A lot of money spent to have service in non-service area!!

[Rebel-Pride]

I've been a Verizon customer for many years with much satifaction. My company just relocated me to Mid Eastern Alabama (Wadley, Randolf County, between Auburn and Anniston) and much to my dismay, the county I'm in is the only county that I couldn't recieve any signal from any carrier.

I had two choices, switch to the ever-unaffordable Southern Linc iDen monoply or buy signal boosters. I chose the latter. I purchased two dual frequency (800 mhz/1900 mhz) boosters from Maximum Signal along with the best antennas on the market. One for the house and one for my truck. After installing the systems and plugging in the phone, I was amazed that I had 4-5 bars of extended network digital signal. The SYS ID is registered to Alltel I think (444) with my Motorola E-815 also showing a NET ID of 000 (to which no one at Verizon has been able to tell me what this pertains to).

The problem with this great signal I have now, is that the phone never connects to a call (in or out). All I get is call failure. I've had two trouble tickets with VZW with no resolve as of yet. I know that electronics work, because when I drive about 20 miles, everything works, although I can use the phone in this area without the expensive signal boosters. The only difference I see is the NET ID changes to 444 matching the SYS ID. VZW tells me that I do not show as registering in the 444 SYS ID except for the times that I traveled away from home to the area I spoke of before.

Can anyone explain any of this to me in a manner that I can understand? Have I waisted my money? Am I doing something wrong? Will I never again be able to use VZW and have to convert to the Southern Linc Alabama monopoly? Help!!

[Airb330]

I'd call the booster company. Maybe they can help you out. Obviously, the signal has improved, but perhaps the towers you are connected to are just very overloaded. I'd keep on both companies until it gets fixed. That said, Verizon is so slow in fixing network problems here in DE, they might be slow in AL as well. It took them 3-4 weeks to fix our local tower after a bad thunderstorm. I'm sure Verizon fixes problems in heavily populated areas much faster. Good luck!

[MeatChicken]

Things to try & consider:
1) I ASSume you have a directional/yagi type antenna for max signal capture at home outdoors (if not get one, you don't have the "best" antenna).
Try rotating it to other directions to see if you can get a better or usable signal from a different site & get more antenna height if possible..
2) Signal boosters, can give under some conditions multiple "false bars" of amplifier signal, while the "actual" real cellular signal is "buried" in those bars, & is almost unuseable.
This could be your problem ... the booster took you from a non-existant signal to an existing but too weak/unuseable one... more height &/or direction of antenna change may help if that's the case.
The booster itself can only relay the system & network ID's being transmitted from the cell site, it can't change or create different ones, so you must be locking onto a cell with a network ID of 000... another possibility is you are locking onto some sort of "test" , "private" or otherwise non-functional cell sector that will not allow your calls to go thru, again, a directional antenna moved to another direction may lock onto a different site ...

[KitaruSapien]

*This thread sounds familiar to a problem I foresee having....... *


If this isn't the one, I'd like directions to the proper wireless thread(s) concerning unique situations like mine where I have a powerful Yagi ant/amp home system, and I'm trying out various PC cards to use via an adapter to my home desktop PC. I forsee much tweaking/testing in my future wireless endeavours(especially making the VZ Manager see eye-to-eye with my desktop PC, and finetuning the fixed position signaling), so if ya'll would be so kind as to point me to the correct forums, I'll move on smartly. Thanks.


BTW, my first PC Card attempt is the Verizon v620 by Novatel(two year unlimited access; not holding my breath there ), and of course, I only have fifteen days to finish testing to see if I'll keep the card/service. My ant/amp system is a hard-wired, low-loss cabled Yagi(digital multi-band 800/1900/2400Mhz)with a WPS amp(Wilson Cellular 800MHz/1900MHz Dual-Band 3 Watt Direct Connection.) Situation for the ant system is looking LOS out through a canyon from about 7500' elevation down onto the flats around 5200'; LOS is honestly about 200 miles on a clear day(Google map says there at least ten cell towers LOS from my position within the first fifteen miles out from my canyon.) Any advice/questions/precautions would be greatly appreciated!

[Rebel-Pride]

Thanks for the advice. I do have a directional "Yagi" at home and "Trucker" in my truck. I've talked with the booster vendor as well as VZW many times. I've tried directing the Yagi in every location with no success. The phone never seems to change towers, with the exception of one time that it locked on to a true Verizon Net out of Georgia about 30 miles away. I know it was that system because I live in central time zone and Georgia is eastern. During this connection my phone clock changed to eastern time standard. I placed a call during this time but the signal went away and the phone locked again on the extended network sys id 444.
I've placed the antenna on a small tower just outside of the house. One that was previously used for a t.v. antenna. This has given me about 4-5 bars of signal but with the same results in no call completion. I'm about ready to except defeat and count my losses. I don't have any more choices unless I relocate my home, and in that case the truck system will still not give me anything when I'm traveling back to work. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

[KitaruSapien]

It figures.......I get the card, adapter, ant system all set and first time I get 1 bar(after I remove the Venture Client) NOW, I decide to move the ant up the mountain to get a clearer view, and all heck breaks loose; that is to say, the VZManager comes up, and the card is configured right, activated as well, but the system shows no signal at all. I scrambled up the mountain for the seventh time to check connections(which are heniously good)and still nothing at the 'test' screen. Once, when I rebooted the system after reinstalling VZM for the third time, I actually got a moment of 51% on the VZM startup screen, and it even tested consistently at 48-51%....until I tried to connect to the Net, and then, again........no signal

Now, I KNEW this kind of thing would happen to me, but alas, my networking naivety has lulled me into an ____-whoopin' once more. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU.


*One minute later.........OH, this is interestin'......now, while online with my crappy 56K(more like 3.5K download speeds), the wonderful V620 Manager shows 2 bards, back up to 51%............can SOMEBODY explain this to dummy-me?????? Thanks again

[KitaruSapien]

Well, now I have the system up and running after removing all traces of my old Juno/56K modem, but NOW, even though the VZM shows the same 51% on 2 bars, I can only get crappy phone-line "national access" flows, even though on the first pass before the glitches with only 1 bar showing, I was easily getting 166K

Yea, I know, I'm easily confused.......mayhaps I can reposition the ant again.....it'll only be the ninth time I've trucked up that 60deg slope with all it's loose rock

[Andy]

You seem to be on the outskirts of coverage anyways and since EVDO is on 1900 Mhz it will disappear before regular coverage disappears. EVDO needs not only a good signal but also a low Ec/Io or noise level to work well. Do you also have Verizon phone service?

[KitaruSapien]

Originally Posted by Andy84094

You seem to be on the outskirts of coverage anyways and since EVDO is on 1900 Mhz it will disappear before regular coverage disappears. EVDO needs not only a good signal but also a low Ec/Io or noise level to work well. Do you also have Verizon phone service?

Nay, just the PC card. I just got the ant up today, as well as the installation done this PM, so I've stil got about 12 days to try and make this work. Incidentally, do ya'll know why pointing the Yagi straight up(I had it lodged in a rockpile while I dragged up the mountpole)gave me 1 bar, but 166K flow?

BTW, could you further ID what you mean by low noise and Ec/Io? I'd really like to keep Verizon. A further note is that while the download still reeks at 55K, the uploads are trying to match that, so that's a plus.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by KitaruSapien

Nay, just the PC card. I just got the ant up today, as well as the installation done this PM, so I've stil got about 12 days to try and make this work. Incidentally, do ya'll know why pointing the Yagi straight up(I had it lodged in a rockpile while I dragged up the mountpole)gave me 1 bar, but 166K flow?

BTW, could you further ID what you mean by low noise and Ec/Io? I'd really like to keep Verizon. A further note is that while the download still reeks at 55K, the uploads are trying to match that, so that's a plus.

Well if pointing the Yagi up gives you better results why not just have it point up???

I'm not an expert in this field, but the noise level/Ec/Io depends on a variety of factors, incnluding call/data traffic at the cellsite, other interference and distance to the site. Since you are far it seems like and far away, your pc card/yagi isn't only far from the site, but can also see multiple sites, which doesn't make it easier...in short, the perfect scenario for a high noise level. I bet that reception isn't necessarily all that great at this location anyways, and when you are in areas where voice service is just okay, EVDO data won't be all that great. You could try messing around with your Yagi a little more, but I'm not sure how great results you will get. So do you know where Verizon sites are located and have you aimed straight at them?

[KitaruSapien]

I know where PAST Verizon towers have been according to Google, and yes, I am tracked on them, but one of the Verizon techs said they had pulled broadband from towers in my immediate vicinity, so the towers I'm focusing on are a ways out.......still, the deal with reception when the ant is straight up is a mystery......reckon the 'old man' has a tower up yonder?!

[KitaruSapien]

The Yagi is now vertical again, pulling in only Nat Access, but with DrTCP in place I'm getting a solid 80kbps bursting over 120kbps(I thought Nat Access was limited to 114K )Hey, what can I say, when you've lived as long as I have with 56K, even getting these numbers is worth the Verizon pricetag. Although, if Sprint with it's evdo locking capability could get me a signal using the same antenna system, I'd go with them in a heartbeat

There is a Verizon tower to the southeast down on the flats, but with a ridge in the way I forsee no love there. Does anyone know of a program to locate Verizon 1900mhz towers? There is a massive cell tower array on the westside of Lookout Mountain above Golden, CO, but I have no way of determining if it has a 1900mhz Verizon cell on it. If so, I could probably get a signal from it since the south-facing ridgeline in my canyon is only about 3-400ft above my Yagi's locale(7280ft), and the cell towers on Lookout Mountain are right at 7500ft, albiet they are 10 miles away

[Andy]

Once Verizon has 1900 DATA/EVDO on a site, they will not pull it again as you stated above. That would make no sense investing the money to upgrade the site in order to pull it again.
There really isn't a way to check whether or not VZW has upgraded a site to EVDO; the only way I guess you could tell is the 1900 panel installed per sector of each site...not sure if the setup in your area is the same as the setup in my area. BillRadio is whom you need to contact. He may be able to help you out more.
Or maybe you should try to get in contact with local Verizon technicians and try to see if they may be able to help you and point you in the right direction.

[KitaruSapien]

I now have the ant up on a 20' fiberglass extension clear of all obstructions, pointing out the canyon again....I tried facing it to the south, but got very little change in signal intensity and flows. I'm about ready to move on to the S620 Sprint card, and see if I can lock in EVDO....I think it's doable, but with Verizon's lack of locking capability, I forsee always getting 1XRTT over EVDO even if I can get EVDO signal. I'll talk to BillRadio before I move on, tho...thanks fer the tip.

[KitaruSapien]

DOH!!!! This is so frustrating....I got good scoop from BillR, but the friggin' Sprint people told me that they don't have the S620 PC card, only the NEWER card, a 52sumthin'; and of course they couldn't tell me whether or not that card had the same locking capability as the Novatel card. They did say that the Manager was the same, but if the card is manufactured by a diff company, how do I tell if it can lock in EVDO when the faq sheet doesn't say anything about it?????


Any help out there in the much more knowledgeable Net gallery? Thanks!


OOOoooo, what about this........is there a way to lock my dual-band Yagi ant to only recieve EVDO signals and ignore the pathetic National Access 800mhz?????? Probably not, huh?

[KitaruSapien]

Well, I have pretty good reception now, staying nicely in the 100-144kbps range with broadband being fairly common. Gaming is fairly steady, some downloads exceed 180kbps, surfing is pleasant and no drops whatsoever. I am pleased with my Verizon V620 PC card and service. As I learn more, I may change out my antenna, or modify it to concentrate on bringing in the precious braodband signals better. I will probably take up RadioBills' suggestion as to doing away with the 200' of low-loss cabling, positioning instead the antenna as close as possible to my comp using reflected signals as it is now. Thanks to everyone who replied, and especially to you, RB!

GREAT FORUM!!!!!