I can't get no satisfaction here in PG County MD

[Mistrb01]

I got my MiFi 4G LTE last Friday.  I knew that 4G is not available at my house.  However, according to the coverage map, I should be able to get it in New Carrollton.  Modem Diagnostics states that there is no signal.  

I went to the Verizon store in Lahnam (which is in the fringe area) where I saw a Samsung hotspot with a 4G signal.  The customer service rep took my battery out and plugged my box in and it got 4G (at least the pink light turned green).  I went outside and tested the speed using my iPad and got very slow speeds 1.35 down and .40 up.  Shortly thereafter it went back to 3G.  The office building where I work is at least 1/2 mile away from the fringe area.  

Today, I drove several miles towards, DC and still couldn't get 4G.  I will try to drive into DC this weekend to see what the results are.  I would hate to return my MiFi, but there is no use paying $50/month when I won't use 5gb of data.  I can pay less a month for my old MiFi 2200 and get the same data rate.  Are there any success stories in PG?

[Mistrb01]

Well this evening I drove into DC west on US 50.  I did not get a 4G signal until i got to New York Avenue and Florida Avenue.  I then proceeded to Rhode Island Avenue to some side streets until I started back east on US 50.  I maintained a 4G signal until about 3 miles past the beltway on 50.  I was consistently getting 6MB and higher download speeds.  Mostly, higher.  The signal went out about the place on the coverage map.  So, I figure I should be getting a signal at my place of employment.

After eating dinner in Bowie, I got back on US 50 going west, I never got a 4G signal again.

Is there anything that I can do?  There is 4g coverage but I can't get a signal.

Drats.

[KinquanaH_VZW · Accepted solution]

Listed below is a link to our 4G website and map. I was unable to locate New Carrollton MD on the coverage map for 4G signal. We currently have 4G coverage in Baltimore MD and Hagerstown MD will be coming soon, according to the map. I understand New Carrollton MD is close to the 4G area in Baltimore but the tower locations make a difference in receiving 4G and 3G.

http://network4g.verizonwireless.com/#/4g-network-verizon-wireless

We are expanding our 4G coverage through out the year and will be available in more than 145 cities by the end of the year. 

[techguru]

Actually, New Carrolton is the DC area, not Baltimore.

My Thunderbolt gets good coverage in much of Montgomery County, and in College Park, but I haven't been out your way with in. Inside my office next to Union Station I can barely get 3g and often drop to 1x, but at Union Station and a block north or South I get strong 4g, so I would say coverage is still spotty. I did get a signal in a basement office in Silver Spri.g today where I usually can't even get voice, so the network is expanding. Metro coverage on the red line north also switched from 1x to 3g last week.

Alan

[21stNow]

I can't chime in on data reception, because the XOOM has not been upgraded to 4G yet.  However, I wanted to give a shout out.  It's not every day that I see my city (New Carrollton) in a post!

[Mistrb01]

I ended up sending the Mifi back to Verizon.  I replaced it with the Samsung hotspot.  Reception is good, have not problems.  I knew that it was the unit.

Bad news is that I had to pay a restocking fee because I did not get the local verizon store to update my account to show that I had a defective unit.  It wasn't worth the gas to drive back through DC traffic.