Alltel for East Texas?

macadami · EVDO Newbie Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 9

I just purchased a house near Lake Murvaul in East Texas and realized DSL nor Cable was available. I did a quick search through the different provider maps and found that Alltel was the only 'broadband' that serviced the area. According to their map, i'll be in the higher bandwidth area, but i have my doubts since normal alltel cellphones barely work out there...If anyone is familiar with the area, or could point me to an actual map of Alltel's towers it would be much appreciated.

Also i do have a 60 foot or so flag pole in the front yard, 1 old about 50 foot antenna and a ancient 1980's satellite dish, if perhaps i could mangle one or all of those things together and get good signal with an antenna please let me know Very Happy

/EVDO noob, currently used to DSL, biggest concern is latency
//heavy gamer

EDIT:: I found a map of towers and it would appear my house is about 9 miles from a Texas RSA 11b LP D/B/A Alltel Cell Phone Tower if anyone has an idea of how my connection would be please let me know, I'm not a current Alltel subscriber nor know anyone of whom i could borrow a data card

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

Alltel allows you 14 days to try it out. If it doesn't work out for you then return it for a full refund. You'll only be charged a prorated bill for the time you are using the card.

As to your situation, it doesn't sound good. The tower maps aren't all that reliable but if people have problems getting a decent signal on their phones then you'll probably have problems with a data card as well.

There are reports of people getting a workable signal from as much as 10 miles away but latency becomes a major issue then. The worse your signal the lower your speeds and the higher your latency. I'm not an antenna expert (there are several on this forum though) but trying to run an antenna up the flag pole, etc. becomes problematic due to signal loss along the obvious long length of cable you'd probably need.

I suggest trying it out. Don't purchase through a 3rd party associate dealer either. I've read of stories of big problems getting it canceled if it doesn't work out. Deal directly with a corporate store.

Good luck, welcome to the forum, and keep us posted!

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

Hey! I am in Carthage. Over in the Riderville area if you know where that's at.

My son has a friend who lives not too far from the lake and I am sad to report that he has almost no signal at the friend's house. Hopefully if you get a good antenna you can get something working.

I have loved the EVDO service but I have been having some issues with it since about the 16th. There have been days where I couldn't get a decent connection (well, it would connect but it would "die"--the computer and the phone both think they're still connected but the remote computer doesn't respond) and then there have been days (like this weekend) when I was connected for 12 hours with no problem. Today has been one of those days where I want to pull my hair out because it's just not staying connected. (Lost the connection while I was typing this, even.)

Hope you figure something out. Dial-up sucks! My Dad has Hughes Net but after using my Alltel and then his Hughes his seems much slower because his latency is much higher.

macadami · EVDO Newbie Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 9

Hey that's good to know my aunt and uncle live in riderville, they have hughes net and i keep telling then Alltel would be much better. I'll be sure to show them your post.

I went out to my new house today with an alltel phone and i didn't even get one bar :[ I don't know what i'm going to do...Satellite has way too high latency and it's speed isnt even that great... I may try to start a petition or something for DSL, Murvaul is a large community, around 200 houses, you would think they'd want their money too.

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

One bar on a phone often translates into a decent signal on a data card with an antenna and possibly an amp. Try it out. That's what the 14 day trial period is for. Buy a card (preferably a used one - $65 on Ebay versus $99 after rebates at Alltel - plus NO CONTRACT!!) activate it and see what happens. Worst case scenario is that you spend a few bucks trying it out. No contract, sell the card if it doesn't work (or take it back within Alltel's 14 day trial for a complete refund) and it costs no more than $20 or $30 to find out if it works. Let us know how it goes and good luck to ya!

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

Small world that your aunt and uncle live here in Riderville, too.

Today I wouldn't recommend Alltel. LOL I am getting so frustrated by all the "dead" connections! I am going to put in another call to tech support later today.

Where I am is only about a mile from the loop and they won't run DSL out here. There are a LOT of houses out here and at various times we've tried to get cable, etc and we can never get anything going. But good luck to you, and I hope you do get it out there!

macadami · EVDO Newbie Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 9

Yah my aunt even offered to pay for the lines to be ran and AT&T wouldn't accept her offer :[ I'm going to go by the alltel place later on if the weather clears up and see how it acts.

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

I hope you get good results!

AT&T is so dumb. They would make a killing out here with DSL.

I am discovering that the problem may not be with Alltel but with my Vista laptop because I am on the XP desktop and not having any issues with disconnection. Arrggh!

macadami · EVDO Newbie Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 9

My aunt signed up for it today, getting 5 bars in her house 1x or whatever 1200 down 100 up, 350-400 ping. After comparing her signal and the distance to the tower to where my new house is...i have my doubts of it working :/ I have no clue what i can do, really hate to have to pay so much for satellite that is horrid.

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

Any chance your aunt will let you take her card and try it out by your new house? That would be a real good first step to finding out if it'll work for you. If you get anything at all an antenna will usually pull in more. If you get nothing an antenna won't really help so . . . . looks like your aunt might be a good help there.

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

I am not sure how many towers are in Panola County. The level two tech guy I talked to yesterday told me I am about 1/2 mile from one. I think it's over close to Church's Chicken off 59. You could try calling them and asking if there is a tower near you.

I would do like Bigdave said and ask your aunt to borrow hers. You'd find out fast that way without having to put any money on the line.

macadami · EVDO Newbie Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 9

I brought a laptop and the card to my new house today, from inside 1 to zero bars and i never could complete a speed test, ping would go over 999. Front yard mainly 1 to 0 bars too but i managed to get a 2 bar signal for a little while, speed test showed 804ms latency and 68 down and 24 up

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

An antenna and/or amp might just get you a workable signal. It wouldn't surprise me.

Contact 3GStore and they can give you more info. Their contact info is at the top of these pages. They don't always patrol these forums so I'd shoot them an email or give them a call and explain your situation. They really know this stuff.

I really think that with some kind of an antenna/amp setup you'll be happier than with satellite until you can get DSL out there.

Rangerw · Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject:

At the deer lease in Pineland TX I just get a wiff off a usable VZW 1XRTT signal with a PC card, but the little booster antenna alone gets me so I can surf with out much frustration.

An Omni Ant would do wonders if placed right and if that didnt cut it an amp would sure help too.

I lived in Brookeland south of Pineland for a few years, I paid $80 total a month for ISDN and the ISP together and for a whopping 128K/128K but pings were around a 100ms and rock steady so I could do my NASCAR leagues and my FPS's. Not sure if an ISDN line would shove enough data for the bloated games now.
_________________
A simple man.

macadami · EVDO Newbie Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 9

yah my concern would be the latency at that distance... do amps/antennas help with that or is it going to be a steady 800ms.. :/