Odd Signal Strength Issue

whyzeman · EVDO User Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 89

I live in Southern Mississippi right outside the city where cable and DSL is not an option. With the ridiculous FAP, satellite was not an option, either. So, I went with Alltel EVDO Rev 0 KPC680 and am very happy with it. Through a thicket of trees, I'm roughly 3 miles from the nearest Alltel tower, but my house is sort of on a hill and I can actually see into the city (but not the tower as it is in the middle of the city).

Since I'm stuck with this for two years, I wanted to improve the signal strength and download speeds. In the garage (closest to the street), I was able to get down to the low 70's in dBm and was pulling in a constant 8-900 KB/s. If I go into any other room, I get 90-100 dBm and max out at 2-300 KB/s. So, obviously, the interior walls of my house is killing the signal.

So, I bought the signal booster from 3G. Unfortunately, I see absolutely no change in either signal strength, download speed, or latency (even though I don't think the latency problem can be helped). However, I can leave it for hours and have no problem with the dormancy.

I have it plugged in to my KPC680 in the left-most port (if you're looking at the word "Kyocera" right-side up with the original corkscrew antenna on top) per the instructions. This booster was labeled for Verizon EVDO, so my questions are these:

1. Is there/do you have a booster for Alltel?

2. Is there anything I need to do to the 680 to "tell it" that it's supposed to be using an external antenna?

3. Will I have better results with an amplifier/omni antenna?

At no fault of 3G's, I'm going to start the process of returning this booster and explore other options (with 3G and this site, of course). With the return of the booster antenna, I may have between 150-200 dollars to spend on a viable solution. I saw this on the 3G site:

http://3gstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103&products_id=707

It will defeat the purpose of a laptop if I'm confined to a single point in the house, but if this omni antenna will resolve my issue, then I'll just have to purchase a router so my wife and I can roam the house freely as we can with the card alone.

Also:

If my signal strength is at 100% and at 68 dBm, does that mean I can't get into the 50's?

Speedtest.net rates my latency at 475 ms, but when I ping sites like Google and Yahoo, my ping times average between 150-200 which may be tolerable for gaming. Which one do I trust?

Sorry for the long post, but I have tons of questions that I know you guys can answer with very little effort. What's my next step?

Thanks in advance.

Michael · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject:

A few answers and some questions.

1) The antennas for EVDO will work with Sprint / Verizon or Alltel.

2) Plugging in the antenna is what "tells" the KPC680 to use the antenna. To test this, attach ONLY the adapter cable (disconnect the antenna), you should see your signal drop completely or very low when the adapter cable only is hanging off the KPC680

3) Yes, you could have better results with a larger antenna and/or amplifier, HOWEVER....

You are already getting 100% signal strength, there really isn't much more you can do and perhaps adding a larger antenna or amplifier would allow you to improve your signal some, you cannot get much better than 100% Smile

My advice, return the booster do not waste money on signal enhancers, since you already are getting 100% signal.

If you are looking for a way to squeeze more speed out of what you have, consider a CradlePoint router, many people have been getting faster speeds when the EVDO card is plugged into the router vs. direct.

Either way, send an email to support at 3gstore.com and request an RMA for your antenna, will get the process started. However, if you are going to be traveling with your KPC680, you might want to hang on to it, for if you visit a location that doesn't have the signal strength that you are currently getting.
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Alex · Site Admin Joined: 19 Sep 2006 Posts: 1943

whyzeman · EVDO User Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 89

Thanks for the replies.

I only got 100% when I was almost directly underneath the tower up in Jackson. There, it was in the lower 60's and I was getting a constant 2 MB/s (according to Alltel's Quicklink Mobile). Out at my house, about 70 is as high as I can get.

"To test this, attach ONLY the adapter cable (disconnect the antenna), you should see your signal drop completely or very low when the adapter cable only is hanging off the KPC680 ".

I unscrewed the booster antenna (just the "dongle" is in the 680) and I'm still browsing the Internet as if nothing has happened. But, I have noticed that with the booster connected, coming out of dormancy is absolutely no problem. I guess what I'm trying to do is to get the speeds I'm getting in my garage available to the rest of my house.

If you guys say get a Cradlepoint, then a Cradlepoint I will get.

Thanks again.

Jayson · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:22 pm Post subject:

I agree if you can set the cradlepoint up in your garage and get a wireless card to get the signal you will pull the speeds you were seeing form your garage as long as the signal is good enough to get to your house....if its an attached garage then I'd say you will get the signal and downloads you are looking for...also you may consider the mbr1000 its another good router that has extended range for wireless!!!...just a thought !!

whyzeman · EVDO User Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 89

The MBR1000 is a bit out of my price range.

I'll return the Booster Antenna, get the CradlePoint CTR-350 with the USB adapter, turn off its WiFi, and connect it to my wireless n router (since it has the Ethernet to LAN). I can easily run some Cat5e from my garage to the middle of the house.

If I'm not happy with that, we'll start investing in omni's and/or amps.

whyzeman · EVDO User Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 89

Okay, before I order the CTR-350, I have some questions. I have a lot of confidence in 3G, but I have to hear it from you before I order:

This will work with Alltel's KPC680, right?

As stated above, I plan on disabling the 350's WiFi (at home) and connect the Ethernet to my D-link wireless N router's WAN port (it will serve very much like a Cable/DSL modem). I'm well versed in configuring routers, but I don't want to embark on a useless effort if I don't have to.

I've found the device for much cheaper on other websites, but the extra $$ spent here would be well worth the customer support.

Thanks.

firedude · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 421

See the link below and it takes you to the Router compatibility List. You'll find your answer there. Smile

http://www.evdoinfo.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,115/

firedude · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 421

Alex · Site Admin Joined: 19 Sep 2006 Posts: 1943

whyzeman · EVDO User Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 89

S O L D.

whyzeman · EVDO User Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 89

UPDATE

Very happy camper.

Got my 350 today. It took longer to get the thing out of its packaging than it did to get hooked up. Speedtest.net rates my speeds now at over 1 meg - but we know how inaccurate they can be sometimes.

...now to get it on my LAN. Then the circle will be complete.

firedude · EVDO Junkie Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 421

Cool Beans. Very Happy

whyzeman · EVDO User Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 89

UPDATE:

After hours of trying to get this thing set up on my existing LAN, I finally got it to work. With my wife doing online classes and me constantly YouTubing, it's still pulling in at a great rate.

Per recommendation, I've opted not to return the booster antenna. I went out an bought an antenna adapter directly from Kyocera and the thing appeared to take off. So, I'm going to hang on to it all "just in case".

Next up: Gaming.