Weird speed readings

Cold Ethel · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 9

Hi everyone. I am new to evdo, I have only had it since the beginning of July but I have been reading this forum for a while. First let me say a big thanks to the 3Gstore for all of their help. I had a few problems with it at the beginning, and they have straightened it all out for me.

I have been reading the archives here and it seems like speeds are all over the place for a lot of people. But mine are really weird. For instance, I tested a few minutes ago and got 333kb/s download and 355 upload. How can my upload be more than down? My speeds are pretty sporadic, anywhere from 200 dl to 900, but generally the norm is around 500 dl, but it can vary from one minute to the next. Is this normal? Do I need an antenna? I usually get 3 bars all the time, and 4 bars about 25% of the time.

I still have a couple of weeks before my 30 days are up, so I'm just trying to figure out if I want to keep it. I really would like to keep it because I live in the boonies and the cable company won't run lines to my house because I live 1500 ft from the main road.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can give me advice! Smile

gohawk08 · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 103

Hello,

First off, welcome to the forums! Now I'm not an expert on EVDO, but for the past 3 months, I've learned a ton of info from the EVDOforums. I'll just share my thoughts...

First off, there could be a lot of people on your tower at the same time as you... If you are in a highly populated area with a lot of mobile broadband users that could be causing the fluctuating speeds.

If you think you need an antenna, I think it can't really hurt. Maybe just try the 50$ booster or if you wanted to you could make a homemade EVDO cantenna as suggested to me by Jim in VA. Actually, that is what I am using right now becasue it has never failed me. (it was cheap too) I went from RSSI -96 to -88! (RSSI is just a way to measure signal strength) (basically I went from only 2 "bars" to around 4 bars.)

Here is the link to the cantenna if your interested...
http://evdotips.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Coffee%20Can%20Yagi%20-%20Redux

Also if you look around at Jim's site, he has lots of great info on EVDO. You could look for stuff like optimizing DNS servers and stuff, but that could be more than you are willing to do.

As for the Upload being higher than DL, I'm not sure, maybe traffic congestion like i said... However, 355 upload is a great speed, I usually only average around 250 on a good day...

Well, that's about all I can input my ideas on... I guess we should wait to see what the real experts say...
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- Henry

AZDude · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:10 pm Post subject:

Sometimes I get speeds where my upload is faster than my download. The constant fluctuation in speeds is probably caused by other users on the same tower. I live in an apartment and I'm sure there are several people here that use EVDO as their main internet connection (I'm one of them) so from time to time my speeds are really slow.

Cold Ethel · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 9

Hi, thanks for the replies guys. I may try the cantenna thing and see if that helps. I forgot to mention that my RSSI generally stays at -75, sometimes it drops to -78. It rarely gets into the 80s. I thought that was good, but wasn't sure. The highest download speed I have ever tested was about 1300 kb/s. But that has only happened once since I've had it, that was about 3:00 p.m. on a weekday. I guess I am just a little confused because my RSSI seems good, I show 3-4 bars, but yet my speed is usually at 500 or less. But it's definitely better than dialup!!!

You guys are probably right about the congestion, although the area I live in isn't a high population area, it's rural and there aren't alot of options for fast internet out here so there may be alot of people that have it. I just thought it was weird about the upload speed being so high as compared to the download speed. Almost every time I test my speed the upload is more than half the download speed.

Jim_in_VA · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:10 am Post subject:

Thanks gohawk for the referral Very Happy

Ethel: Check to see that your TCP settings are optimal. Go here http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks for a test and suggested settings
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Cold Ethel · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 9

Thanks Jim. I went to the site you suggested and I have been adjusting my settings a bit. Speeds haven't changed really, but I am not giving up! I am going to keep messing with it and see if I can get different results.

Meanwhile, I realized I have an old mobile phone antenna, you know the kind that attaches on the top of the car, back when people used to have car phones? lol (It was on my 1990 model car when I bought it, but they had took the phone out of the car.) Do you guys think it would work? It looks just like some of the antennas I have seen on 3gstore's site. The coax end doesn't fit my UM150, so I'll have to replace that, but I thought it might be worth a try.

Jim_in_VA · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:03 am Post subject:

Unless you're handy putting an FME/female connector on the coax or know what frequency the antenna is...probably not. If its a mag-mount a ground plane is needed. I'd just go ahead and get one you know is tuned right and will work without modification. Unless, of course, you're a geek and like fiddling with stuff...like me Laughing

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gcarlson · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 12

Does the ground plate itself need to be grounded?
I made a 28" round steel plate at work and put it in the attic directly above the computer. I put the magnetic antenna in the middle of it. It seemed to help a little, but was just wondereing about the grounding.
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Gary

Jim_in_VA · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:17 am Post subject:

No, what you did is sufficient.
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Cold Ethel · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 9