I'm joining the 3G world in a big way and I need advice.

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

Hello all, this is my first post here but I expect I'll soon be a regular. I just moved to Fauquier county Virginia and I live in a rural area with no access to broadband. My only 2 options (and believe me, I tried everything else) were either a full circuit T1 or 3G wireless. Considering the T1 was going to run me around 500 a month for the cheapest quote I could get, I decided to dive into this newfangled world of 3G wireless. First my provider and equipment details:

ISP - Megapath
Line type - 2G/3G/3.5G using 1xRTT, EV-DO, EV-DO-A, whichever is available (unlimited upload and download per month, 125 per month) and the signal is acquired at 1900mhz.
Equipment so far - Digi Connectport WAN VPN EV-DO-A SPRINT (but it's supposed to work with Verizon too, I can select either one under "Mobile Service Provider" and it works automatically, but I don't know if it actually changes networks or anything because the signal quality and speeds remain unchanged.) It contains either one or two Sierra MC5725 Rev 2.0 (2) wireless cards. I don't know for sure if its 1 or 2 (because of the (2) at the end).

Antenna type - Dinky 3.5" dual omnis that came with the router.
Signal strength - Terrible. These measurements are taken inside my house at the best window for reception (which does not face the signal direction, no windows in my house face that direction).

1xRTT = -100ish -> -105, Ec/Io average -10
EVDO = Will not stay connected. The RSSI is around 90-95 as long as it stays on, but the Ec/Io jumps from -6 through -30 and usually within minutes disconnects and reverts back to 1xRTT and stays that way.

1xRTT almost never disconnects and I get full 144kbps speeds almost all the time.

According to my documentation I have 50 ohm male SMA connectors (primary and secondary) on the router for antenna purposes.

My plan thus far:

External omni antenna of some sort, purchased from 3GStore.com of course, along with very high quality cable to run about 10-20 feet maximum from the ant to the router. I will buy an amplifier if needed, but I plan to try it without one first. I don't think I can use a Yagi directional because I THINK there is a ton of stuff between me and the tower. The "Base Station" lat/long listed in the router config is located over 20 miles away to the north, but I don't know enough about how wireless works to determine if that is the station it is picking up or if that is simply the main station for this area but I pick up closer towers. There is a SPRINT PCS tower about 2.5-3 miles away to the east with plenty of trees and rolling hills between us.

If anyone wants to google map me and give me some antenna advice I'm located a little bit west (less than 1/3 of a mile) of Botha, VA. I'm a systems technician by profession but I'm new to 3G, so please be gentle. I can provide as much detailed information as you can stomach, so don't hesitate to ask.

Very Happy

colebert · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 170

I would have looked at Verizon. They have coverage in your area and are usually a better service (in my experience.)

Is there a reason you are using Megapath? So you can have unlimited?

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

Yes. 5gb is way too limited. I used 5gb in the first week with only 1xRTT.

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

As a small update: I've noticed that EVDO seems to work better at night. I can usually hold EVDO signal until around 6-7am then I'm back on 1xRTT all day. During this time, the EVDO signal is around -88 through -97 RSSI and between -4.5 through -8.5 Ec/Io. This is much more acceptable and this is with only the little dinky 3.5" omnis on the router. I just need to know what setup I'll need to boost out of this hole to get a constant EVDO connection. I'm not trying to max my connection out. The latency is acceptable, between 250-400, and I've already resigned myself to no online gaming for the next year. I've got too much to do, anyway.

colebert · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 170

can you bail out to a command prompt and enter:

TRACERT 4.2.2.2

and post the results? That will give me an idea of what carrier you are using.

You are going to need to upgrade your antenna for sure. I suggest a parabolic grid antenna from www.l-com.com. I use this one with great success:

http://www.l-com.com/item.aspx?id=22370

You will also need some LMR-400 cable ($50 for 50ft), a mounting mast ($20 or less) and then an adapter cable to convert it to your input connector (probably $15 or less.) So that is what that type of solution would cost.

3GStore is more of a proponent of Yagi antennas and I want to be fair to them in this matter and point this out. I have personally found in my work that the parabolics produced a stronger signal than the Yagi, but it may turn out a Yagi will work for you. Pricing between a Yagi and a parabolic isn't much different.

colebert · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 170

One issue with going the megapath route is that we don't know what service or band you are using. I am assuming you're using 1900mhz which is why I linked to the 2.4GHz antenna. It could be that you are at 850Mhz in which case you would need a 900MHz dish.

Sprint is exclusively 1900MHz. Verizon/Alltel is a hybrid of 850/1900 depending on the area.

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

I mentioned earlier, you must have missed it, I'm locked into 1900mhz band. It hasn't changed in the week I've had the connection, and I've rebooted, moved, and tweaked the router hundreds of times.

Ignore the ping times I have my bandwidth maxed right now:

img189.imageshack.us/img189/4606/tracertresult.jpg

Cost is really not a big deal. I don't want to spend money I don't need to spend, but I'm willing to spend whatever is necessary to get a consistent EVDO signal 24/7. I saved 350 by convincing Megapath's engineers to drop the "professional install" requirement (since they did not offer outdoor antenna installs anyway), so I'm going to drop a good chunk of that money directly into equipment and do it myself.

Edit: Won't let me post the link you'll have to add the first bit manually to see the picture.

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

Nice parabolic grid antenna you linked to, I approve. Cheap too. Only problem is that it is directional and I don't think I have anything approaching LOS to my carrier signal. There is a gigantic willow tree close to my house on the north side which I'm fairly certain is where the signal is coming from. I cannot do a site survey because both our cell phones are not types that can do it (to my knowledge, and I researched it). Nokia models... mine is a 2610 and I forget what hers is. I tried the various nokia codes to get to survey mode but nothing.

colebert · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 170

OrgName: Sprint PCS
OrgID: SPCS
Address: 12502 Sunrise Valley Dr
City: Reston
StateProv: VA
PostalCode: 20191
Country: US

NetRange: 68.24.0.0 - 68.31.255.255
CIDR: 68.24.0.0/13
NetName: SPRINTPCS
NetHandle: NET-68-24-0-0-1
Parent: NET-68-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: OSSCDNS01.SPCSDNS.NET
NameServer: OSSCDNS02.SPCSDNS.NET
Comment: ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE
RegDate: 2001-12-14
Updated: 2004-06-30

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

Yeah, Sprint is what I said I'm using, I've got it set that way in the router, and the router also said "SPRINT" on the box. However Megapath told me it was provisioned for Verizon as well, and even one more carrier but the rep did not know what it was offhand. I don't know if changing the provider in the router config actually DOES change the provider though, at this point I am doubting it.

colebert · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 170

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

I swapped to Verizon in the router config and rebooted it, re-ran the trace, no change, still in the SPRINT IP range.

colebert · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 170

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57

bigsilverhotdog · EVDO User Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 57