I live in a Brick House...am i screwed?

rpcrazy18 · EVDO Newbie Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

Here's the issue, I live in a brick house. My computer is stationed in the brick wall Garage and cannot be anywhere else. I've tried 2 computers and it's the still the same result. I run speakeasy and am getting 400kbps/~50KB/s. Is that right? and is there anything i can do to speed that up.

I called sprint, they searched my area and said that I was in a "high speed" area should be getting somewhere around 1~3mb speeds. I'm going today to run a diagnostic on my card but if my card is fun what do I do? Is there some sort of booster can I buy for this device or am I screwed? I should also mention that both computer have usb versions 1.1 (i know...it's sad) does that change the whole deal, or is that insignificant? I would imagine that it does, but i've found nothing that has said otherwise.

The reason i ask this is because among being an online gamer, I make websites and my speeds are atrocious, and discourage me from trying to do either. But then why pay for internet?

Thank you for your advice.

-Gabe

Jamesonp · EVDO Newbie Joined: 11 Jul 2007 Posts: 10

What card do you have?

rpcrazy18 · EVDO Newbie Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

oh, i'm sorry I feel like an idiot. I though i posted in the device's specific forum. I have a 595U

jackrodgers · EVDO Addict Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 1131

It's always fun seeing the obvious after some one has struggled so hard to find an answer and missed it.

Assuming you have a portable, take your computer outside and see what speeds you get. Try all sides of the house and even try it a few miles away in different spots.

This will give you a slightly less than reliable map of the speed zones in your neighborhood. Those download speed tests do vary both in results and accuracy, some times as much as 4 or 5x.

Run three or four concurrent tests in a location and then rerun them a few hours later.

Walter · EVDO Junkie Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 307

I'll just add that after you test outside and if you find higher speeds just outside the house, then you can look into external antennas. Many here at the forums have houses that highly attenuate the EVDO signal <raises hand> and have successfully overcome this by use of an external antenna. Can make a huge difference in signal strength.
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JGZinv · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:18 am Post subject: reply

From my own personal experience... brick and metal is very bad for signal strength. I live in a house with skyscraper brick and large iron beams throughout... which I get roughly 10dbm loss when I have to shoot through a brick wall. I'm about 3 miles from my tower with LOS and I use a outdoor Wilson yagi antenna + direct connect amp to get the best signal the connection manager is able to show.

If you don't have a portable computer, see if you can borrow a neighbor's.
The mapping as Jack up above described is important.
You should also look over these maps to determine your signal area, and if anything where your local towers are located -

http://coverage.sprintpcs.com/IMPACT.jsp

Don't forget to check the box for broadband network and when you get closer in on the map check for tower locations closer to the bottom of the screen.

If worse came to worse, and you if could locate your tower(s), you could stick an antenna outdoors and route the improved signal inside. I don't see where your card has an external antenna port - but there's probably a couple options remaining.

First things first though, you'll need to research your area.

editor1 · EVDO User Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 81

I live in a historic old brick house with walls 3 1/2 courses thick (brick behind brick behind brick behind 1/2 brick), covered with plaster on the interior. I don't use an antenna. When the system's working, which is usually, I do just fine. Probably not the signal to beat all signals, but for nongaming use, it serves me. My typical speeds are 400-1200 DL, 80-400 UL.

My equipment: U720, KR1, Sprint service, Macbook.

Brick is not necessarily a deal killer.

dneiding · EVDO Newbie Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: 9

I have a brick house and my router sits in my kitchen which is in the middle of the house and not against any outside walls. Everything works fine for me.

KR1, S720, Sprint

J_Walker · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Posts: 117

I live in a brick house, about 5 miles from the tower. Signal is generally -72 to - 74 dbm (full bars).

glacierjima · Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject:

I would worry more about the distance to the tower than the bricks. I live in a brick house, and I have have my setup in the basement and behind a second brick wall down there and mine works fine. I'm just over a mile from the tower.

rpcrazy18 · EVDO Newbie Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

thank you so much for replies. They helped alot

An update to my issue for anyone's reference out there.

I contacted sprint tech support and through their incompetence and my research I came to the conclusion my card was defective. Since then I got a new card.

The only real step they had me to take was something I hadn't previously thought of. Since I had broadband land line connections before, my windows services were tweaked towards just that. They had me go into my windows telephony and associated services and enable them, also enable some certain "work with this(595u) device" options.

So since I got my new card my signal has raised to hovering around 2-4 bars, and though speeds haven't changed too much it is a definite improvement. From sprint and speakeasy sites ~380-450 DOWN ~320 UP. My latency in wow is around like 480-600 all the time and spikes when lag occurs. But my upload rates for my website(s) is alot better though not perfect. I'm still debating on whether or not i should cancel this service since i'm paying $70/month for a service that is still giving me crappy connections. However I still haven't been able to gain access to a laptop and comfirm if the connection problem is with my house or not. Though I really think it is.

If there are any other suggestions let me know. If in fact it is just my house, would an antenna work? Is there an antenna i can use with a wire around 20-50ft? Thanks alot everyone.

-Gabe
Orlando, FL