simpleman

Signals, max out, at some point. According to the numbers Sprint has given me for the Vision network. I'm not maxed out. I think an amp will help me. My problem is trees and hills. The trucker antenna improved my signal tremendously. A linear amp does wonders for CB radio's. I used one for years. Freq meter also. FCC regulates CB amps to 3 watts but, I know truckers who have 200w amps. When they get in areas where there is some CB radio traffic. The driver with the amp will walk on everyone else. Most CB radios come rated at 3w. But most full time drivers get their radios peaked out. A tech goes in and max's out the internal amp above what the fcc allows. This is fact. When peaking out a radio it needs to be done properly. There is a point where the quality of the signal deteriorates. Just turning up the amp full blast generally the signal will be just as bad if the signal is weak. Amps can improve the signal whether it be weak or strong. tuning the amp with a freq meter and adjusting the power are going to be tuned differently depending on the original signal. The point is frequency can be amplified, monitored and controlled. Its just a matter of having the right tools to manipulate the frequency. At this point the tools are more limited thhan CB's and hams. CB radios operate in Hz range, Ham radios operate in GHz and EVDO, Vision, The edge operate in MHz. If you look at Ham radios they have a boat load of controls, meters and amps.

Correct me if I'm wrong, hypothetically, if one had a signal of -70db. An amp providing, as claimed, an improvement of up to 60db would give you a signal of -10db. Give or take for location issues. Simpleman

Grandpa would you mind copying and pasting your post under the Signal amp thread. I think it is good info and exactly the type of input I would like to read with these amps. Thanks Simpleman Lake of the Ozarks

Thinking of buying an amp in the near or distant future . I have researched them and found 2 Wilsons, a Cyfree and Maximumsignal. It appears the higher end Wilson is the best one. Wilson Item # 801306 receives and transmits at a Freq of only 1850-1990 MHz which is the only freq needed for EVDO. The Soho amp #801245 (which is $200 cheaper than the #801306) improves signal 50 db 10 db less than the former which improves it by 60db. Anyone else have amp info? Experience with them? Do they improve ping rates at all?

Grandpa's always have good advice. I agree 100%. I'm more than happy with the connection I'm getting with the trucker antenna. Instead of 5x's faster than dial up sometimes, its all the time. 1XRTT, aka, sprint vision service is suppose to have downloads of 50-70K depending on traffic. Suppose to be comparable to DSL. I think the Vision service would be a good seller if i were only $30 a month, $60 is to high, but, if your burned out on dial up, as I am, willing to pay it for now. I figured, an amp, will max me out on the 1XRTT vision service and if EVDO ever gets here, well ya know. More or less was just going to see if anyone had any tid bits on amps. Like Grandpa. I think I'll start a new thread and call it amps since this is off topic.

I have had 1XRTT connection for almost a year. EVDO coming soon to my area, this summer at the latest. I can download files at 17Kbs. Which is about 5x's faster than dial up. pings range from 300ms to 700ms. I have since bought a trucker antenna, which did wonders for stabilizing my connection. Probably overpaying for what I have but, was easy to network my house through the Linksys WRT54G#G-ST with a Merlin s720 data card plugged into it. Also portability is nice. Thinking of buying an amp. I have researched them and found 2 Wilsons, a Cyfree and Maximumsignal. It appears the higher end Wilson is the best one. Item # 801306 receives and transmits at a Freq of only 1850-1990 Mhz which is the only freq needed for EVDO. The Soho amp #801245 (which is $200 cheaper than the #801306) improves signal 50 db 10 db less than the former which improves it by 60db. Anyone else have amp info?

Unfortunatly the Merlin S720 doesn't have an external antenna. The only external antenna is the one on the router.

Hey Jeff, I opened this card and inserted it into a linksys wrt54g3g-st router. It is working fine but was thinking of a booster antenna and maybe an amp. My question is: would plugging the booster antenna into the routers antenna connector, via long rj 6 cable up to my roof, have impact on upload and downloads?

Well I have been using 3G for a couple weeks. EVDO isn't available but, 3G is still better than dial up, especially on the download side. :::.. test my.net test results ..::: Download Connection is:: 55930 Kbps about 55.93 Mbps (tested with 12160 kB) Download Speed is:: 6827 kB/s Upload Connection is:: 13 Kbps about 0 Mbps (tested with 97 kB) Upload Speed is:: 2 kB/s Tested From:: https://testmy.net (Server 1) Test Time:: 2007/02/19 - 12:14pm

Probably, he gets it all over town. It makes me curious to how easy it would be to tap another wireless connection that isn't password protected. Whether it be a neighbor or cafe' or just signals flying around.

Well, I have $350 worth of EVDO equip sitting next to my computer which is useless. lol I was reading, in order too open a wireless card it must be done on a computer before sticking it in the router. Since, I don't have the pc to pwmcia adapter to connect to my desk top. So, called tech support at Sprint and the technician said he comes to Lake of the Ozarks all the time and can't get EVDO. At this point he looked up my address and informed me I didn't either. lol Contrary to what sales told me. What they call 3G is what is available and it will be no better than dial up. Customer service for Sprint had huge hold times, 3 hours. They also told me I could get EVDO and couldn't. That said, I can ship all the equip back at no charge. I'm thinking about installing it first just to see what kind of signal I can get. They said I could per 30 day moneyback guarantee.Clearly, I'm not paying 59.99 a month for dial up speed and have no intentions on keeping it. Bright side, Monday morning I did go down to the cable company and talk to the guy referred by the last technician sent to my house. On my hands and knees I told the guy I would throw $500-$600 towards extending the tap 400' to enable digital cable at my house. He said he would send a guy out to walk it off and write up an estimate and submit it to the company. I will hear yes or no from him by the end of this week. If no, I will be getting satcom.

Grandpa, Thanks for the info about the signal, your right. The skip term came from my days as a truck driver and using CB radio's.( I was an owner/ operator for 12 years)

When I E-mailed VSAT and asked what their opinion was about on line gaming and satcom, A Randy Scott is who replied. Maybe its the same Randy, he's very knowlegable and with a prompt reply. Which I thought was cool since I am not a customer of any sort. FWIW, his opinion was online gaming and satcom mix like water and oil. lol

I looked at this usb deal and decided no go for home system. I have Merlin s720 pwmcia card coming with the linksys mobile broadband router. reasons: home networking and not to worried about mobility but more of a stable conection. If I'd plug that U720 in the usb and don't have the signal strength for a stable network it would be a setback. Also, extending my system with amps and external power antennas I can plug right into the router to recieve whatever benefits. I live on this lake so I'm hoping a good signal skip. Interesting from that website is it has an EVDO forum. Going check it out and see what gives.

This is a pretty cool site and stock pick for that matter(enter at your own risk). I don't see it listed as a broadband company here at testmynet.com In no way am I related to this site. I just think it is cool to compare high dollar equip to that sold by hughesnet. Also, maybe it will help some of you power hungry guys ideas for amping. I have seen their equip sold on e bay. So if anyone is interested: heres the link: http://www.vsatus.com/

It would be interesting to see what sort of ping rates one could get with that external amp and roof top antenna from a desktop. Maybe someone has done this or maybe its a new frontier.

It wouldn't kill ya to go visit and remember some of the ole days, bring your fishin pole their biting. Take a vacation, quit working so hard, at least crack open a cold one and imagine it.

Sorry for the double post. Dial up was bugging out on me.

I hate the jump the gun on the online gaming thing yet. I'll believe it when I see it. Of course faster surfing will be sweet. I'll keep the board podted when it is installed. I believe I will need a ping rate below 100ms to play battlefield 2142. Hopefully the higher uploads and downloads will make up the difference. Since EVDO appears to be 140ms which is a far cry from satcom which is 600ms. From what I have read. Maybe someone can tell me if they can play battlefield 2142 with EVDO. Probably alot to ask

It looks like Grandpa's cabin is about 30mins as the crow flies. http://www.google.com/maps?q=Edwards,+MO+65326&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

Of course I'm jumping the gun on the online gaming. I'll believe it when I see it. Typically ping rates should be below 100ms for me to play Battlefield 2142. Hopefully the higher upload and download rates will work with a ping around 200ms which appears to be the going rate with EVDO. Even still this is a far cry for satcom with ping rates at 600ms. Tommie it looks like Grandpa's cabin is about 30mins away as the crow flies. Simpleman

It looks like the grand total will be: Merlin s720 wireless card: 99.99 Linksys mobile brband router: 249.99 = 349.99 + service 59.99 per month on line gaming/ highspeed internet= priceless The cost appears to be the same as satcom w/ 1 watt radio. EVDO will have the advantage since I could use the service away from home with a laptop anywhere service is available, clearly this is a huge difference. Also the networking equipment can also be used with cable/ dsl nor is it required and satcom equip is required. So the intial costs could be cheaper for someone else. thanks Simpleman

dn0 and Jeffwalker thanks so much for your input. Tommie, I know how you feel about satcom and it seems to be the trend. When it comes down to it, dialup really doesn't bother me except for the online gaming experience is nil. Satcom will not help, so whats the use since I really don't care how fast web pages open(dialup is plenty) I first looked at satcom 15 years ago when I first moved to the lake of the ozarks and continuously come to the conclusion that I do not want it. Now I have these cell phones which are through cingular until oct 07. I have no need for phone line. $45 per month, service $25+ dialup $10 + callwave $8 + tax= 45 per month. So really the service will only cost me $15 more per month minus landline. No one uses it and the only calls are from sales people. This is why the soar subject is back at the surface. I don't know if you guys have heard of VSAT or not but, they sale and install satcom systems with 40watt radio and higher and a cost of thousands. I have seen them on ebay for $3k and $6k. Hughesnet commercial dish is 2watts and I'm sure wildblue is only 1 watt radios. Anyway, the VSAT guy told me to go with EVDO, quote, "on line gaming and that satellite internet and on line gaming mix as well as oil and water". I first considered EVDO when I caught my neighbor who lives in KC, MO comes down for the weekend, sits on her dock with her laptop, surfs faster than me, by a large margin. I asked her last summer what carrier, Sprint. I know this will be a long thread but, may help others in the future and since you guys have been so helpful, I might as well try to lull you to sleep. lol For your trouble of reading this thread I will end with the punchline. Digital cable tap is only 400' away, 250' being the longest digital cable can go. Thats right two houses down has digital cable. I bought this house 2 years ago and cable was a requirement when looking for new homes. When I asked the seller if it had cable the answer of course was yes. It was only when I had been moved in a got the cable guy out here that I found out I can only get analog cable because of the weak signal. So the previous owner had cable it just wasn't digital cable. Thanks Simpleman

Looks like the best way to network will be this Linksys that has limited availability at 3rd party resellers but, $249 it is available from Sprint. It will eliminate the need for the pci to pcmcia adaptor $20. Now I just need to figure out what card I need. PX500 or Merlin s720. Probably the Merlin since all web sites say it is compatible with the Linksys mobile broadband router and several say the PX500 isn't compatible. http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Promotion_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1156806496246&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper