As I said, I didnt even install the Bytemobile software, but it apparently must've installed it self at some point because it is definetly compressing eveything. It does it both in Firefox and IE.

O, lemme as you guys this, during the initial install, if you installed Bytemobile, did you happen to notice when you X-out IE, Firefox, or Windows Media Player, it gives a memory error? I actually re-loaded my box because I thought it was a virus (which it wasnt), or a corrupted windows load. When I re-installed the Sprint software, it came back. I had to do the Winsock fix to get rid of it. However some sort of compression software IS STILL THERE!!! I dont care that is there, I jsut want to control how much it compresses my images!!

AHHH!!
Thanks for the help everybody!

sprintinmo · EVDO Newbie Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 3

From what I understand, compression is something that happens on Sprint's end of the connection, probably through some sort of transparent proxy mechanism. You can circumvent this compression though, through the method found in the following Sticky thread:

http://www.evdoforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1053

Guess you just missed it sitting up there at the top of the forum listing Wink

horsessmellfunny · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:45 pm Post subject:

heheh thanks for the info! Yea, i wasnt paying attention... as always1! But thank u very much!

One more question, anyway to get the Aircard 580 to be a little bit more efficient on battery usuage? The KPC650 was awesome on battery, but the 580 has been draining the hell outta my battery.
Thanks!

SL10 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:07 am Post subject:

In the Connection Manager there is a way to control the image quality as well as the compression. Menu>Optimation (can't spell getting tired) Settings from there you can turn off Bytemobile and control image quality.
_________________
EVDO Addict.

horsessmellfunny · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:14 am Post subject:

yea, during the initial install it gives u the option to install the bytemobile software. I made sure it was not installed during the initial insallt since it freaked out my computer. The optimization software isnt there which is what is weird. I guess, like mentioned above, there is some sort of proxy on the Sprint side that compresses everything. Its really really weird!!! But thank u for ur input, I am sure I would have over looked it if was there.

Thank you!

khokies · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 15

OK, first of all this is my first post so if I mess up, please don't yell! Embarassed

We have a Novatel Merlin 620 card (pci to pcmcia adapter so we can use it in our desktop). Not on EVDO yet, although a couple of weeks ago the service kept flip-flopping back & forth between EVDO & the other. We are running Windows XP, IE, everything's up to date. I have noticed some odd behavior with sites that use Javascript and these problems do not occur with straight dialup. When I turn on the optimization, I can't get to certain sites (I get a page not found error). It is driving me absolutely nuts!

I saw an IE registry hack in a thread somewhere, but when I tried it I didn't see the same lines as mentioned in the hack.

Don't get me wrong--Sprint has gotten us away from the HORRIBLE HORRIBLE Direcway service and for that I am eternally grateful. But I just cannot understand WHY some things work differently with this Merlin card than they do on straight dialup...if anyone has something else I could try to alleviate this problem, I'd be most appreciative!

horsessmellfunny · Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:31 pm Post subject:

Howdy!

Welcome to the forums!

For a first time post, that was pretty dang good! lol

Anyways, congrats to hear u dont use Direcway anymore. I am unfortunately stuck with it here my self. I am out in the middle-of-nowhere Colorado. I am also in non EVDO.... yet.... Hopefully Sprint will be changing the tower I am on oever to EVDO. We shall see!

As far as their weird compression software goes, un-install EVERYTHING, related to Sprint. That is, the Sprint software, Byetmobile, and the Merlin driver.

Re-install everything, however, during the re-installation, *MAKE SURE* that Bytemobile compression software *IS NOT* installed. You will see a check box during the set up for this. After you have loaded everything and rebooted, check for software updates. I actually had to do two within the past week to get up to date. After all of those updates have completed, try to see if you are still having those weird issues.

There is a sticky at the top of this forum that speaks more greatly about the weird Sprint compression software. We are thinking there is a proxy, similar to the one u had on your Direcway that would "speed up" the service. What the Sprint software does is it removes all white spaces from any HTML on the webpages. It also inserts its own Javascript that allows you to hit 'Ctrl + R' to increase the image quality (Which doesnt work). The combination of removing white space and the extra Javascript may be causing your weird problems. I havent noticed any problem myself, except for the meer fact that the compression is so great it is hard to see the majority of the images.

Also check to make sure you have the latest version of Java installed http://www.java.com

I truly do hope this helps. If you have any other questions or concerns, please re-post your issues. I will try to help you has much as possible. If I cant be of help, there are many others here that will surely help you!

Thank you!

khokies · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 15

I just accidentally said 'screw connection manager' and went into the Novatel properties under 'View All Connections'. Lo and behold there was a box checked for software compression. I unchecked it and a lot of stuff seems to be working better now.

This is only a recent discovery, so I'd like to give it at least a week before formally 'spraying on it'. But it might be something someone out there can check into in their spare time.

This is still way better than DirecWay! Yay! I hope the fix I might have discovered holds up....

horsessmellfunny · Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:04 pm Post subject:

I tried unchicking the use software compression. Unfortunately, it still compresses everything. This is making me further believe that there is a proxy set up, and when it detects your on 1xRTT, it compresses the hell outta everything. GRR! I am very happy that everything has been working for you thus far!

ekrauska · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:18 pm Post subject:

I'm on EVDO connection on a Sierra 580 and have used the IE registry change and still am getting the compression. Does anyone know if this problem exists with the KR1?

EDIT: Check that. I had to dump my cache and am now getting accurate pages without the compression alterations. The IE registry change to address the problem. However, some other websites now look a bit different because of the change. msnbc.com looks completely different.

sdphotog · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Oct 2005 Posts: 23

When you add the "Blazer" string to your browser, some sites (like Google) believe you're using a browser on a phone or PDA and send you the mobile versions of their sites. Google has a preference to set it back to the standard version, and some site might also have a preference setting. Unfortunately, that's a side effect of using the Blazer string and getting uncompressed images. I can only hope sprint will wise up and turn off compression by default.

ekrauska · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 3:17 pm Post subject:

sdphotog · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Oct 2005 Posts: 23

Sprint uses a "transparent proxy server" that automatically compresses all incoming content to your computer. So, it won't matter what card you're using - it'll still compress the content. I found that for some reason, Sprint doesn't compress content going to the Blazer browser on the Treo 650 phone. So, by making your Mac or PC browser pretend to be the Blazer browser, the proxy sends uncompressed content. It seems like the software installed on your computer really doesn't change any compressions settings - as far as I can tell (although I might be wrong).

billatq · EVDO User Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Posts: 26

MetroTech88 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 17

horsessmellfunny,

do you remember the error message when you exited IE, Mozilla, or the Media Player? You said at the top of this post that it was a memory error and that you corrected it by resetting winsock. I think I am experiencing the same error message now. Thank you.