| Terrible speeds I live in a rural area where nothing is available except dial up, wireless, and satellite. I decided to try Mellenicom mostly because 3g is supposed to be 500kbps-1.5mbps and it has lower latency than satellite.
Both verizon and sprint showed that I was covered by their 3g service so I decided to go with the 50gb Mellenicom package with the 598U sprint card. When I first got the card the speeds were worse than terrible, usually dial up speeds on average and peaking up to 200kbps. I noticed that my signal was bad with only 1-2 bars and -90 signal strength so I decided to buy an external antenna to boost it.
After I got the antenna my signal was significantly boosted to max bars and -75 signal strength on average. The weird thing is that my speeds are still terrible. I can get 1.2 mbps if its in off times like 4 am-10am but its almost always at less than 150 kbps.
I understand that traffic has an impact but this is ridiculous. Its gotten to the point where the service is worse than dial up most of the time I use it.
Its been doing this since I got the service and Mellinicom just gives me the run around and tells me to do the same things over and over suggesting its on my end. I’m just wondering if its actually traffic doing this or if they’re throttling me. Im willing to try out their verizon card but not if its only going to be usable at 5 am like this card.
I dont want to waste any more time and money on this wireless crap if its not going to work. Ill take any suggestions you can offer as to what I should do. |
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 Jack_in_VAPremium
join:2007-11-26
Mathews, VA
kudos:1
2 edits | You don't say where you are located but your speeds are typical of being on a single T-1 tower with multiple users. There is only about 1.2 meg available in the pie and the more slices the smaller the piece.
Millenicom really has nothing to do with it other than reselling you a product that Sprint and Verizon provides. I have both and my sprint is way better than verizon.
Sprint  Verizon  |
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| reply to Madix52
Flip of a coin. It certainly sounds like the Sprint tower is overloaded. Switching to Verizon may indeed correct the problem. Or it may not.
I think the bottom line is 3G was never meant to replace the primary broadband connection. As more and more people are using it for their primary connections there are more and more problems since the towers are not designed to handle the load. Unfortunately, in most areas, people are using 3G because they don't have any other options.
And of course the flood of smart phones make things even worse.
It is also possible you could switch to the Verizon plan and "fix" the problem for a while and be back to horrible in the future.
Where are you located? Are you absolutely certain there are no non-mobile solutions available like fixed wireless? |
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| reply to Madix52
What kind of antenna do you have? I had an omni directional antenna and while I had an excellent signal (-72dbm) my speeds were 50 to 100kbps down and 200kbps up.
I tried to get help from tech support for over five months until one of them decided to ask Verizon. It turns out I was in a conflict area where two towers were overlapping causing problems.
I bought a Yagi antenna and now I am getting the speeds I was promised. I even had one speed test give me 1.7mb down which.
I am still very unimpressed with millenicoms "tech support", none of them had a clue that I might be in a conflict zone. They had me do all kinds of troubleshooting wasting hours of my time but NOT ONCE DID ANYONE SUGGEST A CONFLICT. It seems to me if you get paid for doing any job you ought to have some sort of knowledge.
I would look into a Yagi with an amp. |
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Jack_in_VAPremium
join:2007-11-26
Mathews, VA
kudos:1 | I can get 2+ megs down with -85 to -90 dBm. Tower load has way more to do with limited speeds than signal strength. |
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Reviews:
 ·Millenicom
| said by Jack_in_VA:I can get 2+ megs down with -85 to -90 dBm. Tower load has way more to do with limited speeds than signal strength.
My signal is the same as yours jack, at midnight I can always get around 1meg down, in the day time, i get 500-700kbps. Still beats the crap out of dial-up any day. |
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Jack_in_VAPremium
join:2007-11-26
Mathews, VA
kudos:1 | said by Dexter1992:My signal is the same as yours jack, at midnight I can always get around 1meg down, in the day time, i get 500-700kbps. Still beats the crap out of dial-up any day.
I had dial-up and then Hughesnet. This is pure gold. |
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| reply to Madix52
Dont think my last post got posted, sorry.
I live in Belton SC, 29654. I checked for fixed wireless and couldnt find any near me.
I have a omni directional antenna but im not sure if im getting conflicting tower signals. My speeds right now are averaging 70kbps though... barely better than dial up. |
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| reply to Madix52
Im located in Belton, SC 29654. I checked for fixed wireless before I bought this and couldnt find anything.
I do have an omni directional antenna so I suppose that might be the problem. Im not sure how to tell if im in a conflicting zone though. |
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| reply to Madix52
Population for the whole town is less than 5,000 and a majority of the people here are old. Doesnt seem like there would really be that much traffic.
I made a mistake with the zip its 29627 not 29654. |
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jsinmi
join:2011-08-18
Honor, MI | reply to Jack_in_VA
I was going to post a new thread, but this looks like an apprpriate place to start.
Started using Millinicom in January. No wired alternative (no dsl or cable) and I didn't want to go satellite, had that before, not great and cost and contract is a turn off.
I'm on Verizon (Sprint coverage is not good here) with a USB760.
At first was getting 2 sometime 3 bars, and downloads usually around 500-600 kbs, could degrade a bit with snow.
Over the spring speeds seemed to improve, we were getting up to 1 Mbs sometimes, and never went below 500 kbs.
Suddenly in June speed fell off, could barely get 100 kbs. Previously had not really looked at bars that much didn't know aboutRSSI , learned about that here, got the Verizon access manger and checked.
Was barely getting 1 bar, and RSSI was at best -95, and normally -100 to -105.
I'm about 4.5 miles from tower, no hills in way, but there are trees. Went to a local park that is 0.5 miles from tower, and could can get 4 bars, -65 to -70 RSSI, and download anywhere from 1.5 to 2.0 Mbs. So I know the USB760 works.
I was strapped for cash, so I got an omni directional antenna. With that consistently 1-2 bars, and RSSI of -90 to -95. Still donwload typically 100 Kbs to 150 Kbs.
So I managed to spring for Cyfre amplifier. Got it, hooked it up with its antenna (with baseplate) and was thrilled to see 4 bars and RSSI of -65 to -70.
However, big disappointment is that download speeds are still pretty crappy. Best I have recorded is about 750 Kbs, but most of the time runs between 250 Kbs and 500 Kbs. And at times during the day just drops off completely for a couple of minutes. Signal strength and RSSI do not drop off at these times, download speeds just drop off completely.
So I understand the tower loading issue, but I went to the park I mentioned a few times before I got the amp so that I could work, and the rate there never dropped below 1 Mbs, usually runs between 1.5 and 2.0 Mbs. And it is during the afternoon, which is a time where with the current set up with the Cyfre amp I get some times where things really slow down.
So I'm completely stumped.
The next nearest Verizon tower is about 8.5 miles away, opposite direction to the one I should be getting signal from. It at a higher elevation, but the guy at the local Verizon store (who seems to know what he is talking about) insists I should be getting signal from the closer tower. And, the way I have the antenna mounted, while elevated, the further tower should be blocked by my roof.
There is a State of Michigan tower that is almost in line with the closer Verizon tower, Don't know what it is for, but I can see it on the cell tower map.
Is it possible that the state tower is interfering in some fashion?
I've been considering a directional antenna, but before I do that would like to have reasonable certainty that could help. My wife is already howling about the cost of the amp. I know that it has improved things a bit, and that I do have a good signal now, and while there is a slow down at times in the afternoon, I can still at least work.
That's my (long) story. Hope I can get some insight on this.
Thanks
Jeff |
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 Jim_in_VA
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA
kudos:4
·Northern Neck Wi..
| A great RSSi does not always equal good speeds. Noise in the signal can greatly reduce throughput. Check for noise by looking at you're Ec/Io number in the field test screen.
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... need help? »evdo-tips.com/ |
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jsinmi
join:2011-08-18
Honor, MI | I noticed the points about ec/oi in field test.
Been looking at that just now.
For some reason there is no data showing up or ec/io on the field test screen. It's just blank. |
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Jim_in_VA
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA
kudos:4 | you may to update VZAM |
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| reply to jsinmi
If it is set to [evdo] only Ec/Io will not show up that's how mine is if it's set that way. I'm using the latest vz access manager with the latest firmware. |
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jsinmi
join:2011-08-18
Honor, MI | reply to Jim_in_VA
actually the problem was this, I had set the modem for only evdo.
when I set it for automatic, I can now see the ec/io
which is really bad, fluctuating between -8 and -10.
So now I have to figure out if I can do anything about that. |
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Jim_in_VA
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA
kudos:4 | a directional antenna |
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jsinmi
join:2011-08-18
Honor, MI | That's what I suspected.
I need to get one and try while my wife is away so that if it doesn't help I can return it.  |
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| reply to Madix52
I asked Millenicom about what you guys told me. They said that if I was getting conflicted tower signals that I would have a bad ec/io number. Is this true? My ec/io usually hovers between -3 and -6 so its not that bad.
Would that mean that my speeds are mostly caused by traffic? People in my area all give sprint bad reviews, verizon seems much more popular.
Thanks again for the help |
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| reply to Madix52
Drive to where you can see the tower and check your speeds on a laptop |
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