I know this is not the place for this question, but I can't find anywhere else to ask it

[Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names]

This question has nothing to do with Forte Agent but I can't find
anyone else to ask -- would appreciate any help and if I'm out of line
asking this here, sorry, I'll go away.

Question is about my Verizon National Broadband 3G/4g modem and signal
strength.

I live in a remote rural area where out Internet connectivity choices
are:
-- dial-up
-- Hughes Net (satellite; they choke you back to dial-up speed for 24
hours if you exceed your daily bandwidth limit)
-- local ISP that has limited bandwidth and if someone on the other
side of the county is downloading a movie, you just as well be on
dialup.
-- Verizon National Broadband -- which is what I use.


Now, I don't pretend to understand most of this, but, here goes. Teh
Verizon National Broadband uses a technology called EVDO or something
like that. They provide you with a modem about twice the size our
your thumb. Plug it into your USB port, run some Verizon software,
and connect to the Internet through hitting Verizon cell towers.

I live on the bank of the Potomac River where it joins the Chesapeake
Bay. There's a Verizon tower across the river from me, six miles
away, in Maryland. I must be hitting it because when I check my IP
address, it's in Maryland, and, when I use Google Latitude to find
myself, it shows me at a point in Maryland where I can see a cell
tower through my spotting telescope.

For the longest time I used a Verizon USB720 3G modem with a plan that
had a 5GB per month limit and I was always bumping up against or
exceeding the limit.

I just upgraded to a Pantech UML 290 3G/4G modem with a 10GB per month
plan.

The modem plugs into my router so I can connect using my desktop,
laptop, or laptop in my ham radio station. The router has an
application that shows me the signal strength of the signal received
by the modem.

With the 3G USB720 modem, signal strength ran between -76 and -82 dBm.
Anything below about -88 dBm and my connection dropped. The
connection rarely dropped and most of the time was steady at -76 dBm.

The with Pantech UML290 modem, signal strength is hanging around -88
to -94 dBm but my connection is solid. Download speeds are 1.0 - 1.2
meg, upload 650 - 750 K.

Why is the Pantech modem providing what appears to be solid
performance at such low signal strengths?

I have a small antenna connected to the antenna port on the Pantech
UML290 but it seems to make no difference in signal strength.

I guess I shouldn't worry about the signal strength as long as my
connection stays solid.



------

20 January 2013:

"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear . . . "

And the nation cheers!!!!

[Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names]

Okay, well, cancel this question.

I was trying to surf to a couple of websites and kept getting an
error, "No WAN device connected."

I rebooted the Pantech UML290 modem, firmly plugged in the external
antenna, and my signal strength is now solid at -72 dBm with download
speeds over 2.0 MB, upload over 1.0 MB.

[Steve Hayes]

On Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:48:32 -0500, Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
<PopUl...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>

>This question has nothing to do with Forte Agent but I can't find
>anyone else to ask -- would appreciate any help and if I'm out of line
>asking this here, sorry, I'll go away.

And that's who you posted four other off-topic messages here as well.

You are the offspring of King Troll and Queen Spam and I claim my five pounds.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

[h...@h-gee.co.uk]

On Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:54:45 -0500, Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names <PopUl...@hotmail.com>

Maybe it's time to realize that the USA isn't that much forward in technical excellence as
one thinks. Most of Europe inc Russia and Belarus are on cable or 20Mb ADSL2+ or are
capable of using it if they choose to go that route.

Maybe you should move to a cable area or more densely populated region where super fast
broadband is available.

You do realize that you are paying through the nose for virtually NOTHING.

Sir Hugh of Bognor

--
I used to be an Egotistical Megalomaniac - but now I'm just perfect!

Hugh Gundersen
h...@h-gee.co.uk

Get AVG Internet Protection
AVG Reseller <sa...@bognor-bill.com>
discounted software - renewals and upgrades

Bognor Regis, W.Sussex, England, UK

[sf]

On Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:21:34 +0000, h...@h-gee.co.uk wrote:

> Maybe you should move to a cable area or more densely populated region where super fast
> broadband is available.
>
> You do realize that you are paying through the nose for virtually NOTHING.

And yet it seems to be the Europeans (on other news groups) who moan
about how slow their connections are and then admit to being on dial
up.

--

Tell congress not to censor the web. Add your voice here.
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

[h...@h-gee.co.uk]

On Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:14:31 -0800, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:21:34 +0000, h...@h-gee.co.uk wrote:
>
> > Maybe you should move to a cable area or more densely populated region where super fast
> > broadband is available.
> >
> > You do realize that you are paying through the nose for virtually NOTHING.
>
> And yet it seems to be the Europeans (on other news groups) who moan
> about how slow their connections are and then admit to being on dial
> up.

Yes - we may have access to high speed Internet but many moaners are also skinflints who
wouldn't bag a bargain but moan about not having it for nothing.

You pay your money and take you pick of what is available for what you want to pay for.

10 ($) is cheaper than 20 ($) so buy 10 ($) yet 20 ($) is faster with more
bandwidth etc. but the buyer can only see that the one priced at 10 ($) is cheaper and
not the fact you also get less.

[dgra...@pc-fx.fsnet.co.uk]

Hugh said:

>Maybe it's time to realize that the USA isn't that much forward in technical excellence as

> Most of Europe inc Russia and Belarus are on cable or 20Mb ADSL2+ or are
>capable of using it if they choose to go that route.

Hugh, I live in a major UK city and in theory have 20Mb, in practice
have 8, and often a lot less thanks to BT and throttling at the
exchange. No cable past my door and great difficulty persuading
Virgin to lay some. BT Infinity hasn't reached us. Copper wiring in my
area is old and shredded.

There are loads of country areas with very little bandwidth at all.

The averages look good because BT and others have (understandably)
targetted places where most people live.

I can't claim knowledge about Europe, but I'd guess the same applies
if you live half way up an Alp or a Ural.

So maybe people will continue to moan for quite some time to come,
both sides of the pond.

Derek