Take a noob to school on the evdo bus

fhalanx · EVDO Newbie Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 6

Hello, First of all I woud like to thank everyone involved in this forum and the 3gstore as my first impressions from all these post are nothing but positive. I've already learned much from here however I still have a couple of questions I would like answered if psosible.

I have a u720 through verizon , currently im sitting at about -90 dbm and connected to the national network . I can't complain about the up bursting at 150-180 kps and the down being double that however when I first purchased the product I came full whithin their broadband coverage map. I can also recieve three bars of evdo on my cell phone right outside. furthermore The connection manager reports 1xevdo -117dbm. I do livein a wooded area however i believe i have a fairly clear line of site to the tower.

So I guess really what i'm asking is the number im shooting for said -117 from the evdo rssi report or would perhaps a amp be the way to go or both. I apologize for being so green but after being stuck with Satelite internet for so long I guess maby I'm hoping for a miracle. Thank you in advanced for the help.

Alex · Site Admin Joined: 19 Sep 2006 Posts: 1945

time to take a drive with a laptop and your U720, and tell us how far you have to go to get to a decent signal. -80 would be nice.

once we know what distance we've covering, we'll have a better idea of what gear might help you.

fhalanx · EVDO Newbie Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 6

Copy that Alex, Thank you for the swift reply. I'll go take a drive and get back.

fhalanx · EVDO Newbie Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 6

I just wanted to let you know I have not had the chance to take a drive my aircard however I set my phone up into debug mode(It's a dual band motorola)and drove from the cell tower to my house. From the tower I was in the mid 60's and the nearer I got to my house it varied in the - 70 to 74 range. By the time I got home I was still receiving Evdo at - 77 dbm so....I forced the Verizon manager on my pc to Evdo only and gave it a shot. I did connect for about 4 minutes and from there it continues to drop where it is unusable. Thoughts , comments?

Alex · Site Admin Joined: 19 Sep 2006 Posts: 1945

just that how a phone receives signal is not always a perfect example of how a dedicated data device will receive signal.

fhalanx · EVDO Newbie Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 6

Well to update you I did take a drive. I can get the EVDO network just outside my place. Further my Dad who just purchase the same setup and lives just down the road less then a quarter mile can connect at -85 dbm. This is fairly upsetting. I did in fact order the Wilson omni and while it really improved signal for the National access network down to about -70 dbm the EVDO signal is jumping from -70 to -117 becoming unusable and not allowing it to connect. At the moment I have the antenna placed slightly below the ridge cap of the house as I ran out of cable however at this point i'm willing to do whatever it takes to get this to work especially after seeing my old man connect without a antenna so close to my home. Also do you think a amp would help stabalize the signal. Thanks again for the replies.

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

What about line of site?

Do you know where the tower is and if so is there any obstacle between you and the tower:

Large trees
Buildings
Mountain
Hill
etc

fhalanx · EVDO Newbie Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 6

The layout of the land and surrounding areas is as such. Facing the south side of the house is a large hill completly wooded. The norths side of the house is sparsly populated with trees and a respectively clear view of the sky. The L0S as best I can tell (now) is something left to be desired. basically from the tower the road to my place is uphill roughly 300 feet from sea level relative to the tower. In other words i'm getting the feeling with the signal jumping somewhere along the line were hitting a tree or hill being's i'm kind of nestled in a hilly area. the trees situated behind my house are not very tall as their replanted from a clear cut however the hill is pretty large. My feeling at this point is the tower is actually facing the north side of my house since i can see city lights over the hill which would probably explain the exceptional gain I received from the omni on the national access network. Thank you again for your insight.

fhalanx · EVDO Newbie Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 6

I've been continually working on this and I've discovered a few things worth mentioning.

I am between two towers. Both are owned by the same company both serving verizon. The distance between to the two is relative, roughly 5 miles both ways. Now the interesting thing is I believe I'm connecting to the antenna behind my house which is a elevation of 497 feet. My house is 504 feet. Now their is a huge hill in between myself and that tower however the road passes by my house and through the valley pointing to said tower. Taking my laptop outside and walking around the house reveals Rev A at 82 dbm on a consistent basis however I just can't seem to connect.

Does anyone think a amp in conjuction with my well placed Wilson omni might take me one step over the edge?