Sprint → Deteriorating? Sprint Mobile Broadband service

This is not nearly so good as the service I was getting before recent software "updates". Does anyone have suggestions about what is going on?
Latest Sprint test:
Last Result:
Download Speed: 1412 kbps (176.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 297 kbps (37.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 187 ms
Thursday, October 28, 2010 7:44:11 AM

This is somewhat better than the average speeds I've been getting lately. It was obtained through the Sprint SmartView interface; a dslreports test shows


Network Name Sprint
System ID
Connected yes
Roaming no
MIP error,0
Signal strength (dBm),-95
Data sent 2146198
Data received 6617793
IP address 173.153.54.21
Gateway address 173.153.54.21

Device name {4D36E96D-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0012
Device Description USB Data Modem Driver (CMO6008) #3
Manufacturer Franklin Wireless
Modem Model FW301DOWMX
Revision U301SPR07
ESN 3B1DDC87
Technology CDMA
Firmware Version U301SPR07
Hardware Version 0.5
Modem Port COM40
User Name vvv.vvv@sprintpcs.com
Phone Number 7073NNNNNN
Home Carrier Name Sprint
Home Carrier ID 0
Prl version 60771
Imsi 7072807749

Ran a new test today, using speedtest.net :-(



and Sprint's test (Chicago)
Last Result:
Download Speed: 1178 kbps (147.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 342 kbps (42.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 218 ms
Saturday, October 30, 2010 12:40:40 PM

that seems to be good speeds,alot of people go slow on sprint 3g.

It is OK on downloads, in this test. Better than many have been recently. But the upload speed is terrible, compared to what Sprint delivered the first 3 months after I started comparing them to two other highspeed providers, and before I dropped those providers and began relying exclusively on Sprint. It's frustrating, and it's "suspicious".

Here is the more typical, current speed report:

yea these guys are crooks,i will be moving in 20 days and the new area has dsl,i'm going from $69.99 to $14.95 a month :P

Current 11/4

I'm trying to learn about wireless antennas & amplifiers; if that does not help I may have to go back to multiple local ISP's to support my internet access at multiple locations across the US.

I've taken several actions to deal with these slow speeds:
1. Perhaps the most important has been to click out of suggested "upgrades" to Sprint Smartview software offered by popups on my screen - in the most recent case while Smartview was not even running! And, the pop-up indicated that I would have to have detailed information about my account, my hardware, and - get this - possibly my driver's license to accomplish the upgrade. NO THANKS!
2. I disabled QOS in Wireless Network Connection Properties.
3. I disabled NetBios over TCP/IP in Advanced TCP/IP Settings of Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties from the Wireless Network Connection Properties window.
4. I installed a CPT500 Wireless broadband router, which handles the connection to the Sierra 598U modem instead of using Smartview for that purpose. This means my laptop does not have to use the Smartview software, lightening the application load. And the Cradlepoint firmware seems to do a better job of interfacing with the Sierra modem anyway - Cradlepoint has been purchased by Sierra, IIRC.
5. I stopped and then disabled the Novatel Wireless "Novacore SDK" Windows XP service which I had not installed and had not been aware was running on my machine, after confirming with the company which built the application that it did not belong on a user machine and that I could safely disable it. No one has been able to tell me why or how this service was installed and running on my machine.
Current speed report is a bit slower than usual these past few days, but acceptable:

Your speeds actually are pretty good if you are on a T-1 tower where the max is about 1.2 down.

I don't think all that other stuff you are trying is going to do much of anything for you.

Yes, these are good speeds. Currently.

However, from mid to late September up till I did these things my speeds had dropped sharply - to .3 down & .15 up, often. And those were NOT a tower problem - I was using the laptop and a Franklin wireless modem while driving from Long Island, NY, to Kansas, to California during that time. When I reverted to the Sierra 598U from a Franklin 3G/4G modem in CA just before my drive back to KS there was a brief period of better speeds, then back to the same old .3 down & .15 up.

It is "chinese gunpowder" I know, but from my POV it looks like one or more of killing QOS, disabling NetBios over TCP/IP, disabling that strange and unexplained Novatel server service, and using the wireless Cradlepoint router, whether all together or one or more separately, made the difference.

That's only gonna get you 768k or 1.5m dsl with 256k or less upload..