4G will not connect

Brent1234

I live in the Lehigh Valley area just outside the "zone". Geographically I'm on a clear hilltop (740ft high) overlooking the valley, with line of site views across the valley and multiple cell towers in sight. (not saying they are all VZW). When I activate my Mifi, I'm seeing signal strengths  twice as good on LTE than EVO. EVO runs around -68db and the LTE signal is -30db.  S/N ratio is runnign about 6db. I bought the external magmount antenna to help with signal, but the end result has not changed. The Mifi will not connect to 4G. In town it does work, so the unit is functional. My question is what would keep it from connecting when its hearing such a strong signal? 

 

Please help, otherwise I plan on returning the unit this saturday. 

 

Brent

John_Getzke

Brent,

 

If the LTE (4G) signal is anything other than "Not Available" then the MiFi should be able to connect to it.  Remember that "Signal -LTE" is different than "SINR - LTE" so hopefully you are not quoting the wrong value.  My SINR - LTE is displaying as 30 dB even through I am currently nowhere near a LTE signal.  

 

One other suggestion would be to switch the 802.11 Mode to B/G:

1. Power on your Mifi

2. Connect to the MiFi through your connection management software (ex. MS Zero Wireless Configuration)

3. Navigate to http://mifi.admin

4. Sign into the MiFi using your Admin password

  a. The default admin password is "admin"

5. Click the Wi-Fi tab/button

6. Change the 802.11 Mode from G/B/N to G/B

7. Click Apply

8. Reboot the MiFi

9. Test your connection

 

You could also try a level 2 reset:

1. Power off the MiFi

2. Remove the back cover

3. Remove the battery

4. Remove the SIM card

5. Let the MiFi sit powered down, disconnected and disassembled for 60 seconds

6. Reassemble the device

7. Power on the MiFi

8. Test your connection

 

Level 2 resets are a good troubleshooting step for these kind of modem related problems.  Removing the SIM forces the device to renegotiate with the local towers and can often times repair routing problems like the one you are describing.

 

If you were willing to travel you might want to try connecting in another 4G location.  Someplace closer to a major city with 4G LTE coverage would be a good test.  If the device behaves the same way then bring it back to Verizon for a replacement.  If the MiFi can connect to another 4G network then you know your problem is location based and not related to the device itself.