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My area supposedly has excellent 3G coverage but I bought a Sierra Mercury USB device and could not get it to transfer at more than 14 kbps. The indicator found the 3G network but the signal was only 1-2 bars. Yet 1/4 mile down the road on Dad's PC it transferred extremely fast. Needless to say I returned it. Is the problem the device? Reception? The satellite service I have is only 256 service and even it transfers up to 70 kbps at times so I know it's not my computer.
Answer
Wow there are a number of reasons for this issue, and without having the actual laptop and device in front of me, and at the location in question, I can only be general in my answer.
I assume you have AT&T as this is the USB device that Sierra Wireless is making for them with the new name of Mercury. You may want to check your providers website for the zip code you are in, and how many transmitters/receivers there are for your type of 3G connection.
The most likely cause of the 3G problems is between the antenna and an amplifier that captures very weak signals from the antenna. This could lead to poor 3G connectivity and slower data speeds as witnessed by the weak signal of only 1 or 2 bars. The amp can only amplify so much before too much data is lost.
The Mercury is compatible with Windows7 Mobile Broadband, Vista, XP, 2000, Mac OS X 10.4 or later. A Firmware update may help, just go to the www.sierrawireless.com website for the update for the Sierra Wireless Compass 885 as that is the model the Mercury is.
Make sure that any software that came with the device is configured for optimum performance based on the data plan you have with your provider. Also be aware there may be fine print in your contract limiting your speed, data usage, or when you try to connect on other providers networks. Also make sure the Laptop you are using is optimally configured for wireless connections and networking settings are tweaked.
The computer case itself can be a significant barrier to the Wi-Fi signal - try positioning the case so it doesn't come between the the device the possible direction of any antennas. Also there my be environmental impacting issues. RFI (Electromagnetic interference or EMI, also called Radio Frequency Interference) can be caused by any number of things such as High Power Lines, Broadcast transmitters, two-way radio transmitters, paging transmitters, and cable TV are potential sources of RFI and EMI. Other possible sources of interference include a wide variety of devices, such as doorbell transformers, toaster ovens, electric blankets, ultrasonic pest control devices, electric bug zappers, heating pads, and touch controlled lamps. Multiple CRT computer monitors or televisions sitting too close to one another can sometimes cause a "shimmy" effect in each other, due to the electromagnetic nature of their picture tubes, especially when one of their de-gaussing coils is activated.
Electromagnetic interference at 2.4 GHz can be caused by 802.11b and 802.11g wireless devices, Bluetooth devices, baby monitors and cordless telephones, video senders, and microwave ovens.
3G uses HARQ(Hybrid automatic repeat-request) a incremental redundancy, where user data is transmitted multiple times using different codings. When a corrupted packet is received, the user device saves it and later combines it with the retransmissions, to recover the error-free packet as efficiently as possible. Even if the retransmitted packets are corrupted, their combination can yield an error-free packet. The weaker a signal the more opportunities there are for packet corruption. More packets re-sent slows down speed.
Wow there are a number of reasons for this issue, and without having the actual laptop and device in front of me, and at the location in question, I can only be general in my answer.
I assume you have AT&T as this is the USB device that Sierra Wireless is making for them with the new name of Mercury. You may want to check your providers website for the zip code you are in, and how many transmitters/receivers there are for your type of 3G connection.
The most likely cause of the 3G problems is between the antenna and an amplifier that captures very weak signals from the antenna. This could lead to poor 3G connectivity and slower data speeds as witnessed by the weak signal of only 1 or 2 bars. The amp can only amplify so much before too much data is lost.
The Mercury is compatible with Windows7 Mobile Broadband, Vista, XP, 2000, Mac OS X 10.4 or later. A Firmware update may help, just go to the www.sierrawireless.com website for the update for the Sierra Wireless Compass 885 as that is the model the Mercury is.
Make sure that any software that came with the device is configured for optimum performance based on the data plan you have with your provider. Also be aware there may be fine print in your contract limiting your speed, data usage, or when you try to connect on other providers networks. Also make sure the Laptop you are using is optimally configured for wireless connections and networking settings are tweaked.
The computer case itself can be a significant barrier to the Wi-Fi signal - try positioning the case so it doesn't come between the the device the possible direction of any antennas. Also there my be environmental impacting issues. RFI (Electromagnetic interference or EMI, also called Radio Frequency Interference) can be caused by any number of things such as High Power Lines, Broadcast transmitters, two-way radio transmitters, paging transmitters, and cable TV are potential sources of RFI and EMI. Other possible sources of interference include a wide variety of devices, such as doorbell transformers, toaster ovens, electric blankets, ultrasonic pest control devices, electric bug zappers, heating pads, and touch controlled lamps. Multiple CRT computer monitors or televisions sitting too close to one another can sometimes cause a "shimmy" effect in each other, due to the electromagnetic nature of their picture tubes, especially when one of their de-gaussing coils is activated.
Electromagnetic interference at 2.4 GHz can be caused by 802.11b and 802.11g wireless devices, Bluetooth devices, baby monitors and cordless telephones, video senders, and microwave ovens.
3G uses HARQ(Hybrid automatic repeat-request) a incremental redundancy, where user data is transmitted multiple times using different codings. When a corrupted packet is received, the user device saves it and later combines it with the retransmissions, to recover the error-free packet as efficiently as possible. Even if the retransmitted packets are corrupted, their combination can yield an error-free packet. The weaker a signal the more opportunities there are for packet corruption. More packets re-sent slows down speed.
Question regarding dropped internet connection that happens 20-50+ times a day?
tehpwnerer
I have Charter internet, a Linksys CM-100 modem, and an Airport Extreme simultaneous dual band wireless base station. Whether I am playing Xbox, watching Hulu on my MacBook Pro, playing an online game on my iPad, or browsing the web on my iMac, the internet just randomly stops working, but I don't lose connection to the router and the router doesn't go from a green light to an amber light to signal a problem. If I leave it long enough, it will fix itself, but when I am mid game or video and I lose my connection it really aggrivates me. To try and troubleshoot the problem I tried out a Linksys WRT54GS v7.2 to see if that would have similar problems, and it has. The modem lights all stay lit up as usual as if there is no problem there. It cannot be that 3 routers (I bought a new Airport Extreme when my old one was having this same problem thinking it was that router) have the exact same problem. What is my next troubleshooting step? Plug something straight into the modem and see if it happens? On any given day I lose my connection at least 20 times, if not 50 or more. It is not wireless interference as I have tried turning wireless off and plugging straight into the router via ethernet cable. My thoughts were to try plugging directly into the modem to see if the problem persists, and if it does, try a different modem, and if it still persists have Charter test the lines in my house.
Any feedback or anyone had similar problems? Thanks.
Answer
Yes plug directly into the modem with an Ethernet cable.
Has it every worked successfully for a long period of time? If yes then call the ISP and have them test the lines could be an issue on their side.
If it works directly plugged into the modem via Ethernet cable. Then you have narrowed the issue to being some thing within or around your home.
Things to check for when checking for RFI issues.
Do you have any fluorescent lights?
Cordless phone?
Concrete wall?
Steel?
Baby monitor?
Are any of the equipment plugged into the same wall or room? If yes, then some contractors will save money when building an apartment, house, etc.. Which means they are not running the wires properly and can cause issues for internet connection with ADSL aka DSL.
Are you using ADSL or Cable?
Have you set the Channels in the modem?
Have you deleted the plist for the connection in you OS X?
Are you running the same OS X on all Mac's?
If yes, then try another OS such as 10.4.x instead of 10.5.x or a Windows OS?
Most ISP's will give free tech support (inclusive of your monthly service) call them and see what help they can provide from their side of things. Hopefully they are more helpful than some that I have worked with and know about.
IMAC that I have did have issues with FIOS and it was working for several months then stopped working properly. It kept having a random connection that was very annoying it could last seconds to even hours of no connection. It was only affecting my IMAC and not the Windows 2K Pro which was really odd. Found out I missed a very important update from Apple after some major work from me I got it updated and it ran for another 8 months. Then it drove me crazy with what you are talking about and working via Wireless for my sisters computer that had Vista and worked wired with Win 2K Pro. Thought of when it started and realized that by telling the ISP to upgrade my speed to 20MBs download and 5MB's upload. That is when it started so I had to fight with them and they looked it over, it was not provisioned correctly.
After that it worked but still had issues and had to deleted the plist from the Library that refers to the connection, sorry I am drawing a blank on the full name. Also had to trash the TCP/IP Preferences of course restart the IMAC and it will add the plist back along with the rest of the things needed.
Maybe some of this has been very helpful or at least given you some more things to try. That will help you narrow down where the issue is.
Remember to vote for best answer, thanks!
Yes plug directly into the modem with an Ethernet cable.
Has it every worked successfully for a long period of time? If yes then call the ISP and have them test the lines could be an issue on their side.
If it works directly plugged into the modem via Ethernet cable. Then you have narrowed the issue to being some thing within or around your home.
Things to check for when checking for RFI issues.
Do you have any fluorescent lights?
Cordless phone?
Concrete wall?
Steel?
Baby monitor?
Are any of the equipment plugged into the same wall or room? If yes, then some contractors will save money when building an apartment, house, etc.. Which means they are not running the wires properly and can cause issues for internet connection with ADSL aka DSL.
Are you using ADSL or Cable?
Have you set the Channels in the modem?
Have you deleted the plist for the connection in you OS X?
Are you running the same OS X on all Mac's?
If yes, then try another OS such as 10.4.x instead of 10.5.x or a Windows OS?
Most ISP's will give free tech support (inclusive of your monthly service) call them and see what help they can provide from their side of things. Hopefully they are more helpful than some that I have worked with and know about.
IMAC that I have did have issues with FIOS and it was working for several months then stopped working properly. It kept having a random connection that was very annoying it could last seconds to even hours of no connection. It was only affecting my IMAC and not the Windows 2K Pro which was really odd. Found out I missed a very important update from Apple after some major work from me I got it updated and it ran for another 8 months. Then it drove me crazy with what you are talking about and working via Wireless for my sisters computer that had Vista and worked wired with Win 2K Pro. Thought of when it started and realized that by telling the ISP to upgrade my speed to 20MBs download and 5MB's upload. That is when it started so I had to fight with them and they looked it over, it was not provisioned correctly.
After that it worked but still had issues and had to deleted the plist from the Library that refers to the connection, sorry I am drawing a blank on the full name. Also had to trash the TCP/IP Preferences of course restart the IMAC and it will add the plist back along with the rest of the things needed.
Maybe some of this has been very helpful or at least given you some more things to try. That will help you narrow down where the issue is.
Remember to vote for best answer, thanks!
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