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?
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.
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.
"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...
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.
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...
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.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John_Getzke wrote: 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.
John_Getzke wrote:
I've reported this as a symptom in my issues both in this forum and in my many fruitless calls to Verizon. When I start having issues, the clock on the MiFi starts drifting. Within an hour, it is a few minutes off. Within a few days it is an hour off. Power-cycling does not help. A hard reset pushes the clock back to 1980 (I think Jan 6, of all dates) then it is reset from the cellular network usually within an hour or so, if I manage to stay connected that long.
An interesting technique I used to determine if the time stamp was off or if I was only seeing stale events was to open the connection log, ping an external web site, then continue to press F5 to refresh the log and watch for the ICMP packets. And they appear during the pings. So the clock really is off.
Verizon replaced the devide twice and I still have this symptom when it starts dropping network connections on me.
This should mean something to some engineer out there. I just don't think that they are listening ...
Okay - I've been complaining about the lack of communication regarding this issue - I downloaded and installed the new update yesterday and I'll be cautiously optimistic and say it looks like it has solved the problem: the clock is now reporting the correct time, and I have not lost the internet connection since I restarted the device after the update.
Now we'll wait and see what other issues pop up!
Good luck. i updated mine too and within an hour it was doing the same thing again. i don't know if they can EVER fix this piece of junk. What's so sad is that the 2200 3g model NEVER failed me except where there was zero network available.
Wow - connections 80% of the time? I'd kill for those kinds of numbers. I commute 1.5 hours each way from Chicago to the NW suburbs everyday and I'm darn lucky if I get 50% connection rate. I agree that the last firmware upgrade made things worse and I don't know if it's the device or the network, but either way it's a pile of crap.
Yea what a pile of crap indeed! I have the latest firmware and the wifi on this thing still drops out about 2 or 3 times a day. Why cant they make a device that you dont have to reboot constantly. When it works its great but I dont understand why they choose to ignore a problem like this. It just pisses off your customers! Its a good thing for verizon there is not a better alternative out there yet.
