Good signal strength, poor connection

Gator · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 13

I'm in Maryland and use a directional gain antenna with an S720 card to get connection to a tower four miles away. I have had very satisfactory results for a year with only occasional periods of poor speeds or intermittent service. In recent months there have been periods of low speeds or stalling, but these cleared up a bit later.

This last week has been very intermittent and with lengthy periods of low connection speeds. The problem doesn't seem related to "prime time" I can get 1000kbs d/l and ten minutes get 50k. And ten minutes after that, I'm back to 1100 kbs. Upload can be good at the same time download is poor and stalling.

Today I disconnected the router and connected the card directly to the notebook computer. I tested connection speed at 45K down with 400K up. Signal strength was -76 and connection was EVDO. Half an hour later, connection was 1100K down. Ten minutes after that connection was 100K down. My speeds are all over the place. I'm getting frequent stalls. Computers are showing frequent loss of connection and reconnection. The problem is consistent with the router or with the S720 plugged directly into the comptuer.

I have had the reliablity and speed of my connection deteriorate somewhat in recent months. This last week has been quite unreliable. It sort of reminds me of Wildblue. Except I don't belive this is from oversubscription, so maybe it can be solved.

Is it possible that the timing has been altered on my tower? I am four miles distant. If Sprint is setting the tower timing to require lower distance, I won't be able to use this connection since there isn't another line of site tower nearer by.

Jim_in_VA · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:07 pm Post subject:

Take a look at the debug screen and see what the data is telling you
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evdo-tips.com

Gator · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 13

I don't know what most of the entrys in the debug screen mean. My debug screen looks different than the example. Many of the fields don't change at all. I did some testing and antenna adjustment today with the S720 installed directly in the notebook computer. The router isn't causing my issue.

I experimented with the antenna pointing today. I use a grid dish. When I point to the tower I have used for the last year, I get -74 to -78 dbm. Connection speeds are all over the map and the connection is lousy. At times I get 1000+. A few minutes later I barely connect and speed shows 50-100k and the frequent connection stalls. When my d/l speed is bad, the upload speed is usually still good.

When I point the antenna towards a different tower, about 25 degrees different direction, I get -86 dbm and I connect at 500-700k. The "color code" changes in the debug screen.

I updated the connection manager and the S720 firmware. That didn't make any difference. The debug screen didn't change to the format I see online. I know it installed because on reboot, the new hardware found alerts popped up and installed.

Until ten days ago, this tower worked very well. My signal strength is not any different now than it was last year. I have tried orienting the antenna a little to either side of the tower in case there was interferrence and it made no speed improvement. I get better results from the weaker tower, but that tower provides slower speeds.

Is it likely that Sprint has changed the maximum signal delay time such that I am being excluded from good connection to that tower? The problems started abruptly and don't seem related to "prime time" since I can have trouble well after midnight.

brigca · EVDO User Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 26

Jayson · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:11 pm Post subject:

alot of people have been experiencing issues at random times ... with high ping times or connection issues....I'm just wondering if sprint is about to release something new....what about Rev B....when is it to be released?......anyone know about that !!!!