Turbocpe
Premium
join:2001-12-22
IA
 ·Iowa Network Servi..
| Antenna and Tower Questions
This may be a Sprint newbie question. If there are X amount of towers/antennas in the area, does the Sprint/Millenicom mobile modem select the closest one with the best signal? Or does it have to be a Sprint antenna? Or one that Sprint has an agreement with (which carriers)?
I ask because doing an antenna search online, and knowing my area, there are a lot of antennas in the area. Yet I have a signal that is mid -90s+ despite using any USB extension cord to move the mobile modem around. I can watch the signal move from -90s into the 110 area just seconds. It's unstable, even when the mobile modem is stationary.
Recently, having brought my mobile modem to 2 tower locations within my area, I was surprised to see that the mobile modem was still showing a mid -90s signal. I suppose this tells me that my mobile modem is not connecting to those towers/antennas, or perhaps the mobile modem (Franklin) is defective? I've never seen a signal strength lower than -87.
My concern about the strength is not only because it often goes into 1X mode due to the signal, but my download and upload speeds have been an issue. The last time I tested, the results were 152.0 Kbps download with a 24.0 Kbps upload. That was not in 1x mode, but with EVDO Rev A. Even browsing simple webpages such as BBR shows lots of hanging and waiting. |
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Jim_in_VA
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Millenicom
| Sprint (Millenicom) has a 1xRTT roaming agreement with Verizon and a 1xRTT/EVDO agreement with Alltel.
Your modem will pick up the signal that is strongest in your location. That is not necessarily the closest tower. You have a great diagnostic tool with the Franklin called 'debug mode', use that to determine which tower you are connecting to and its strength via the pilot number (PN). If you do not have the modem set in EVDO only mode you could very possibly be connecting to a 1xRTT tower whose signal strength is stronger than the more desirable EVDO.
When you drive to a tower take a look at the debug screen and identify it via its PN. At home see if that PN matches, then you will know which tower you are connected to. More details on my blog.
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* evdotips.blogspot.com * |
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aSic
Slutpuppy
Premium
join:2001-05-17
Wakulla, FL
clubs:
| said by Jim_in_VA  :If you do not have the modem set in EVDO only mode you could very possibly be connecting to a 1xRTT tower whose signal strength is stronger than the more desirable EVDO. Or, if you have it set to EVDO only, you STILL could be connecting to a 1xRTT tower anyways, regardless of your settings. Stupid Franklin...
But yeah, +1 on Jim_in_VA. The Millenicom Franklin modem will connect to whatever is available, be it RTT or EVDO, regardless of provider. It has a preference for Sprint though.. if its available, even at a low low signal, it will lock onto that before anything else.
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Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.
Who is Ron Paul? |
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CMoore2004
i r teh smarts
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| That gets me wondering. I wonder if Sprint turned down the Franklin because of those issues you just mentioned and Franklin quit manufacturing them, selling what they had already made to Millenicom and ceasing manufacturing.
Just speculating, of course. |
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Turbocpe
Premium
join:2001-12-22
IA
·Iowa Network Servi..
| reply to Jim_in_VA
said by Jim_in_VA :Sprint (Millenicom) has a 1xRTT roaming agreement with Verizon and a 1xRTT/EVDO agreement with Alltel. Forgive the ignorant question, but does this mean that, bottom line, the antenna must be an Alltel or Sprint antenna for Millenicom's Franklin to connect to, to use EVDO?
Thanks. |
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netwire
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Mooresboro, NC
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Millenicom
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Vonage
·WildBlue
| Millenicom is a distributor of Sprint's service, and runs off the same towers that Sprint does. Sprint has roaming agreements with Verizon and Alltel, so if you are not within range of a Sprint tower but you are in range of a Verizon tower it will use 1XRTT, which is what Sprint's agreement with Verizon dictates for roaming Sprint devices.
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World of Warcraft - My anti-drug.
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Turbocpe
Premium
join:2001-12-22
IA
·Iowa Network Servi..
| reply to Turbocpe
I had known that Millenicom was a distributor of Sprint's service, but was not aware about the details - as far as what towers are used.
Doing an antenna search, there is no Alltel in my area, unless it goes by some unknown name. There are two Sprint antennas in my area, one being 2 miles and the other being 3 miles. I'm actually almost in the middle of those two antennas. Both are not exactly LOS, especially due to elevation. When I signed up with Millenicom, they did an address check and stated that I was in an area for "excellent" coverage, which I understand is based on Sprint's own map. In the house, outside, or even around the neighborhood, signal strength is nowhere near excellent being in the -90s or worse!
I asked this question to get a better understanding of what antennas may be serving me, and how to improve the signal.
Thanks. |
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Jim_in_VA
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Millenicom
| put your modem in a can as shown here: »evdotips.blogspot.com/search?q=c···can+yagi and point it toward one of those towers. I'm sure your signal will improve.
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* evdotips.blogspot.com * |
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caribconsult
Premium
join:2003-03-19
Mayaguez, PR
·Millenicom
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·HughesNet Satellit..
| reply to Turbocpe
The antenna can be anything that runs in the right frequency range (1900Mhz, I think.) and that you can get the right adaptors, cable and pigtail for your respective MBB device. While the antenna cables have a number of different industry standard styles (FME, N, etc), each MBB device usually has a proprietary connector for the external antenna, and you need to use a pigtail with the right one. Check with »wpsantennas.com and they can advise you which pigtail fits your device.
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Franklin CDU680/Assent MBR400 combo, CAY1912 panel antenna, Millenicom, 4 XPPro stations, Mozilla everywhere. |
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