MiFi2200 Constant disconnects when using wifi

[marcomatic]

I am currently using a mifi with two Macbook Pros, an Ipad and 2 iphones and it constantly is resetting the cell network connection when connecting using wifi. Whenver I keep the administration screen open it keeps going dormant, disconnecting, connecting as much as 2 to 3 times a minute. I have tried just about every modem / wifi configuration including turing off encryption and turning off the standby option.   However if I tether the modem and connect with VZManager it works great for hours at a time and is about 3 times as fast.  After reviewing the forums I am guessing this is not a Mac related issue however I could be wrong.  Are other mac or PC users having this same issue no matter what machine you are using?

My last call to verizon support they said it was an "IP Conflict".   However they would not give me the information necessary to diagnose what IP they were talking about.  I have a feeling it is their IP and not the internal network 192. IP that the mifi is giving out.

Here is what I have donet to try and fix it:

- Testied it in 3 different states.

- Tried all different wifi configurations

- Factory reset the device

- Tried only one mac at a time

- Exchanged the mifi for another one.

I am about to exchange it for the regular usb stick modem and get a cradlepoint router.

Peace

Marc

[PJNC284]

http://community.vzw.com/t5/Broadband-Netbook-MiFi-Devices/mifi-constantly-disconnects/td-p/43509/pa...

12 page thread with people having similar issues, myself included.  We've probably had about 45-50 disconnects in <24hrs.  Finally got a support tech with a little bit of sense and we're going to try a hybrid prl.  If nothing has improved by Monday, they're going to overnight another Mifi 2200 and send out a tech to check the towers if that doesn't work. 

[marcomatic]

What type of computer are you using? Also did the tech mention anything about ip conflicts to you?  Given the only IP that changes is verizons I am thinking tech support does not have all the info to diagnose this.  Also last question but does this only happen when you are using wifi or when tethered also?

Peace

Marc

[PJNC284]

Currently running two laptops with Windows 7 but it also did the same thing with an XP machine.  Haven't had any of the techs mention ip conflicts.  The continuous disconnects only seem to happen when using wifi.  Doesn't seem to matter if there's 1 or 3 computers connected via wifi, but the signal usually drops after 15-30min.   Looks like the prl change went through as it's showing a different id under modem status on the web interface and has been connected for 2 hrs without a disconnect so far so we'll see if that works.

ha, as soon as I posted that it disconnected.  Signal strength seems to have improved and is showing 4-5 bars and dBm readings in the low to mid 80's instead of the 2-4 bars and mid to high 90's before.

[marcomatic]

I hope they get this figured out for you. I am now on a regular usb modem and ditched the mifi.  When I get home I am ordering a cradlepoint router so that I know I have a solution that works.  At the verizon store the guy was very surprised to see the connection totally reset when hooked to my computer. This was with their in store mifi also with an older firmware.  Is PRL the just another name for the firmware?

Peace

Marc

[PJNC284]

PRL is what controls how it looks for and connects to the towers.  Believe the hybrid prl looks to existing alltel towers before verizon ones.

Got the replacement device today and so far so good.  Been connected for over an hour now with no disconnect so we'll see.

[esand]

Having the same exact issues using the PC5750 card.

[PJNC284]

Well the replacement started doing the exact same thing.  Spoke with a tech support rep last night who had me manually assign the ip addresses rather than using DHCP from the mifi.  Oddly enough, it's been connected for over 14hrs with no disconnects. Maybe it is an issue with the mifi assigning addresses automatically 

[BruceLang]

Interesting - would you provide a summary of how to manually assign IP addresses? Are you talking about using assigning static IP addresses to all devices using the MiFi2200? If yes, then I "may" be able to figure it out. Here's to your continued success.

[PJNC284]

yeah, rather than using DHCP to auto assign the ip's, just assign each device a static ip.  For a Windows PC, just open network connections in the control panel.  Right click on your wireless adapter and choose properties. On the Networking  tab that pops up, select TCP/IPv4 and click properties.  Then select Use the Following IP Address and Use the following DNS Server Addresses and enter the desired settings.  The default gateway and primary dns should be the ip address for the mifi which is 192.168.1.1 from the factory.  For each device just enter a different static ip address such as 192.168.1.x (where x is anything between 2 and 254) with 255.255.255.0 as the subnet.  Not really an end all solution imo if you take your computer elsewhere as you'll need to go back in and set it to obtain automatically but it does seem to provide a more consistent connection.  Only issue now is flash intensive sites such as farmville on facebook slows the internet to a crawl but that's probably another problem.