Novatel Wireless MiFi4510L stops every 30 minutes

[kentiler]

I have a Novatel MiFi4510L in a 4G area.  I have found that about every 30 minutes web/ftp traffic stops being transmitted, but Outlook can still send/receive email to an Exchange server. 

I end up logging into the device, clicking disconnect, then clicking connect, and all works again for about 30 minutes. 

I've had a support case open with Verizon for over 4 weeks now, and they have not called me once to troubleshoot.  I've received a few calls that have said they found the issue and it should be working now - it wasn't though.

I am so frustrated I can't even begin to describe it.  I can't believe they haven't contacted me to replace it, or at least try or check configuration settings!

--Kent

[coasty]

I see in the manual when on battery power you can make adjustments to go dormant.  My question is can you power the MiFi4510L  with the charger and stay on line?  Battery live sucks and I need about 8 hours use a day for work.

THX

[wicamper]

I can also confirm that the latest firmware does not fix the issue where after approx. 30 min it will not stay connected to the Internet.  I was able to successfully download the firmware and install it via my Windows7 pc, but the issue is no better than before the new firmware release.  This is VERY FRUSTRATING VERIZON!!

[ngarrett]

Interesting - I can tentatively confirm that this issue is resolved (at least on the latest firmware) if you set the device to never enter power save, AND if the device is set to 802.11b + 802.11g wifi mode. Setting only to 802.11n does NOT resolve the issue.

[cobmsdn]

Here's an interesting item for everyone to digest:

We've exported the settings from a 2200 MiFi to XML and have also done the same for a 4510L MiFi.  Comparing the two, there seems to be a power setting missing between the two:

MiFi 2200:

---snip---

<Power>
    <acpower>0</acpower>
    <batpower>0</batpower>
</Power>

---snip---

MiFi 4510L:

---snip---

<Power>
    <batpower>0</batpower>
</Power>

---snip---

We've attempted to "re-add" the "missing" <acpower>0</acpower> setting to the 4510L MiFi without effect.

MESSAGE TO VERIZON:  If the customer wants their MiFi to NEVER disconnect under normal operational conditions (on AC or Battery power), please allow the device to respect this!

[ngarrett]

---

ngarrett wrote:

Interesting - I can tentatively confirm that this issue is resolved (at least on the latest firmware) if you set the device to never enter power save, AND if the device is set to 802.11b + 802.11g wifi mode. Setting only to 802.11n does NOT resolve the issue.

---

I can confirm this does NOT resolve the issue.

Verizon: Where is the support on this? Why is this not getting resolved??

[kentiler]

I opened a Small Claims Court Case for $3000 against Verizon and have someone from Executive Relations working with me now.  We extended the court date to see how the new troubleshooting will work.

They are trying to get an engineer to come onsite and troubleshoot the network with me.  Finally a possible light at the end of the tunnel!

I'll keep you posted.

--Kent

[ngarrett]

Good call Kent, keep us posted. It's unfortunate that it takes a court filing to get technical support. I'm interested to hear how they resolve this, and if it will also require me to file a similar small claims court suit.

[ryanc7829]

Just to add to this, that I"m seeing the exact same issue on the Samsung SCH-LC11.  Just today at lunch I was working and boom 30 min in my VPN dropped, while the device still showed that it was online and connected.  I've had the device replaced and the sim card swapped and still the same issue.  

I've posted a few times on here with no reponse.  At least the stores have tried by listening and replacing what I suggest to replace, but I'm doing all my own troubleshooting and telling them what I need, and unfortunately I'm still seeing the issue on a regular basis.  

I have refrained from going onto a contract until this issue is resolved.  At this point I would jump to another carrier, but Verizon is my only option in my specific location.

[NJITmanSDS]

I too have been experiencing the same issues with my 4510 since I got it in August - I upgraded a 2200 to solve the same issue.

After trying all of the tips on this forum and having no luck, I contacted VZW tech support and they initiated a ticket for engineering to research the issue.  3 days later they called me back and confirmed that the tower I was connecting to was fine and that 4G service was available (I was in Orlando at the time).  They sent me a replacement device and SIM card, I activated it today and have been online with it for an hour.  I could never get more than 30 minutes with the previous 4510.

The new device already has the latest firmware (2.16.07), which I was able to successfully install on the previous 4510.

I suspect the earlier devices had hardware issues that could not be corrected with firmware or settings.  But cannot be sure without more testing.

I cannot confirm 4G operation, as I only have 3G at home.  But, next time I am in a 4G area, I will test and post back with the results.

Pat

[Ron0525]

I too, have been frustrated with the device.   I signed up on October 3rd after reading several reviews of this "new" device.   Apparently, those who tried the device out for their tech columns, weren't using the same MIFI4510L that we received.   I have tried all the recommendations that have been listed on this forum with no success.   I am afraid to download my GPS map updates out of fear that the connection will be dropped midway into the process.   What disappoitnment Verizon!

[tswys3]

Just wanna throw my hat in the pile and say that I've been having all kinds of similar issues with my Samsung SCH-LC11. It will work for about 30 minutes and then certain types of communication will stop. (gchat still working fine but web pages wont respond etc...) I've also had issues with certain elements of a website not loading while others will. I am coming from an old Novatel MiFi 2200 and although it was slow it never had reliability issues like this. I am praying VZW gets their act together and fixes these problems for good but my hopes are low since I see forum posts around the web complaining about the same things from 6+ months ago. I also have a wireless connection through T-Mobile's 4G and although the latency is almost always dreadfully high I've never had these kinds of problems on 3G or 4G.

Please take care of this VZW, I'd really like to be happy with this speed but in the current state it is flat out broken.

[robbied31]

I am convinced it is the 4G network!  I had the mifi 4510 for almost two weeks of my 14 day trial.  I experienced all the problems talked about in this thread.  I updated the firmward last friday and nothing changed.  I took the mifi back and exchanged it for the pantech UML290 aircard thinking that it would probably be like my good ole 3g UM150.  setup the UML290 in Modesto this weekend which only has 3g coverage and everything went fine.  Got on my jobsite in Fresno this morning only to fight with the 4G network just like with the mifi 4510.  knocked offline multiple times, switched off the 4G network to 3G multiple times, and as soon as it went "dormant" on the 4G network, I had to disconnect and reconnect.

This is why I am convinced it is the 4G network.  I have since forced the aircard to connect to 3G and all is fine for now!!!

Rob

[cobmsdn]

You may have just lucked out with your current device.  We're seeing this behavior on multiple 4510L units even with the new firmware and 3G-only locked in.  We were asked whether the laptop's WiFi drivers may have been the issue but this is also not the case.  We've gone as far as locking the WiFi configuration at 802.11b/g only with no success.

[cobmsdn]

Attention Verizon

Steps to reproduce this issue:

   1.) Turn on MiFi

   2.) Connect to MiFi

   3.) Wait

[statdetective]

---

cobmsdn wrote:

Attention Verizon

Steps to reproduce this issue:

   1.) Turn on MiFi

   2.) Connect to MiFi

   3.) Wait

---

Verizon,

I don't know how long you have to wait, but the problem seems to be related to reassignment of the IP address for the MiFi. When the IP address gets reassigned, downloads and uploads quit working. The end user sees a web page or web site that is hung. Yesterday morning, I experienced about four of these hangs in a 10 to 15 minute period. On the other hand, my MiFi device currently shows a connection time of longer than 12 hours.

When the MiFi quits working (i.e., the web site hangs), the mifi.admin WWAN page shows that the connection time has been reset and the IP address had been reassigned. There is something that relates to the device being dormant and re-establishing its connection. That's a real problem when you have a session-based interaction. It's like hanging up the phone then picking it up again and expecting the conversation to resume.

Please note:

1. During both of these periods, my MiFi was plugged into AC and NOT on battery power.

2. I have not enabled Port Forwarding.

3. I am using FW version 2.16.07.

4. Current WWAN Preferred Mode is "Global"

5. Auto-connect is checked.

6. 802.11 modes: b, g, and n.

7. Browser being used: Google Chrome.

[kentiler]

I don't think it's completely tied to when the IP address changes.  It's pretty common when you disconnect and reconnect to get a new IP address.

However, I created a logging utility to get some data on how often this happens.  I run it daily for about 8 hours while I'm at the location where I'm working and it goes out every minute to try to access 2 websites to determine the IP address (and to determine if it can still open new connections).

Here's a section of the log where you can see I have the same IP address for multiple disconnects and reconnects.  The success column tells if it was able to access the website.  The numsecs column shows the time in seconds that it took to access the site or to timeout.  The last column, Minutes:Seconds since Reset, shows how long it's been since a reset (disconnect and reconnect - not power reset) occurred.

ID	url	starttime	endtime	success	reset	numsecs	body	misc	timeSinceReset	Minutes:Seconds since Reset
1255	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 10:20	10/10/2011 10:20	TRUE	FALSE	1.03	Your IP Address is: 166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 30 NumLoopsSinceReset: 1 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	66.5091169	1:06
1308	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 10:50	10/10/2011 10:50	TRUE	FALSE	1.06	166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 56 NumLoopsSinceReset: 27 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1829.6564162	30:29
1309	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 10:51	10/10/2011 10:51	FALSE	TRUE	21.34	Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 57 NumLoopsSinceReset: 28 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1893.886929	31:33
1310	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 10:51	10/10/2011 10:53	FALSE	TRUE	84.23	Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 57 NumLoopsSinceReset: 28 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1917.6311708	31:57
1311	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 10:54	10/10/2011 10:54	TRUE	FALSE	1.06	Your IP Address is: 166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 58 NumLoopsSinceReset: 1 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	63.1021108	1:03
1360	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 11:22	10/10/2011 11:22	TRUE	FALSE	1.06	166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 82 NumLoopsSinceReset: 25 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1739.039678	28:59
1361	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 11:23	10/10/2011 11:23	FALSE	TRUE	21.34	Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 83 NumLoopsSinceReset: 26 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1803.3625912	30:03
1362	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 11:23	10/10/2011 11:24	TRUE	FALSE	21.37	166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 83 NumLoopsSinceReset: 26 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1827.0434327	30:27
1363	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 11:25	10/10/2011 11:25	TRUE	FALSE	10.19	Your IP Address is: 166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 84 NumLoopsSinceReset: 27 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1911.6463816	31:51
1404	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 11:48	10/10/2011 11:48	TRUE	FALSE	1.03	166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 104 NumLoopsSinceReset: 18 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1218.8779682	20:18
1405	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 11:49	10/10/2011 11:50	FALSE	TRUE	21.34	Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 105 NumLoopsSinceReset: 19 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1283.1864811	21:23
1406	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 11:50	10/10/2011 11:50	TRUE	FALSE	1.08	166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 105 NumLoopsSinceReset: 19 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1306.8369374	21:46
1407	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 11:51	10/10/2011 11:51	TRUE	FALSE	1.05	Your IP Address is: 166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 106 NumLoopsSinceReset: 20 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1371.0954503	22:51
1408	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 11:51	10/10/2011 11:51	TRUE	FALSE	1.03	166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 106 NumLoopsSinceReset: 20 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1374.6210565	22:54
1409	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 11:52	10/10/2011 11:52	TRUE	FALSE	10.17	Your IP Address is: 166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 107 NumLoopsSinceReset: 21 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1438.7995692	23:58
1410	http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp	10/10/2011 11:52	10/10/2011 11:52	TRUE	FALSE	4.09	166.249.106.173	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 107 NumLoopsSinceReset: 21 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1451.5447916	24:11
1411	http://www.iler.com/myip	10/10/2011 11:53	10/10/2011 11:54	FALSE	TRUE	21.34	Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage	" FirstTime: False NumLoops: 108 NumLoopsSinceReset: 22 Current Sucess: 1 NumSuccess: 1 NumFail: 0 NumReset: 0 "	1518.83171	25:18

--Kent

[kentiler]

Interesting update for me....

I finally got a Verizon tech to come on-site, and we worked for 2 1/2 hours on the issue.  I was able to reproduce the issue with my Novatel device, so then he gave me a 4G UML290 device to use, and he used my device.  He stayed connected for over 1 hour and was still able to open new connections after an hour!  I was floored by that because I've tried it with an iPad, Apple Macbook Pro running Windows 7, and a Dell Latitude all concurrently.

The main difference I saw was that he was running WIndows XP on his laptop and I was running Windows 7.

Is anyone else having these issues with Windows 7?  What hardware are you running, too?

We are doing some networking traces with Wireshark so hopefully that will help to lead to the solution.

Thanks!

--Kent

[John_Getzke]

Ken,

A few of us are having a similar discussion in the  Broadband and Netbook area.  A few users have described an issue with the MiFi 4510L where the browsing traffic is being blocked periodically.  You can find more information here:

http://community.vzw.com/t5/Broadband-Netbook-Devices/MiFi-4510L-Problems-unable-to-browse-web-but-c...

What is interesting is that they also comment that their browser traffic is blocked/broken.  However, other applications and forms of network traffic continue to function.  Feel free to share our findings with your Verizon rep and see if it shines and light on the situation or if they are related.  Im curious to see if these two issues are related or not.

I will also share that my main laptop is XP but I mainly connect to my MiFi on a Win7 test laptop.  So far I have not been able to reproduce this problem on either machine.

[kentiler]

Well, ended up in Small Claims Court last Wednesday and presented my case.  Not the fact that Verizon isn't admitting this issue, but the fact that several times they have closed my tickets without contacting me and stating that it was due to poor signal strength.  The area that I am having trouble in I have full bars of signal strength, and the on-site rep confirmed that signal strength was not an issue.

I'll have to wait and see how that turns out.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for better news.  I have not changed any settings on my hardware, and I am still using the same MiFi device.  However, I've been connected for over 1 1/2 hours without having to reset!

This is the first time this has happened for me since May!  I'll keep you updated, and I'm not holding my breath, but I am very excited about the hope of the issue being resolved!

--Kent

[deloswilbur]

Good luck on both fronts

[deloswilbur]

Okay, I switched back to 4510L 4G to give it a try as they changed the map in my area (hopefully corresponding to towers coming online and not someone playing with paint.)

The device is holding signal, my signal strength is higher, however the problem of the drops in data flow while still maintatining ability to ping is still happening.  This is so frustrating, I would happily pay for this service if this problem was not present, the throughput is awesome when it works, but **bleep** it sucks when it gets flaky.  

On a side note it seems to be somewhat related to multiple devices connecting, when just one device it seem to be more stable, have others seen this?