Mifi 7730L disconnects after 3.5 firmware upgrade
layna93
Newbie

I bought a Mifi 7730L in April 2017 in order to use Verizon prepaid plans when I travel. I use the device infrequently, but it always worked well in the past. For example, I bought a 10GB plan in April 2018 and I had no issues. In November 2018, I bought an unlimited plan for the first time and my device was upgraded to the 3.5 firmware (from 3A). During this month, the Mifi 7730L initially worked but would lose its internet connection after 20-30 minutes of use. My devices would still be connected to the Mifi but there was no data coming in from the Mifi device. The only way to restart the data was to power cycle the Mifi 7730L. Then I would get another 20-30 minutes of use before having to power cycle again.

After this continued to happen, I called Verizon technical support and the person I talked to suggested that the Unlimited plan might drop the connection if there was network congestion. The representative told me that if I bought a data limited plan, that I might not have this problem. So I just lived with the reduced functionality for the rest of the month.

In December 2018, I purchased an 8GB plan. This time, the service became even worse. The Mifi connection would last anywhere between 1-5 minutes before aborting. It essentially made the device unusable.

As background, I have had Mifi devices go bad on me before so I figured that maybe it was time to replace mine with a newer version. I saw that Verizon had released the 8800L and so I tried to purchase that. Unfortunately, it appears that the 8800L is not allowed on prepaid plans. So instead, I bought another 7730L from a third party and tried to use it but it had the same issue. I would get 1-5 minutes of uptime after every power cycle. I have also tried changing my sim card but that did not change anything.

I have called Verizon technical support a few times. They have made me reset my device numerous times, both by my actions and actions they took on their end. Nothing has helped and no one has given me any idea of what may be wrong. Many of the representatives have claimed my signal wasn't strong enough (I was getting 2 to 3 bars which in my experience is fine), so I drove 10 minutes to an area I know has great reception and I was getting 4+ bars. The problem still happened.

I spoke to a Tier 2 customer representative (whose name I think was Dara) who seemed more helpful than other representatives. At one point she had to leave our call but promised to call me back in 10 minutes. I never received that phone call from her. And now when I call Verizon technical support, they will not reconnect me with her, nor elevate my problem. I have spent 5 hours with technical support in the past 2 days.

One thing Dara did do before leaving our call was to put me back on the Unlimited plan. When she did that, I again was able to stay connected for 20-30 minutes before the connection died (like my November 2018 plan).

So to summarize:

Two different Mifi 7730Ls have this problem

Two different sim cards have this problem

Unlimited plans conk out after 20-30 minutes of internet activity

8GB plans conk out after 1-5 minutes of internet activity

All of these problems started happening after the 3.5 firmware upgrade

The fact that it is happening on two different Mifi devices and two different sim cards in a location where I am getting 4+ bars implies there is a problem on Verizon's end. If I had to guess, the 3.5 firmware upgrade is responsible and I wish to be downgraded back to 3A. But I believe that is not possible. Or is it?

Thanks for reading and any suggestions you may have would be appreciated!

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Re: Mifi 7730L disconnects after 3.5 firmware upgrade
AP-MD
Newbie

We traveled from March thru May of this year.   Used the MiFi in the following states: MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL  all in areas with reliable service.      When there is higher bandwidth, i.e. streaming data, the MiFi drops connection and restarts.    The time varies, but typically in 5-10 minutes.   

VZW is happy to sell an upgrade, but offered us no technical solution.  We are paying for a paperweight right now.   

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