"Broadband" speeds?
pderoo12
Newbie

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

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
budone
Legend

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??

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
pderoo12
Newbie

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:

speedtest1.png

speedtest2.png

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
budone
Legend

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.

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
pderoo12
Newbie

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.

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
budone
Legend

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.

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
pderoo12
Newbie

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.

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

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?

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
pderoo12
Newbie

It's a Pantech UMW190 modem.

Supposedly in a 3G signal area.

No VPN's being used.

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Re: "Broadband" speeds?
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

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.

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