Improving MiFi performance
DavePinMInn
Enthusiast - Level 2

I generally stay out of here, but I'd be interested in thoughts...  I don't see much discussion over the past year or so on improving performance of the Mifi units.

I'm not sure how long we've had Verizon, but I suspect it's 5 years or so.  We have a couple Samsung GS5s and a MiFi 5510L.

In GENERAL, things work.  We've got a 6GB data plan (I won't go into my feelings about the pricing on Verizon's unlimited plan), and most of the time the phones and MiFi "work".  I'd happily move to an unlimited plan from a lower cost provider, but at the moment it seems that we have better coverage in the out-of-the-way places where we usually travel with Verizon, and since "no data, no travel" is my situation, I have to have a vendor with coverage.

At the moment we're in our small 5th wheel in Townsend,TN, and if I go down the road a half mile there's NO signal, which doesn't surprise me.  But, in town we've got a signal, and can connect.  In general, we get 1 or 2 bars on the MiFi.  Not just here, but the vast majority of places we stay.  Often, 1 bar.  So it mostly works - not blinding fast, but enough to get done what has to get done.

For the last 4-5 days, the MiFi has been abysmal, to the point where my wife gave up and turned on the hotspot on her phone, which worked slowly, but at least it worked.  And yes, I've reset the MiFi, pulled the battery and so on.  I've also disabled ipv6.

Question:  Would replacing the 5510L with something like a 7730 or whatever's current provide SIGNIFICANT improvement in signal strength?

Question:  Are there accessories that will SIGNIFICANTLY improve the signal to the MiFi (and perhaps the phones), PREFERABLY that do NOT require me to put an antenna or whatever OUTSIDE the trailer and run a connection through the wall?  Do ANY of those $10-30 gimmicks on Ebay actually do anything?  Or the $400 ones?

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Re: Improving MiFi performance
DavePinMInn
Enthusiast - Level 2

Hello?  Wrong forum?  Wrong product?  Not possible to improve?

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Re: Improving MiFi performance
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Thanks so much for being a Verizon customer for so long. We want to be able to fully address your concerns regarding the speeds on your MiFi 5510L.

 

You have already done quite a bit of troubleshooting, but we want to make sure all of the necessary troubleshooting has been completed to ensure we can get a stronger data connection. Below is our guided troubleshooting guide for your MiFi 5510L. Hopefully we can save you some money by completing all of these steps.

 

http://spr.ly/65898hkOZ

 

We also have an antenna for the MiFi 5510L http://spr.ly/65818hkOb

 

Since this is a community forum, many other customers will not be able to fully troubleshoot your concerns, but that is what I'm here for. Please let me know if the completion of the steps improved your service.

 

 

 

TamaraH_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

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Re: Improving MiFi performance
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

We want you to have access to reliable service wherever you travel, DavePinMInn. You've taken excellent steps to troubleshoot your connection. Has the SIM in your MiFi been replaced? Any Verizon Wireless corporate location can provide a free SIM. http://bit.ly/3SdsA

 

The MiFi 7730L is equipped with LTE Advanced, so it will be able to connect with faster speeds when in a LTE Advanced area. https://www.verizonwireless.com/featured/better-matters/#cities  If you would like to test this device for improvement, we do offer a 14 day return period.

 

I understand you are not interested in an external antenna. We would not be able to guarantee that a third party enhancer would function properly.

 

AndreaS_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

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Re: Improving MiFi performance
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

> Townsend,TN,

I took a look at the Verizon Coverage map.  There are significant coverage gaps all around this town.  Unless you have access to broadband cabled internet I would not expect to see any kind of drastic improvements in areas that Verizon labels as a coverage gap.  Don't spend too much time troubleshooting these scenarios, the devices will do the best job that they can at the time.

> Question:  Would replacing the 5510L with something like a 7730 or whatever's current provide SIGNIFICANT improvement in signal strength?

No.  Not in a significant way anyways.  All Jetpacks are relatively similar in their tech specs so unless we pull them up and compare line by line, I wouldn't expect there to be a huge difference based on the hardware alone.

> Question:  Are there accessories that will SIGNIFICANTLY improve the signal to the MiFi (and perhaps the phones), PREFERABLY that do NOT require me to put an antenna or whatever OUTSIDE the trailer and run a connection through the wall?

Yes.  These are called antennas and when combined with some kind of an amplifier you can significantly improve signal strength under the correct conditions.  In general the higher the power of the amplifier the better the results will be.  The more powerful antenna and amplifier kits are all external and require a power source to function correctly.  Connecting the antenna outside of any kind of physical interference, such as the walls to a trailer or a wall in general, will improve performance too.  You want your wireless signals to go through the least amount of crud possible when attempting to optimize the performance of the devices.

A great resource to get your started on this quest is the 3G Store:

https://3gstore.com/page/13_will_an_antenna_help_me.html

> Do ANY of those $10-30 gimmicks on Ebay actually do anything?  Or the $400 ones?

If you are referring to an unpowered antenna then yes they will have an impact on your reception.  However the impact of an unpowered external antenna is minimal compared to the powered antenna and amplifier kits that are available.  The powered devices are the ones that start around $400 and have a much more significant impact on performance under the correct conditions.  As with anything you choose to invest into be careful to research the products fully and be aware of the return policy incase you cannot figure it out or it doesn't work.  Send it back to minimize your troubleshooting losses.

Notice how I mention the "correct conditions" several times in this response.  There needs to be a signal in the area to amplify in the first place before you can do anything.  There is only so much an antenna and amplifier can do.  In most cases the greatest benefit to an external antenna is that you can mount it in a favorable position where there is reception and then funnel it down to where the users actually want to use it.  This is where the link I provided can be very helpful to tell you if its worth it or not to invest in this kind of gear.  Sometimes geological or local interference issues are simply too great to get a signal from the towers of a provider in that location.  Unless someone is willing to invest in setting up another tower or cable a local access point for your location you may be entirely out of luck.

Re: Improving MiFi performance
DavePinMInn
Enthusiast - Level 2

thanks for the replies........

Yes, several years ago, when we had t-mobile, we bought an amplifier and outside antenna setup.  I even put the antenna on an extending pole with a round metal plate to provide a ground plane (that's what the instructions told me to do) so I could get it up 12-14 feet, well above the roof.  It SORT-OF worked, but t-mobile being t-mobile may have been part of the reason it never did much.

And it SPECIFICALLY didn't work for Verizon.  Worked for a whole bunch of frequencies, but specifically SAID NO VERIZON.  So, once we switched we put it away 'cause it wasn't going to be of any use.

I'll take a look at some of the amplified units and see if I can find something that'll work.

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Re: Improving MiFi performance
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

> And it SPECIFICALLY didn't work for Verizon.

Yup, carrier signals are specifically regulated by the FCC so that one provider doesn't step on another's purchased airspace.  Some equipment can work on all the frequencies and are more expensive.  The smaller units are usually not as powerful and more focused on specific bands to reduce the cost.  Be sure to check the specs of whatever you want to buy before you do.  Also read up on the return policy so you are aware and can return it for minimum loss if it doesn't work out.

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