Help please!! I'm at my wits end!

Terilynn78 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:28 pm Post subject: Help please!! I'm at my wits end!

Hi - I am in need of some help with my EVDO connection - I live in a rural area and can't get anything else but dial-up or satellite (neither that I've heard good things about) so in Feb of this year I signed up for 3G with US Cellular - at first it was really fast (at least to me, after using dial-up for years). Now my connection is soooo slooowww and to keep it at least usable, I'll have to disconnect and reconnect A LOT! UGH - I am so frustrated - my download speed is terrible - worse than my dial-up. Today, I was trying to download a file and it was at 1.2 kb/sec!!! Ok, so I know that this connection can be way faster - so I've been researching on how to do this (amplifiers, antenna, etc.) but it's confusing, so I'm hoping for some advice. Some info, not sure what you'll need - I am using a Pantech UM175, running Vista (but even on my old comp. (had XP) the speed was still as bad, I live about 10 miles from a tower, anything else you need to know, let me know. Your help is REALLY appreciated. Thanks

Bert65 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 7:18 pm Post subject:

Before anyone can make recommendations they will need more information. Go to this link and do the site survey.

http://3gstore.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=13&zenid=77d606638bc4644b349dc1eb3079abad

If you don't have a laptop, borrow one to do the tests and answer the questions at the end. This will tell you and whoever is going to help you what signal is at the tower and what you might be able to get at your location. It might even show you that there is a tower problem.

Have you, called tech support, updated your PRL, borrowed another modem to see if yours is the problem.

Good Luck I am sure that someone here can help once you have the above information.

Jim_in_VA · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:31 pm Post subject:

you can get some tips and tweaks here on EVDOforums by reading the "stickys" and also on my own web site by clicking the "www" below my post.
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evdo-tips.com

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

Read JiminVA's site for tons of useful info, but basically, a parabolic grid is probably your best bet for most situations. It's taken me around a month to get my grid completely worked out but I think we finally finished it tonight.

12 miles to the tower and my ping is in the mid 200s with 80-100k download speed. 2-3 bars of signal (out of 4) and -82 to -88 average signal strength. (-4.5 through -6.5 average Ec/Io) To do this I had to properly align the grid and raise it 10 extra feet to clear my roof apex, I am going through quite a lot of trees and I do not have an amp.

Read my long thread for all the info on my experience. Once you can come up with more detailed information on your connection people here will be able to help you a lot more.

Terilynn78 · Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:29 am Post subject: Thanks

I'm going to see if I can borrow my friend's laptop and let you know about the test results I get. Thanks