What a difference....

taelir · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:54 am Post subject: What a difference....

Wow. I got my antenna from 3Gstore today.

Alltel has given up on helping me, even the rep at 3Gstore wasn't sure if the antenna would make much difference.

I haven't even started playing around with antenna location, for now it's just sitting on the porch because I can't climb my pregnant butt up on the roof to get a solid mount yet.

I had almost zero connection before (thanks to the crappy tin roof)...and now....

Let's hope it improves even more once I can catch the RevA that I used to only see for short moments before.

Alex · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:12 am Post subject:

glad it helped!

am curious, did you do any testing to identify what RSSI was without antenna and then with antenna?

http://www.EVDOinfo.com/RSSI (in case you aren't familiar with it)
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taelir · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:34 am Post subject:

Yep, I check RSSI pretty regularly...it became a habit from having a craptastic connection.

Before: It depended, really, since the signal flopped back and forth so freakin' much. 1xRTT was generally around -85dBm. If I was lucky to catch EVDO or RevA for a fleeting moment, RSSI usually ran anywhere from -95dBm to -110dBm.

Right now with the antenna just on the porch, I'm rock steady at -75dBm and -75dBm on EVDO. Once the husband gets home tonight, we'll do a bit of tweaking to try and find the RevA sweet spot. I'll let you guys know what RSSI sits at once we find it.

reggie14 · EVDO User Joined: 09 Aug 2008 Posts: 29

Did you go with the omnidirectional trucker antenna, or the dual band yagi antenna? Are you using one of the wireless routers?

taelir · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:50 pm Post subject:

I went with the Wilson Omni. I'm not using a router, though.

taelir · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:35 pm Post subject:

Okay, this is beyond strange:

Antenna is still sitting on the porch (haven't had a chance to get a good mount set up). All of a sudden tonight the modem switched over from EVDO to RevA. RSSI's went from -75dBm/-75dBm to -78dBm/-90dBm.

Speedtest sucks bigtime now compared to the above post:

Does this sound like a strictly RSSI issue? I'm so confused as I have not changed a single thing - the stats changed in less than a minute's time.

I want my decent speeds back. Ugh.

Herbsat · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 06 Jan 2009 Posts: 16

Have any speeds changed since your last post? It sounds like you are being handed off to another pilot and will need a more directional antenna.

taelir · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:45 am Post subject:

I just logged on today and it seems to be back to 4 bars EVDO, -75dBm/-75dBm.

I never thought I'd be relieved to be on EVDO instead of RevA. Right now this is tolerable compared to the awful stats pre-antenna. I'd hate to think what happens if I do get switched over.

Not sure if it was just one of those strange fluke things or not.

Alex · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 10:11 am Post subject:

my guess is your carrier is working on deployment of Rev-A
bear with it. for the most part it should be a good thing.
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t.lewer@hughes.net · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 25 Jan 2009 Posts: 17

You might benefit even more from a directional. My RSSI went from -76 to -51.

I think that 2k + d/l was a fluke though, especially for Alltel.

I norm out at 700-900 down, 100 range up on DO. No rA here yet.

taelir · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't be shocked if I were pulling from a Sprint tower here.

I can't seem to find a comprehensive list of Alltel towers (for my location, anyway) to verify this.

Really, I'm pretty content with what I have for now. It's a vast improvement.

And as far as the above post on speeds....with the exception of the little "episode", I'm back to consistently decent speeds on EVDO:

t.lewer@hughes.net · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 25 Jan 2009 Posts: 17

Where are you at in KS? Have you tried antennasearch.com?

Try different addresses on all sides of you since it's only a 4 mile radius.

taelir · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:28 pm Post subject:

The problem is that antennasearch does not recognize our address (even the post office has issues with it). Our address lists a city that isn't even in the same county as us. Antennasearch doesn't pull anything close enough.

Unfortunately with as rural as the house is, there are no nearby homes to search using their address. It's a crappy situation, hence why I've just tried to find a blanket list of Alltel towers that I could look through myself.