Newbie hooked up today, have a few questions

ps1914 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 22

Hello everyone, I am so excited to be here! wow! I cannot believe I have another high speed option now besides Hughes satellite. Laughing

I came into these forums some time ago researching my options for my area in Michigan, and was disappointed but not surprised that I couldnt get it. The other day I went by my local Alltel dealer in town (I am only about 3 miles from town and 3.5 miles from my Alltel tower, yet I am in out in the sticks in a remote area) and saw on their sign out front "$25 high speed internet". I thought yeah right! But my curiousity got the best of me and I went in and talked to them. Much to my surprise, I can now get EVDO here! And as I type this, I am connected to it and testing it now. Just installed it an hour ago but I have so many questions for you experienced users, if I may. Yes, I have read alot of the posts (especially here in the Alltel forum) but alot of the language here is foreign to me LOL but I am trying to learn so bear with me please if I ask stupid questions Rolling Eyes

Ok, I am connected with the UM150 and have done a several speed tests at testmy.net. I have 2 lights of the 4 on the signal strength on the UM150 (seems to be pretty consistant at that so far but only been about an hour). I am wondering how everyone tests their speeds? I am not familiar with this Alltel Quicklink Mobile software that it connects though. Is there something I should be reading in there that tells me anything I need to know? I have looked under the statistics tab and dont understand a bit of it LOL

So far it seems to be loading pages faster than the satellite but no surprise there LOL The secure sites with Hughes about drive me nuts waiting! They seem much faster on Alltel even though my speed tests appear about the same with Hughes & Alltel. Anyhow, I am wondering if my speeds are normal for EVDO? I've done several tests from the moment I got on to now and they were like 300 something, 700 something, 900 something, 600 something and the last was 673 Kbps. I know they only sell it about 700 Kbps but when the guy in the store showed me the speed he was getting it was like 1.2 or 1.3 Mbps so I had hoped for the higher speeds of course. Since I am paying for the more expensive $59.99 Mo. program, I want to make sure I am getting all I can Smile

So would it pay me to buy the booster for $300? They claimed the better the signal the faster speeds I would get. Of course, once I get it installed into a router, I can move it around for the best signal area, correct?

Lastly, I am just testing it right now on my desktop but I have 2 more computers that are networked and now I will need to get a router that I can plug this USB UM150 into so we can all share the connection and with all the reading I've done on here, it appears I dont want to get one through my alltel store as the owners of this forum sell better ones, is that correct? Also I am lost as to which one to get. I need something that is dead easy to install and get up and running, much like the UM150 was to install on this computer. At the moment all my computers are wired (not wireless) as it really isnt necessary for them to be wireless, so whatever I get will need to have at the least 3 ethernet plug ins. One laptop is wireless but I rarely use the wireless feature anymore but may if I could figure it out. If I have provided enough info, would anyone care to recommend the right router I need for this set up?

Thank you for your time and again sorry for all the newbie questions! I just want get things set up and thoroughly tested so I can give Hughes the boot Laughing

sean@cyclegadgets.com · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:26 am Post subject:

Try speedtest.net for network speeds. I have the Alltel UM150 and get anywhere from 700K to 1.3M down, depending on time of day. I got the Cradlepoint MBR1000 router from 3GStore (sponsors of this forum) and it works GREAT. Just plugged the UM150 in and it worked like a champ. Plus by putting the router (and UM150) up on a high shelf I got better signal strength so didn't need to consider a booster.

lewxam · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:02 pm Post subject:

ps1914, You have almost the exact questions I had a couple of weeks ago. See this post -- evdoforums.com/thread8319.html -- (with pictures) that really enlightened me on how to hookup your home network. The forum editing software would not allow me to post the entire link but I think you can figure it out.

Good luck.

lewxam · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:06 pm Post subject:

ps1914, You have almost the exact questions I had a couple of weeks ago. See this post -- evdoforums.com/thread8319.html -- (with pictures) that really enlightened me on how to hookup your home network. The forum editing software would not allow me to post the entire link but I think you can figure it out.

Good luck.

ps1914 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 22

thanks for tips! I will read through that entire post shortly. Just wanted to say thanks. I did check out the other speed test site posted above and that was neat. I tried to post my numbers here but I included a link to it and it doesnt look like we post links in here. Sorry about that, I wasnt spamming, just trying to let people know what my speeds were. If it doesnt post it later, I will try the test again and post my numbers.

Thanks!

lewxam · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:59 pm Post subject:

ps1914,

You have almost the exact questions I had a couple of weeks ago. See this post (with pictures) that really enlightened me on how to hookup your home network.

http://www.evdoforums.com/thread8319.html

Good luck.

ps1914 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 22

thanks for posting speedtest.net, never been there before, kinda neat.

I got:
894 download
70 up
261 ms ping
http://www.speedtest.net/result/245908934.png

I have no idea if those are good or not but seems pretty good to me so far.

crystalterrie · EVDO User Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

Some of us here in Michigan are getting even better speeds with Rev A, on Alltel, but that's not available in all areas just yet. I can tell you it's available here on the east side of the state, near the Harrisville/Lincoln area. Also you can check you signal more accurately than by the bars. Read the sticky thread "How's a newb measure signal strength?"

Different areas of my house show VASTLY different signal strengths, so it helps to take a laptop around to find the "sweet spot". Because of the huge difference in signal strength in my house, my cradlepoint router is way in the back bedroom, with a booster antenna rigged to hang from the top of a window, while my computer itself is out in the living room. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do Smile

Anyhow, my speeds have been averaging about 1200 down 500 up since rev A came out to the sticks.

crystalterrie · EVDO User Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

Also, you might want to double check that your PRL is 40036. Alltel sent me home with an outdated PRL, and getting that updated made a difference to me, the icon changed from 1X to rvA right before my eyes Smile

ps1914 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 22

crystalterrie, thanks for posting that. I finally found that sticky Rolling Eyes

Here is what my numbers are showing:

RSSI (1xRTT) -83 dBm
RSSI (1xEVDO) -75 dBm
Capabilities 1xEVDO (Rev-A) Digital Data, NDIS

Of course, everytime I check it the numbers change some, is that normal? I would love to get 1200 up, that would be great. I just want to get all I can for what I paying, but who doesnt? Laughing

Now you lost me completely on your second post though... what is PRL? And where do I look it up? and where is this icon you mentioned that changed before your eyes? sorry for the silly questions, much to learn yet!

Thanks!

edited to say: I havent moved it around to try for a better signal yet, I just got today and plugged it into the front of my desktop that I use all day. I may just go ahead and call the 3G guys and get the cradlepoint 1000 or whatever its called so I can start moving it around and finding the best signal that way.

crystalterrie · EVDO User Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

On the same screen that you found your signal strength it says PRL version. I'll have to defer to the experts about pulling in a better signal as I am still learning myself Smile

RSSI (1xEVDO) -75 dBm doesn't seem terrible to me but you might be able to do better.

You could always walk around with your UM150 in your laptop, it's not computer specific. That way you could really know your best signal spots and whether you should invest in a booster antennal to go along with that router. I purchased both from 3G store, and I highly recommend them, but you won't know if the antenna is even needed until you kind of walk it around, I would think.

ps1914 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 22

Thank you! My goodness I even looked in there and didnt see PRL before but sure enough there it is now! LOL

Ok, mine says 30031, is that outdated? Is this the software version or something? I do recall it asking me if I wanted to check for updates when I installed but I was in such a rush I said No. I see that under Help I can check for updates, I suppose I should do that?

Thanks again. I might try walking around with the laptop tomorrow and see if the signal improves.

edited to say: ok, no apparently that isnt what the PRL is, because I tried the software update and it said I was up to date!

crystalterrie · EVDO User Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

I think that "your software is up to date" refers to something else, as mine always used to say that too. In a thread I started "Rev A in Northern Michigan"
karlyn said:

karlyn · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject:

PRL stands for Preferred Roaming List. It's basically a cell channel priority list by SID/region. If you'd like to see what's in a PRL, here's the interpretation for Alltel's old 30029 PRL. You can see Priority 1 contains Alltel channels by SID and as you go down in priority other carriers come into play. Old PRLs won't have new local channels and also won't include changes in roaming agreements -- like the free data roaming agreement with Sprint.

The "software is up to date" message refers to the Quick Link Mobile software. It always tells me mine is current.

Your signal is pretty darn good at -75 with the best typically being in the -60s. You could get an antenna, but sorry, you (and I*) won't be getting 1200 up anytime soon! Sad

Your speeds are pretty typical and there are a couple of factors in operation. One factor is how many other people are using your cell site. I'm in a rural area and my average speed keeps decreasing as more and more people around me discover EvDO.

karlyn

*Hey, I'll be happy when I get Crystal's 500 upload!

ps1914 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 22

Ok thanks everyone for the tips here. I did another test this morning and it really surprised me!

download 1272 kbs
up 108 kbs
ping 251 ms

So that is really good. Guess I wont be messing with it much, so long as my signal stays strong and my service stays as good as it has. Of course this will only be my second day of testing! Laughing

karlyn, that does concern me that your speeds decrease as more people begin using EVDO. Before I used hughes satellite I had a high speed wireless connection from town (not even sure what the technology was called) and I was considered to be on the outer fringe of the service and it worked fine for awhile, until more and more people got on it and I completely lost my service. It was so disappointing! Sad

It was either go back to dial up or go to satellite at that time, so I've had hughes for about 2 years now. So now I am in the 14 day testing period for EVDO before my 2 year contract kicks in Shocked

I sure hope it continues to work well for me. I am getting real tired of having to find new ways to get high speed out here! Like I said I am only about 3 miles from town but it is a very small town (maybe 1200?) so I hopefully I'll be ok.

Thanks again everyone. Think I will call 3G today and order a router now so I can try it on all our computers.