v740 on Mac OSX - Adv. Tools?

mweisberg · EVDO Newbie Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 2

I am using a Novatel V740 (Verizon) on Mac OSX Leopard (10.5.7). I am using the native WWAN support in Leopard and for the most part, the card works great. But I'm currently in a location where I'm getting the card to "flap" between 1xRTT and EVDO frequently. I'd like to force the card to EVDO mode, but I see from other posts, that it seems this can only be done on Windows using Verizon's tools. Being a former amateur radio guy, I'm wondering if there are any advanced diag tools I can use on the Mac to poke around in the cards settings? Any way even from a shell prompt or a terminal app?

This flipping is getting annoying. My RSSI is showing anywhere from -88 dbm to -105 dbm when on EVDO, which I know is not good. When it switches to 1xRTT, I'm getting around -105 dbm. I think this is partly due to my location near Lake Michigan, with the card picking up sites across the bay I'm near (is there a tool that will show me which site I'm currently connected to?).

I'm not sure adding an antenna would help (especially if it is not directional, I think the best tower is inland behind me). I'm not at this site too often, so I'm looking for a cost effective solution to help. I'm thinking forcing EVDO only mode is my best bet. Is there any way to force the card to go dormant so that it will re-establish the EVDO signal? Would loading the VZW software on my Mac help at all? I've been loath to do that since I'm afraid it would "muck" up my Mac.

Thanks for any advice.

Other info that might help:

Modem SW Version: 147
HW Version: 1
PRL Version: 51323
ERI File Version: 1024
Host Software Version: Driver 1.1