new to evdo and wireless

rkowatch · EVDO Newbie Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 7

okay... i'm alright at like... computer stuff in general... but i'm about half stumped at what's going on with my evdo card from verizon um150

on the map... it shows i'm in broadband access area... i have an antenna... 10" wilson to be exact, connected to a wison SIGNALBOOST... the kind that just velcro to the back of your phone/card...

i'm appearantly in a fringe area which verizons map didn't show... but when connected to the booster my reception seems not to get any better... and i seem unable to connect to rev a... even when i have two bars of service...

i've even tried connecting the antenna directly to the modem (the antenna is outside) and i still seem to have no luck there...

anyone got any answers here... i'm lost at this point...

rkowatch · EVDO Newbie Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 7

comeon... anyone... surely i'm not the only person to have a similar issue...?

Jayson · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:06 am Post subject:

you may want to try to use a wilson trucker antenna and mount it outside on your roof and raise it up as far as you can get it....this helped my signal greatly....and made it possible for mr to connect to rev A....hope you get it figured out!!

preppykid · EVDO User Joined: 06 Apr 2008 Posts: 81

Could you provide a link the 10'' antenna you have? I looked over Wilson's site but failed to find an exact 10'' antenna. Possibly it is only for a specific freqency but I doubt this since most if not all of wilson's antennas are dual band.

Alot of their antennas state this as well

rkowatch · EVDO Newbie Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 7

yeah i myself would like to know what my signal strength is... unformtuantly it won't give you that reading unless your connected

however i do get it for about 2 seconds after my error message, and i've caught a reading a couple of times usually ranging from 85 dbm, and once at 105

i just find it odd that i cannot connect with two bares (and by two bars of course i'm meaning antenna green and two bars ontop of that) or quite often a solid three bars of service.

i read all over the internet of people connecting with 1 bar and having service although a bit slower than possible

it will ocasionally flutter into evdo then quickly switch to 1xrtt but when i do a forced evdo (cntl+d diagvzw) it won't do a thing

widgetman101 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Posts: 95

I think your problem is getting the signal sent to the tower to be honest. When I get a heavy fog I go through the same problem.

This morning I got home from work at 7:30am. It wouldn't display an Broadband Rev-A signal it just said Broadband Access. I'm starting to get used to this when it gets foggy out.

Around 8:45am my signal switched from the generic Broadband Access to Broadband Rev-A Access.

I go up to 4 bars once it clears up. But the problem is still getting connected. Its rainy and rather crappy out. I spent about 20 minutes dialing to try and get connected. I gave up for a while thinking were the tower was at it still may be foggy. Its a pretty overcast day here. So around 9:30 I decided to give it another go. Again showing 4 bars and it finally connected.

Once I'm connected I maintain a RSSI of -75dBm +2, -3 roughly but normally -75dBm. I'm thinking whats causing my problem is sending the signal out to the tower. The cell tower is much more powerful then my signal being sent to it.

Yes it can see the signal perfect but when I dial its just getting lost in the fog and rain. After I get a failed connect message I'll watch my signal drop to zero bars for a split second then shoot back to 4 bars again.

That can be my only explanation of whats going on. I hate to purchase a amp because it only does it when the weather is bad. If I'm connected already and it gets crappy outside it stays connected all day without issue's. Only when I try and send out it doesn't seem to respond giving the remote computer did not respond error in bad weather. When its nice out I connect on the first attempt pretty much every time. Its just frustrating when it gets foggy and overcast out which has been a lot lately in the mornings.

Now if your signal is weak you may have the same problem. Its seeing 2 bars of service but after you dial in and get connected its just dropping it causing large fluctuations in your Rssi resulting in slower inconsistent speeds. When I had my Yagi pointed at a bad tower I could connect but my Rssi would jump from around -80 through -117dBm. After I got it setup to a better tower my speeds almost quadrupled and the connection became much more reliable.

What type of Wilson antenna do you have exactly is it something generic? Since your in a fixed location I'd recommend getting a good high gain Yagi or Panel Antenna which should pick up a better more consistent signal since they direct most of there reception in a specific area rather than a 360 degree area.

Thats about my best guess to whats going on with your setup currently. This is mainly my opinion and hypothesis on why you can have a signal but not get connected to it. Mainly based on the fact that this has happened to me the last week since its been rainy and as soon as it clears up a little I get connected without a problem.

The only other explanation would be a extreme distance to the tower. I've heard most towers will reject you if your beyond 20 miles from the tower. I'm 7 miles from the tower I connect to. Which is why I think the fog and overcast has more of a effect on me rather than me being 3 miles away from the tower.

rkowatch · EVDO Newbie Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 7

i just attempted to post a reply with links to my antenna and my amp... but i got hit by some anti spam thing, was gonna edit and say i'm on an 800 mhz tower both evdo rev a and 1xrtt

rkowatch · EVDO Newbie Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 7

i'm certainly no 20 miles from the tower lol... i am in fact about the same distance as you in a strait line, i'd say 6-7 maybe 8 at the most...

but this card is actually set up with an out of state phone number... could that by chance be causing an issue of sorts?

preppykid · EVDO User Joined: 06 Apr 2008 Posts: 81

winstim · EVDO Newbie Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 3

I just received my Kyocera KR2 and am using the Verizon USB720 with it. I set it up and I get wi-fi access on my iTouch when the KR2 is connected to my modem.

I was told that I could also hook up my pc in order for that to be wireless as well but it's not working.

Is there a way to accomplish this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

rkowatch · EVDO Newbie Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 7

i'm not sure if it works a mile down the road or nto, being i'm at a fixed location i'm not poitive...

but i do know that my friend's blackberry worked in my driveway on the evdo network... soo... *shrugs* maybe i just need a differant antenna setup... like say one of those goofy looking desktop boosters ones you can buy from 3gstore.com

is the 720 any better for service... say like signal and such?

rkowatch · EVDO Newbie Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 7

okay... so today i tried again... with antenna arranged differantly, this time i got the same error, but in the 1.5 seconds you get to read your rssi, it read 87dbm

but it still refused to connect... error QA920