"Broadband" speeds?

[pderoo12]

I ran a couple of speed tests and speedtest.net and was VERY disappointed. Is this what I'm paying $60 a month for??

[budone]

Could be the server also where you tested??? I mean c'mon, Delton???? Sorry, just had to.

Try one in Kzoo or GR and see what it is. If they both are slow, what is your signal strength??

[pderoo12]

Speedtest.net ran the test 3 times grabbing the "best" server each time, Lansing, Delton and Mount Pleasant. That was the best speed I could get. Right now as I type, my signal strengths are -77 EV and -81 1X, and it's "fast" right now. Mind you, when I say "fast" that's relative to my average speeds which are generally a step up from dialup. Last night I sat and waited and waited for one webpage after another to load so long that I finally just shut it down, it gets to a point that it's not even worth going online. I still can't believe I'm paying $60 for this. Here are the Lansing and Mt. Pleasant speed test results:

[budone]

Thanks for the add'l info. Do you or someone you know have a VZW smartphone, where they could do a speedtest from where you sit on your computer?

If the same, tower issue. If better, then it is narrowed down to modem, modem setings or computer.

[pderoo12]

I'm going to switch to a VZW smartphone before my plan renews in early April. What I'm looking to do is get rid of the modem all together and tether the phone to my desktop. All in all, it should be cheaper. I only average 2.3 GB a month data usage on the modem. But I can't think of anyone off hand at the moment. We live in a rural area.

[budone]

pderoo12 wrote:

I'm going to switch to a VZW smartphone before my plan renews in early April. What I'm looking to do is get rid of the modem all together and tether the phone to my desktop. All in all, it should be cheaper. I only average 2.3 GB a month data usage on the modem. But I can't think of anyone off hand at the moment. We live in a rural area.

Keep in mind you will pay for data $30 and then another $20 or $30 (based on Smartphone data plan) for the ability to tether.

[pderoo12]

So even if I pay the same I have one less device to deal with. And I sure hope the speeds aren't worse. If they are, they can have it all back! This just isn't worth it.

[John_Getzke]

Few questions to build info on the enviornment of this conversation:

- What device are we talking about here?

- Are we looking at a 1x/3g/4g lte signal?

- Any corporate or personal VPN's being used?

[pderoo12]

It's a Pantech UMW190 modem.

Supposedly in a 3G signal area.

No VPN's being used.

[John_Getzke]

Gotcha, thanks!

That being said it sounds like either your device is under performing or there is an issue with the local towers in your area.  If there is a SIM card in that USB modem you might want to try removing it for 30 seconds and re-inserting it to get a fresh connection to the towers.

You could also try driving around to a different area and see if the problem is consistent.  A different tower may not have the same problem.  A great tool for locating towers is the following website:

http://www.cellreception.com/towers/

A call to Verizon may be helpful too if you have not already checked with them.  They could atleast run you by your replacement options under the current warranty.  Its also possible that they could inform you about a network problem and send a tech out to the site and repair it.

In a nutshell, this is a pure performance problem and it should be correctable.  Either a reset, new hardware on your end, or a field tech will resolve the problem.  3G should get you around 1Mb download, the numbers you posted should not be common.

[pderoo12]

Yes, I've seen that site before. I'm between two VZW towers, one about 2 miles from me, the other about 7 miles away, but the VZW coverage map does show that I'm in a solid 3G service area.

I will try your other suggestions and see if I can't better the reception. I just wish they'd put cable in our area, but I doubt that will ever happen and neither will DSL because our "lines are too old to handle voice and data" according to Verizon. Thanks for the suggestions!

[budone]

pderoo12 wrote:

Yes, I've seen that site before. I'm between two VZW towers, one about 2 miles from me, the other about 7 miles away, but the VZW coverage map does show that I'm in a solid 3G service area.

I will try your other suggestions and see if I can't better the reception. I just wish they'd put cable in our area, but I doubt that will ever happen and neither will DSL because our "lines are too old to handle voice and data" according to Verizon. Thanks for the suggestions!

Keep in mind unlike most other providers, VZW maps do not show how strong a signal will be, just if there is one. A huge negative in my opinion.

[pderoo12]

Yea I know, I have what I call "the cornfield zone" between home and work where I lose signal and sometimes my calls get dropped. Usually here at home I get a pretty good signal strength on my phone tho. I'm really counting on my new phone giving me a better signal strength.

Does anybody have opinions on smartphones? I was leaning towards the iPhone, but my boss has a Droid and loves it. My biggest concern is security. I know how to lock down my PC and laptop pretty well, but I have never had a phone with an OS.

[jamackw]

I just found out that if you are in the top 5% of data users and you are in an area where a lot of data is being used your data speed will drop.  Mine dropped to like .03 and .05 on speedtest my phone read 1.5 and 1.4 during this time frame.  So long for unlimited DATA.  I am not happy with Verizon at all right now.   Have been with them for 12 years and have had unlimited data for a while now.

[pderoo12]

Yea I'm not exactly pleased with them right now either. I average about 2.3GB a month.