Keep switching between DO, 1x, and rA

stratman4300 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 14

Hey all,

Sorry if this question is already out there. I couldn't seem to find one with a straight answer.

I signed up for Alltel wireless Broadband service a few days ago. The problem i'm having is this.

I connect with DO service usually in the -85dBm to -95dBm range, but it keeps hoping back and forth between DO, 1x and occasionally rA Smile

It does it every couple of minutes, and when it does anything i'm working on hangs.

Now i'm using a UTstarcom UM150, and i know it doesn't have the HDR feature. So, i'm thinking of taking it back and getting the KPC680, or getting a PC5750 off of Ebay.

I talked to Alltel tech support about it and they said it's doing this becuase i'm surrounded by DO AND 1x towers. I asked if a directional antenna would work and he said no, beings they use radio signals?? That doesn't seem right to me though, seems to me like i could point it to a DO location and get consistant DO. Figured i would get some real life experience before i made any dicisions.

Anyone else run into this???

jfarris · EVDO Junkie Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 182

The conflicting towers would have to be fairly close together as far as the angle related to your antenna for a directional to pick up multiple towers. I think that directional antennas run at a maximum angle of 30 degrees, but that may be a high guess.

What prl does Quicklink Mobile show from Help->About?

stratman4300 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 14

I just updated the PRL, and it shows 40039... it's the most current one to my knowledge....

unfortunetly it made little difference. Sad

jfarris · EVDO Junkie Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 182

I would find out where each tower is located in relation to you, then decide on a viable external antenna. If the EVDO antenna is considerably closer to you, an omni may work. Otherwise, if the two towers are in opposite directions, and directional antenna should help out.

stratman4300 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 14

how does the cabling for the antennas work??? I know that if it reaches a certain length, you hvae to buy a signal booster as well.

What are the general rules of thumb for this???

jfarris · EVDO Junkie Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 182

I have a yagi with a 20 foot cable, and a 10 foot extension on it. I don't need a signal booster, but I'm only about 2 miles from the tower. It really depends on how strong the signal is without an extension cable.

stratman4300 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 14

when i'm connected via DO i get a decently strong connection.... low 80s high 70s if i stand right in the south window of my house. It just likes to bounce back and forth.

any suggestions for a good antenna for an alltel UTstarcom UM150???

jfarris · EVDO Junkie Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 182

I use the Wilson 800MHz Yagi antenna. If you have line of sight, it's a pretty good antenna. I can't remember the part number off hand, but you should be able to find it through a google search.

stratman4300 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 14

After further talks with Alltel's Tech support I will be taking my UM150 back and getting a KPC680. That way i can lock it to HDR mode. hopefully this will eliminate the problem altogether. Hopefully they'll let me swap modems as i'm still in my 15 day trial period...

I'm still questioning alltel's tech support.... he said the nearest DO tower to me is 20 miles away..... It was my understanding that DO only went 4 to 6 miles. yet i'm Clearly getting DO... even REV A at times.

I'm also wondering if they will allow me to give back the um150... get a KPC680 off Ebay and use that.... don't know if they'll kick and scream because i'm already using they're service.

normally when i AM connected to DO, the signal is quite sporadic... any where from -105dBm to -77dBm.

Would an antenaa stablize this.???... especially since i would be locked to HDR mode with the KPC680... (something the UM150 can't do)

stratman4300 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 14

Just wanted to give an update on this, just in case anyone else was running into this problem.

I was still in my 15 day trial and i took my UM150 back and got a KPC680. As soon as i got it home I updated the PRL, installed the Newest version of Quicklink. (one that will allow you to change to HDR mode.) and then set it to HDR mode. (which the UM150 could not do.)

It worked great, but i started running into alot of the "dormancy" issues that other owners of the KPC680 had reported. To fix this i downloaded the "reload every" addon for firefox and told it to reload google.com every 5 seconds.

I don't have any problems anymore. It's consistant and stable now. though I think i'm going to try my hand at a Cantenna to see if i can get even better signal.... http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

I love tinkering with things. Very Happy

jfarris · EVDO Junkie Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 182

In the modem properties for the card in Windows, you can put this line under "Extra Initialization Strings" (I think that's the wording, I'll double check this tonight when I get home):

AT+CTA=0

They say this should keep it from going dormant, but I'm not sure of how effective it is. I've put it in my chatscript for OpenWrt for my Linksys, but I've also changed several settings, so I really don't have a grasp on how much this does for the card.

stratman4300 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 14

jfarris · EVDO Junkie Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 182