Alternatives to 4510L?
AHepburn
Newbie

So we're getting pretty fed up with this crappy 4510L pile of crap - what other alternatives are available, or are we doomed to only having an internet connection about 80% of the time?

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

Your only alternatives from Verizon are the Samsung SCH-LC11 or the Fivespot.  Only the Samsung is a 4G LTE device though. 

 

Unless you want to switch to a different network or purchase a unsupported older 3G model your choices are pretty slim.

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
Not applicable

@AHepburn I understand your frustration issue with connectivity.  If I was only able to connect 80% of the time I would be looking for alternatives too!  I can definitely help to resolve your connectivity issues.  Can you tell me if you are getting an error messages?  Does the lack of connectivity happen everywhere or a specific location?   How long have you been having these connectivity issues?  Please answer these questions so I can further assist you in getting this issue resolved.  Thanks. 

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
AHepburn
Newbie

"Can you tell me if you are getting an error messages?"

 

I get no error messages. I'm running a Toshiba Satellite laptop with Windows Vista (all updates current) and have a program called Networx running as a monitor. It has a small icon in the bottom tray that shows download and upload activity numerically. When everything is working I see numbers over 1K for both DL and UL - when I lose connectivity the numbers drop to 0. Also, Vista's network icon is the 2 monitors with a blue "i" on them - when I lose the connection the "i" disappears and the status changes from "Local and Internet" to "Local Only". These episodes can last anything from a few seconds to several minutes, and occur on average about every 5 minutes or so.

 

My wife is experiencing the same issues on her Asus netbook running Windows XP with all current updates.

 

"Does the lack of connectivity happen everywhere or a specific location?"

 

It happens everywhere - our home is in San Jose, Ca and is a strong 4G signal area. This week we are in LAs Vegas, NV at a campground - also with a strong 4G signal. We've also experienced the issue at our son's home in Campbell, Ca with a strong 4G signal, and at a campground in Morgan Hill, CA with only a 3G signal.

 

"How long have you been having these connectivity issues?"

 

Ever since we bought the unit on 1 Aug 2011. The first time we took it from a 4G area to a 3G area it got stuck in 3G mode and we took it to a Verizon store and the tech updated the firmware which got it back into 4G mode. Then when the firmware update was announced a few weeks ago we ran that - that actually made the problem worse.

 

We are very disappointed with the device and want to get it resolved, because it's our only internet connection. We travel a lot and want to keep in touch with friends and family but it's extremely frustrating. If we have to replace this unti with something else that is more reliable we will, but right now we're not happy...

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
Not applicable

AHepburn, please PM me your name and mobile number for the device. I want to submit a trouble ticket to our network team for this issue. If a ticket has already been completed, we may need to replace the device. It is possible to lose connection in some areas, but it definitely should not be to this magnitude you are experiencing. 

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
AHepburn
Newbie

Okay - a trouble ticket was opened on 10/5 - yesterday was so frustrating that we took the piece of crap to a Verizon store for help. Their solution: "Oh, you should be running VZ Access Manager" so we loaded that at the store. It made no difference. Today the piece of crap has dropped from 4G to 3G twice, and still loses the cell signal on a random schedule. Oh, and we have not heard a peep from whoever is hanfling that alleged truoble ticket - we're almost ready to go postal on this crap...

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
AHepburn
Newbie

Oh - and another question: I have the thing set to show a system log, but the time shown in the log is one hous slow - how do I change the time to my local time?

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

The Verizon store rep is incorrect or misinformed.  VZAM does not have anything to do with the connections of the MiFi 4510L.  Unless something has changed recently then VZAM is, in fact, incompatible with the MiFi 4510L.  The only thing VZAM is good for is managing and viewing your online Verizon account details.  Its no surprise you noticed no improvement with this software.

 

I would check in with Verizon Tech Support again on your ticket.  Your chances are better with them that you get a rep who actually has experience supporting the device.  Call the 1-800 number and ask for an update to see where it is at.

 

As for the time zone problem, there does not appear to be an option on the MiFi Admin page which allows you to configure a different setting.  I would assume that like your cell phone the MiFi would be able to find out what the time is from the towers it is connected to.  I have never had to configure the time zone on my MiFi.

 

On that note, you could try restting the device and SIM card to see if you can pull in better information.  Let us know if you need the steps to complete those actions.

 

 

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
AHepburn
Newbie

I actually reset everything several times a day - whenever it starts dropping the connection a lot I pull the battery and SIM card for a minute or so to reset it. That seems to help a tiny bit with the connection issue, but doesn't do anything for the time. I figured it would get the time from the tower, but I find it hard to believe it's connecting to a tower that is one hour behind local time - that would be a tower many miles west of the Pacific coast!

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Re: Alternatives to 4510L?
AHepburn
Newbie

So, allegedly a trouble ticket was opened on 10/5 for this issue - I guess there are no reps at qork because we have not heard a peep from Verizon since then. Is the ticket still open, or does Verizon expect this issue to resolve itself? I'm spending a lot of money for this thing, and it is NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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