Newbie with Cingular AirCard 860

mangles · EVDO Newbie Joined: 29 Jun 2006 Posts: 1

I am a newbie to AirCard/Cellular based wireless. As the wife and I prepare for our summer RV outing; an event in which she can’t live without satellite TV, XmRadio and the internet. Anyway, I started researching and comparing the options as I do each year. Satellite based internet solutions haven’t improved much except there are more installer/resellers with more creditability than past years. Cellular based solutions continue to improve (promises), are affordable and often don’t work where we have traveled.

This year I invested into Cingular’s AirCard 860 based solution. While there are few postings in this forum for Cingular, I found significant postings in the RV escapees and in the Turbo Diesel Register. After selecting the Cingular AirCard 860 solution, I needed to design my installtion for use in both our truck and 5’th wheel rig. Clearly, just plugging in the card or turning on the phone wasn’t going to cut it. “Can you hear me now???”

Hence, after reading most of this forum and checking out various vendors’ claims I focused on an amplified solution with a high gain antenna and a low lost cabling.

While I have not worked in the RF industry since leaving the Avantek in 1982 where I worked as an RF Tech in the special projects group, I still knew enough to install HP’s Bay Area WAN in 2001/2002, and meet my own household needs.

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Here’s the results of my tests with the an AirCard 860, using the amp and antenna.

dbm measured with Watcher application from Sierra Wireless.
Throughput measured using SBC DSL speed test (support.sbcglobal.net/dsl/speedtest/ ) with Santa Clara POP option. I also tested with CNET.
Watcher configuration set to automatic network selection, with non-accelerated Cingular (See my last paragraphs for more info).

Test #1: Standalone in my house without the external amp, etc:
Test A: -82dbm, 37kbps upload/81kbps download.
Test B..n: Similar. I conducted 2 to 10 tests in a short time period and noted cellular loading.

Test #2: amp, antenna, 4’ adapter cable. (Antenna mounted on 4’ pipe on the side of my house (6’ away from house).
:
Test A: -72dbm, 118kbps download/42kbps upload.
Test B: -72dbm, 83kbps download /42kbps upload.
Test C: -72dbm, 151kbps download /33kbps upload, etc…
Test D: -73/-74dbm, 126 kbps download /42kbps upload with 25’ coiled extension cable between the amp and antenna.

Tested with various combinations of extension cables and adapters, found my –dbm usually varied about -.5 dbm, had a few tests where the dbm varied up to -2dbm. This showed me the amplifier was compensating for the induced loads and cabling losses. Extension cables were installed before and after the amplifier. Normally I would expect -.5dbm per connector/adapter plus cabling.

All the above tests provided only EDGE connection services. I configured the Watcher for 3G 850/1900 connections and I could not connect to the Cingular network.

Next I placed the antenna on the roof of my house.

Test A: -66dbm, 130kbps download /52kbps upload.
Test B: -72dbm, 144kbps download /173kbps upload.
Test C: -62dbm, 54kbps download /50kbps upload.
Test D: -62dbm, 54kbps download /48kbps upload.

I changed the Watcher configuration from automatic to 3G 850/1900 and obtained:
Test A: -86dbm, 938kbps download /375kbps upload.
Test B: -72dbm, 1mbps download /384kbps upload.
Test C: -86dbm, 959kbps download /380kbps upload.
Test D: -86dbm, 933kbps download /382kbps upload.
Test E: -86dbm, 418kbps download /418kbps upload - CNET Test.
Test F: -86dbm, 438kbps download /438kbps upload - CNET Test.
Test G: -86dbm, 418kbps download /418kbps upload - CNET Test.

I do not know the difference between the SBC and CNET test suites.

Installation problems:
There is a known conflict with the Cingular Communications Manager acceleration applet called ByteMobile and Norton AV. This conflicts prevents your POP based email from working (you can send, but not receive email). Don’t try calling Cingular Support, they are next to worthless. Go to the Cingular web site for known problems, the URL for this issue is https://cingular.atgnow.com/cng/tutorials/KB47090.html

With all that said, now what?
[edited]

OK, with that said, go ahead and take your best shots. While I may not answer you, I hope others will benefit from this posting.

mike angles in san jose
Rolling Eyes