MiFi 2200: Is 1.7 Mbps slow? Please help!

[JeffWinger]

Okay, I'm no technological genius, and I'm trying my best to figure out bandwidths.

I have a Verizon MiFi 2200. The theoretical maximum transfer speed is 54.0 Mbps. I read online that the true speed is normally 40-80% theoretical speed.

If that is true, I should be downloading at speeds of 21.6Mbps-43.2Mbps. HOWEVER- Everytime I do the speed test at speedtest.net, I'm consistently ranging between 1.5-2Mbps, which is only about 3-4% of the theoretical max!

Before anyone asks, I know I'm not confusing "bits" with "bytes," or anything like that. I average about 0.20MB/second when downloading.

So my question is, is this average download speed for someone who has Verizon's Mifi 2200 mobile hotspot? I just updated my VZAccess Manager, and it doesn't matter if the device is hooked up like a modem or used via WiFi, I'm still getting the same download speed.

More info: In my manager, the EV is 3/4 bars, and the 1x is 3/4 bars. What does this info mean? Does it affect download speed?

Thank you, thank you, thank you to anyone who can help me with this!

[yeto]

I get around 1.0 to 1.1 download on average with two-three bars (signal strength). I have no idea if this is what I should be getting but those are the numbers for me since day one. Maybe someone can tell us how to get higher download speeds. 

Hope this helps,

yeto

[JeffWinger]

Doesn't really help, but thanks for responding! I'm pretty confused when it comes to broadband. Right now, I'm surfing the web using using my MiFi, not as a modem, and my last speed test was 2.17Mbps. I got it up to 2.71Mbps last night by putting the MiFi box right next to a window, and my laptop is sitting on my desk about 6' away. So if you don't have your MiFi device next to a window, you may get faster speeds by moving it near one... I would've thought I'd get faster speeds using the box as a modem, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Thanks for telling me your true speed. I guess I'm not the only person who is nowhere close to 54Mbps.

[PDCLarry]

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JeffWinger wrote:

Okay, I'm no technological genius, and I'm trying my best to figure out bandwidths.

I have a Verizon MiFi 2200. The theoretical maximum transfer speed is 54.0 Mbps. I read online that the true speed is normally 40-80% theoretical speed.

If that is true, I should be downloading at speeds of 21.6Mbps-43.2Mbps. HOWEVER- Everytime I do the speed test at speedtest.net, I'm consistently ranging between 1.5-2Mbps, which is only about 3-4% of the theoretical max!

Before anyone asks, I know I'm not confusing "bits" with "bytes," or anything like that. I average about 0.20MB/second when downloading.

So my question is, is this average download speed for someone who has Verizon's Mifi 2200 mobile hotspot? I just updated my VZAccess Manager, and it doesn't matter if the device is hooked up like a modem or used via WiFi, I'm still getting the same download speed.

More info: In my manager, the EV is 3/4 bars, and the 1x is 3/4 bars. What does this info mean? Does it affect download speed?

Thank you, thank you, thank you to anyone who can help me with this!

---

The speed of the LOCAL NETWORK is 54 Mbps. However, the local network connects to Verizon's cellular network using EVDO, which is much slower. 1.7 Mbps is actually much better than most people get. If you were transferring a file between 2 computers on your local network you might see 54 Mbps, but between any computer connected to the MiFi and the Internet you are limited by the slowest link, which is the EVDO connection. 

[JeffWinger]

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PDCLarry wrote:

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JeffWinger wrote:

Okay, I'm no technological genius, and I'm trying my best to figure out bandwidths.

I have a Verizon MiFi 2200. The theoretical maximum transfer speed is 54.0 Mbps. I read online that the true speed is normally 40-80% theoretical speed.

If that is true, I should be downloading at speeds of 21.6Mbps-43.2Mbps. HOWEVER- Everytime I do the speed test at speedtest.net, I'm consistently ranging between 1.5-2Mbps, which is only about 3-4% of the theoretical max!

Before anyone asks, I know I'm not confusing "bits" with "bytes," or anything like that. I average about 0.20MB/second when downloading.

So my question is, is this average download speed for someone who has Verizon's Mifi 2200 mobile hotspot? I just updated my VZAccess Manager, and it doesn't matter if the device is hooked up like a modem or used via WiFi, I'm still getting the same download speed.

More info: In my manager, the EV is 3/4 bars, and the 1x is 3/4 bars. What does this info mean? Does it affect download speed?

Thank you, thank you, thank you to anyone who can help me with this!

---

The speed of the LOCAL NETWORK is 54 Mbps. However, the local network connects to Verizon's cellular network using EVDO, which is much slower. 1.7 Mbps is actually much better than most people get. If you were transferring a file between 2 computers on your local network you might see 54 Mbps, but between any computer connected to the MiFi and the Internet you are limited by the slowest link, which is the EVDO connection. 

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Okay, thanks for sharing. That makes sense to me. I just don't get why a lot of websites are saying that wifi users normally get 40-80% theoretical speed (54Mbps) when apparently it's more common to get 3-4% (1.5-3Mbps). Regardless, I'm still very happy with my MiFi. I've come from slow dial-up, and it would take me an hour just to download 10MB!

[jupiter837]

The very, very, very best you can get on the 3g  evdo is 3.1mbps. That's the best, if your the only one on the network, with the best cell reception you can get.  Most people run around 1 to 2 mbps, but you'll have  dips lower and spikes higher. Who knows why.

 Now the 4g LTE network is much faster, for now. But the mifi runs on the 3g network. Your speeds would be considered pretty good.

[z4alltel]

if you would look over the post i just wrote on here yesterday... "verizon 3g horrors"... we are talking about the same thing... you are experiencing the same problems with slow bandwidth/speed, as i have here... even though i use a evdo modem, and you use a mifi.... 

the truth of it all is that verizon 3g has all kinds of problems... and that is when you and i, plus millions of others... lose 3g (evdo is the name of the protocol, or type of signal and communications)... and very often are stuck with the 1xrtt... which is slower than a dialup modem... which is horribly slow...

all the technospeak in my post is saying the same thing you are experiencing... it's up to each one of us to decide... when we come up for a new contract for high speed internet... 3g broadband... do we want to go round and round with verizon again...

i have stated, imo... for most of the last year and a half... that verizon 3g has so many problems, technically... and they cannot keep up with the workload for all the users... try your speeds in the midnight hours, expecially weekends... and you will probably get the fastest verizon 3g can offer.... however, in the midnight hours is also when verizon knocks it all down and does some sort of work on the system...

as i said in my post that i mentioned to you here... when i was with alltel, before verizon took over completely, here... i actually had 3g over what is thought to be the high limit... and saw 3.5Mbs at times, with steady speeds around 2.5Mbs... verizon has been much slower, and had many more outages... having a tech background for ev er.... i can tell when the issue is temporary, and when it is scheduled... i have seen too many outages with verizon 3g that just happened to start at the hour mark... now that's easy to figure out...

both of us... all of us on verizon 3g have the same problems... in addition, it is my understanding by the number of posts relating to the mifi you have... that you also experience many hardware and compatibility problems with the mifi...

one of the lessons we learn in the rollout of new technologies... is that the hardware equipment, and the software handling it... always have many problems that need to be worked out ... after people such as you and i are paying for the service... in some cases, the problems are never totally resolved....  competition pushes new products (4g...) out to the consumers... and some companies triumph, while others fail... also, those high paid engineers and programmers never really experience the reality of a system such as this... until there are many millions of folks trying to use it... i hope this helps some to understand things better...

best of luck with verizon /smirk!/....

[PDCLarry]

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z4alltel wrote:

if you would look over the post i just wrote on here yesterday... "verizon 3g horrors"... we are talking about the same thing... you are experiencing the same problems with slow bandwidth/speed, as i have here... even though i use a evdo modem, and you use a mifi.... 

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I suggest you read the OP. Your response has ZERO to do with his question, which is why does he not get 54 Mbps out of the MiFi. And the answer is that 54 Mbps is the LAN speed, not the network speed. His network speed is better than average for Verizon's 3G network.

[z4alltel]

i suggest that you really need to read the original post... your reply here indicates how incorrect your statement is... you said:

I suggest you read the OP. Your response has ZERO to do with his question, which is why does he not get 54 Mbps out of the MiFi. And the answer is that 54 Mbps is the LAN speed, not the network speed. His network speed is better than average for Verizon's 3G network.

this is from the original post....

More info: In my manager, the EV is 3/4 bars, and the 1x is 3/4 bars. What does this info mean? Does it affect download speed?

i will help you out since you misunderstood ALL of the original questionS... evdo is 3g broadband.... 1xrtt is not, and is a fraction of dialup modem speed....  and YES, these issues DO effect download speed.... these points were addressed in my post... which i referred to...

in order to give an accurate reply... it is necessary to read ALL of the original post... in this way, you can then be a real help to the person seeking knowledge on technical subjests...

[PDCLarry]

in order to give an accurate reply... it is necessary to read ALL of the original post... in this way, you can then be a real help to the person seeking knowledge on technical subjests...You must have missed this part:

I have a Verizon MiFi 2200. The theoretical maximum transfer speed is 54.0 Mbps. I read online that the true speed is normally 40-80% theoretical speed.

If that is true, I should be downloading at speeds of 21.6Mbps-43.2Mbps. HOWEVER- Everytime I do the speed test at speedtest.net, I'm consistently ranging between 1.5-2Mbps, which is only about 3-4% of the theoretical max!

The OP is getting 1.5 to 2 Mbps. Which is exemplary for EVDO, which typically gets .75 - 1 Mbps.

[z4alltel]

apparently you missed the part about the original post presenting questions about his bandwidth... internet protocols evdo and 1xrtt... and how download and upload speeds were effected... i realize you are stuck with a mifi and would like to discuss only your decision to buy that rather than the much more capable evdo modem... 

and you are so incorrect about 3g bandwidth... if you had read my post... you would realize that i have had 3g bandwidth as high as 3.5Mbs... the problem with verizon 3g is that it very often sinks to the 1xrtt protocol which is much slower than a 56k modem...

{please keep your posts courteous}

[tomgraywind]

I'd love to get 1.7 MBps, like I used to up to around a month ago.  Suddenly I am getting 0.17 MBps for downloads and roughly the same for uploads .  This is a MiFi for business.  We also have a home one that is still getting 1.5-2.0 on downloads (i.e., from the same physical location.  Any advice on troubleshooting?

[John_Getzke]

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tomgraywind wrote:

I'd love to get 1.7 MBps, like I used to up to around a month ago.  Suddenly I am getting 0.17 MBps for downloads and roughly the same for uploads .  This is a MiFi for business.  We also have a home one that is still getting 1.5-2.0 on downloads (i.e., from the same physical location.  Any advice on troubleshooting?

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Tom,

Try resetting your MiFi which is having problems.  There are a few different levels of resets that you can try

Level 1: Power On/Off the device

Level 2: Reset the SIM Card

Level 3: Press the Reset button on the back of the MiFi by the battery

Start at Level 1 and work your way up.  Check your internet speed each time to see if there are any improvements.  Let us know if you need more steps on how to perform the various resets.

[tomgraywind]

Thanks, will give it a shot.  And you get kudos for just answering.

[tomgraywind]

OK, problem solved.  None of the fixes I tried worked, spent several hours testing various ideas.  Advice from company IT Support was to request a new MiFi under warranty.  Didn't get around to that yet.  Yesterday, noticed that a couple of videos I was watching were not horrendously slow.  Ran Speedtest today and performance was back to normal.  Current theory: some mystical issue on this particular account at the cell tower.  Took about 1 month to resolve.

[jlthorpe]

There is no SIM card on a 2200

[MyGabby1]

I just took another speed test and the following are my results: Ping is 95 ms, Download 2.83 Mbps, Upload 0.73 Mbps. I don't seem to have too many problems, but I don't live in a crowded community. I have mountains surrounding me but don't have the competition of all the rebar in a bunch of homes surrounding me. Try relocating your device and run an upgrade on it. If you live in a two story, place it upstairs near a window. You might have to set it on the sill and retest to find the right one that it works best at. I lived in a two story home in an estate at one time and my phone had very poor signal inside, unless I was standing near a North/Northeast facing window. Just a suggestion.

[lckcmk]

Being in the Phoenix area I would love to get that kind of speed......the best I've been to achieve is 1.6 MG and that's only for about 1/2 hr on the weekends.....usually it's ranges from 133K (yes, that's Kbps)  ti the 500 K range.  The tower has been "re-booted" for me at least once and I have a ticket in process for another tower check.    Doesn't matter if the Mifi is tethered to the laptop, used wirelessly, outside or in a closet!  Same very slow speeds.

[tomt966]

You're high speed....I average .25mbps with my 4510 and 3g. I'm disgusted.

[Ann154]

Did you notice that you were responding to a discussion started over two YEARS ago?

[tomt966]

Sure did..... figured someone might have a new 2 cents worth of info. FWIW it took 193 seconds to login to this site to answer the post. When I do a ping test I send/receive 250 packets with no loss BUT ping time is 470-500ms and jitter is anywhere from 68 to 152ms. Last d/l speed was 0.05mbps and u/l was 0.07. Now thats just plain pitiful.....for what I pay Verizon every month,