CradlePoint CTR350 - Your Success Story

Michael

OK, so many posts up here for many products are "help!", or "it doesn't work". We all know that forums are generally used to get help to problems that you are having.

For many of the products that we sell and support, we have "success" threads.

This is one for the CradlePoint CTR-350.

If you have a problem or issue DO NOT post to this thread, post to a different thread (FYI, other posts will be moved or deleted).

If you have a log success story, post it here.

If you have a short one (e.g. "it works great"), go ahead and post that too.

Thank you!
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tbhausen · EVDO Junkie Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 171

Even though I got mine before 3gstore started selling them, all I can say is "Hassle free--works as advertised/expected" This is a great product long overdue at its price point.

Just get one!

Todd/Indy

Incindium · EVDO User Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 38

I ordered mine directly from Cradlepoint the day before you announced that you'd be selling them.

But anyway I received it last night and was up an running with my AC595U in no time. I got my laptop and my Nintendo Wii working working with it with no real problems. I got WEP setup to work this morning(I did have to do an ipconfig /renew on my Vista 64 laptop to get it to work) and reconfigured the Wii to use WEP and all is good.

It's great that its so small as I have it and the Booster antenna stashed ontop of a pie safe in the dining room where I get the best Sprint Wireless signal and the best bandwidth speeds and you hardly even notice its there.

I'm still in the process of figuring out all the settings on it but am very pleased with this device.

Sarahcat · EVDO Newbie Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

I just received my CTR350 from the 3G Store today. I was not able to use the KR-1 due to a compatibility issue with my company Cisco VPN. The other issue I had was the size of the KR-1...too large for the exclusively portable use I was researching. I'm happy to report to Michael and Victor that the CTR350 nicely meets my requirements.

I'd love to have a full user manual.

[Admin Note: We include the FULL PDF manual on the CD that you received with your CTR350]

vtoljaga10 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 18

I purchased mine about two weeks before 3Gstore had it available. Thus far, it's worked flawlessly both at home and in the car; I use mine with a 595u. Also, the recent firmware upgrade eliminates some peculiarities in the initial release of the product.

As for documentation available online, you might want to look here:

http://portsmith.com/download/CTRQuickStart.pdf

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

Interesting to note from the PDF that the CradlePoint will work with a cellphone. Don't know if anyone has pointed that out. Of course a proper account setup would be required to save megabucks in fees.

Doug Simpson · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject:

I received my USB720 modem, CradlePoint CTR-350 EVDO router, and Booster antenna today. I plugged the modem into the router, connected the power cord to the router and plugged it in, and, presto, there was the router on my computer's list of Wireless Network Connections. I connected to that wireless connection and I was surfin' the Internet. No software to load since I wasn't plugging the modem into my computer.

I have a 1 bar EVDO signal here at home (using my cell phone signal strength meter), so my download speeds varied from a little faster than dial-up to 500kbps. I put everything in the truck and drove a few blocks to where I had a 4 bar signal and download speeds were consistently 1000 to 1200 kbps. I am using internetfrog.com for my speed tests.

At home, the Booster antenna didn't seem to improved the download speed but I will continue to play around with it. Tomorrow, I will drive over to the RV and get my Wilson Trucker antenna and try it.

Michael · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:53 pm Post subject:

Something else I noticed with the CTR350.

The QOS Rocks!

We use a VOIP PBX system in our company and I recently purchased a few WiFi VOIP phones to play with. I was able to use the WiFi VOIP phone using the CradlePoint + EVDO Card and have a pretty darn good VOIP call. Now, in the past, we haven't always recommended VOIP for EVDO, the latency creates a bit of lag time when talking. BUT, I can say that when I plugged the USB device into the CTR350, I was able to have a much better quality call, then I have EVER had before.

In talking with the folks at CradlePoint, they confirmed they spent a lot of time getting the QOS to work as well as it does.
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gregh2000 · EVDO User Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 40

I got mine a few weeks ago from here and it works great. I have a Sierra 595u and it works just fine no problems with the battery at all. One thing I have noticed is if I plug in the 595u and fold it back over so it rests on the router the wifi will get all messed up. It will come and go in signal but if I put the 595 straight up it comes back and works just fine. So I guess it doesn't like having the evdo radio so close to itself.

wtleaver · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 10:15 am Post subject:

The CTR350 is a wonderful device. I ordered and received last week from 3GStore.com.

I gave it a thorough test this past weekend while driving the family to my son's soccer tournament.

My son and a couple of his teammates, as well as one daughter, played Nintendo DS wifi games (the type where you connect with other players on the internet, not just local device-device wifi). My wife and I made phone calls using T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service (where calls go out over your wifi connection instead of gsm and are free), and of course we had notebooks browsing the internet.

It all worked great, and will be extremely useful. Our kids will have new entertainment options during long roadtrips, and we can reduce our T-Mobile minute plan because we can now make free calls while on the road.

Bob KD4AO · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:43 pm Post subject: EASY

Had a little problem at first because I have been using the Sprint Communication Manager and Internet Connection Sharing and managed to mess up my wireless settings. But a little tweaking of the computer and finally got connected to the CTR. Took a couple of tries getting firmware update to run but again my fault, reboot computer and off it went. Then within just a few minutes I had three computers networked on it and working great. I would like to know what physical orientation produces the best wifi coverage area though. At first it seemed like not enough documentation but when I finally gained access to the built in help it was very self explanatory. At this point it sure looks like a winner.
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Bob

rr0123 · EVDO User Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 33

Works with my A900 after putting in the latest firmware.

I can power it with any of those many different types of backup batteries they make for portable music/video players.

meshdish54 · EVDO Newbie Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 1

Got my CTR-350 up and running with my Sierra 595U. Desktop machine is wired into LAN port and working great. Got my CF-72 Toughbook connected using Netgear Rangemax WPN511 pc card. Download speeds are the same on both machines and just as fast as having the 595U directly connected. I'm very satisfied with the CTR-350.

visortgw · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:00 pm Post subject:

I purchased the CTR350 from the 3Gstore in late October for use with my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry 8703e. I had previously used the Kyocera KR1 with a Kyocera KPC650 broadband card, but I dropped the KPC650 in favor of tethering the 8703e once I switched to the BlackBerry as my primary phone -- this saved nearly $50 per month.

I had some issues with the 8703e connecting with the CTR350 from day one, but I have been working with CradlePoint customer service (as well as CradlePoint's engineers directly) to troubleshoot and to resolve the problems. I have installed and tested several beta software releases over the last couple of months. With my feedback, CradlePoint was able to identify and fix some issues in the USB interface between the two devices. I am happy to report that it appears that v1.7.3 of the firmware (available exclusively to 3Gstore customers until sometime after the first of the year when CradlePoint releases v1.8 to the general public) resolves the connection issues! This is the same firmware that enables the 10/100 port to be used as a LAN port (see http://www.evdoforums.com/thread7721.html).

While installing one of the beta firmware releases, I experienced a failure of the CTR350. Apparently, CradlePoint received and used some defective 54g radios -- coincidentally, mine failed during the firmware upgrade process. CradlePoint had a replacement in my hands within 24 hours!

In comparison to the KR1, the CTR350 has a number of advantages:

the CTR350 works with my corporate VPN;
the footprint is much smaller -- it easily fits in my briefcase;
the CTR350 doubles as a wireless broadband router in hotels (I used to carry an ASUS WL-330g in my briefcase for just this purpose, but the CTR350 can use either its 10/100 port or its USB port for its WAN source); and
CradlePoint's tech support!

The combination of the 3Gstore and CradlePoint is a match made in heaven from a customer's point-of-view! Very Happy

mhtyler · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 143