O.k.....NOW what do I do?

BillLee · Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject: O.k.....NOW what do I do?

I am in the throes of climbing the newbie learning curve.

Checked the coverage for where I live. Here's a picture:

Based on this, I ordered (and received today) an S720 card, and a Kyocera KR1 (due in tomorrow).

Have installed the Sprint PCS Connection manager and have made the S720 work in a Windows XP box.

But... the "Mode" connection setting set to "Automatic" gets me a 1xRTT connection. Changing that to "EVDO Only" and I get no connection at all.

Looks to me like Sprint is inaccurate in their coverage maps, and while 1xRTT is better than dial-up, it isn't EVDO.

NOW what do I do? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Bill Lee

3Gstore · EVDO Addict Joined: 19 Sep 2006 Posts: 3160

Bill,

you appear to be a customer of 3gstore.com

after you receive your booster antenna with the KR1, i'd call into tech support, and tell them your signal levels with and without the booster.

it will help them to decide if a better antenna and/or an amplifier is going to help you out.

as for the coverage maps... since they are based on theoretical coverage of a tower's range, they do have a tendency to be wrong. but not just saying there will be coverage where there isnt. quite often, we get customers who appear to be beyond coverage, and still get good signal.

lots of things affect good signal. terrain, foliage, and structures between you and the towers are the main ones.

our tech guys are the best. they will help you out.

BillLee · Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:12 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the reply, Alex. Yes, a 3gstore.com customer.

I'll follow up on his tomorrow when the rest of the equipment arrives.

Regards,

Bill Lee

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

if it was me and I had a laptop, I would take the card for a "ride" and figure out where I could get signal.

I would start outside my house. Then start driving towards where the map indicates coverage is eminating from. Once you hit an EVDO signal, that would give me a good idea how much the maps are off.

That would be a good start for determining if an antenna will help you.

Fl00d_Pr0z · EVDO Junkie Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 218

If you look at that map, just from the hard EVDO line I'd suspect it isn't correct at all.

BillLee · Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject:

I am not sure where the Sprint tower is located. I looked at http://antennasearch.com/ and they show a tower assigned to sprint about two miles northeast of my location. I can see that tower from my home. But if you look at the coverage map in my first post, that's up in the green area. If that tower was serving me, I would expect EVDO coverage to surround it in some fashion.

The only other Sprint tower AFAIK is one about five miles southeast of me, but it looks like the source.

Here is the antennasearch.com map superimposed on the Sprint coverage map. My location is the small red dot. The two towers are at the arrows. (The tower just north of me no longer exists: it was torn down a couple of years ago.)

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

Here are your Sprint towers (purple dots)

Have you considered EVDO Roaming? Alltel looks to have a significant footprint in your area (Tyler, Tx.)

BillLee · Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:19 am Post subject:

colebert, can you give me a URL to where you found the Sprint tower maps? The one you supplied matches what I had inferred from antennasearch.com.

I looked further into the Alltel offerings. Unfortunately, their maps are a bit small to determine anything. What you included above is the best I could find on the Alltel site, and a map that small for all of a state like Texas is of no real use. But I will investigate roaming access.

Regards,

Bill Lee

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

BillLee · Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:41 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the URL.

Apparently I don't know how to set the Sprint card up to access the Alltel EVDO network. I thought it was in the settings where you specified "Automatic" or "None" or whatever for the roaming parameter. Is it something more than that? It's set to "Automatic" now.

I don't know if the Alltel EVDO is available where I live. The nearest Alltel towers are 8-10 miles away, and their coverage maps leave a lot to be desired.

I got the KR1 and the external antenna today. Have it all flanged together and working just fine. But nothing but 1xRTT. Now that I have had a few hours f playing, tomorrow I will call tech support at 3gstore and have them help me if they can. The 1xRTT is better than the dial-up I had before, but not a LOT better.

BTW, does anybody know how to access the S720 parameters when the card is plugged into the KR1? E.g. accessing the "Settings" like you can via the Connection Manager? Access to the KR1 is nicely done via a browser interface, but the card seems to be out of reach.

Regards,

Bill Lee

Jayson · Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:01 pm Post subject:

Bill ... I would say that along with an external antenna an amp would help you ....I am not even in the maps coverage area ...I sit about 1/4 mile outside it and after installing an external antenna and a wilson amp I have finally grabed a weak evdo signal ....-98 dbm to-101 dbm ...but it is way better than dial up ....I have downloads from 500 kbs to 750 kbs and uploads at 150 to 200 kbs.....

Before I got my equipment i was only 1xrtt with 4 bars ....and couldnt touch the evdo signal ......my signal is steal waek on the evdo side but i havent had dropped connections or lose of the evdo side ...Only had the amp and antenna a couple days now but I love it ......its better than dial up or most dsl ... so if you cant get a signal from your roof top with just an antenna maybe try ordering an amp and see if that helps you ....

also the antenna that i purchased was a wilson trucker antenna
I mounted it on a peice of 3/4 metal conduet from the local lumber yard ... i then mounted that metal pipe to my facia on the peek of the roof...I have it probably six feet up above the peek... if you dont have your antenna up on the peak of your roof you may also try that too!!!

hope you get it going .....you'll fall in love if you have been a dial up user for very long!!!! Good Luck ...and keep us posted!!!

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

well the alltel maps look like they cover you.

you need to be running PRL 20225 or 20226 on your card in order to roam. the current version sprint officially supports is 20224, which is undoubtedly what you have.

in order to update your PRL, you must have your MSL code. if you bought your card from 3GStore, then they will have it. if not, it was the six digit code they gave you when you originally activated your card.

with that code and the lastest PRL (available online.) you can force your card to update. this will then allow you to take advantage of the EVDO roaming.

Here is the link to manually update your PRL: LINK

It's not hard to do, assuming you have your MSL.

Also, I recommend driving towards your antenna and seeing if the maps are even right at all. [/url]

Bigdave · EVDO Addict Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 1069