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Lamiel
join:2008-04-05
Saint Johns, MI

Lamiel

Member

4G to 3G after 10GB

Anyone know how Millenicom handles the hand-off to 3G after you've used 10GBs of 4G in a month? Is it something they do automatically, or do we need to keep track and then manually force 3G when the time comes? I've searched the forum, but can't find the answer (I did find where the question was asked a couple of times though).
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

This is what I was told by Millenicom:

"It is supposed to automatically go to 3G once the client reaches 10 gigabytes and if it doesn't then the client remains at 4G. In fact, we haven't had anyone drop to 3G ... it has remained 4G for everyone the whole time so far."
Lamiel
join:2008-04-05
Saint Johns, MI

Lamiel

Member

Thanks for the info, Jim! This forum would be lost without you, by the way. I know you managed to get service from a good WISP, but the fact that you still come on here and help the rest of us out is very cool.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

Thank you. I'm not going to go away and leave my buds

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

said by Jim_in_VA:

Thank you. I'm not going to go away and leave my buds



Thanks Jim
DS1192
join:2010-07-16
La Crosse, WI

DS1192 to Jim_in_VA

Member

to Jim_in_VA
said by Jim_in_VA:

This is what I was told by Millenicom:

"It is supposed to automatically go to 3G once the client reaches 10 gigabytes and if it doesn't then the client remains at 4G. In fact, we haven't had anyone drop to 3G ... it has remained 4G for everyone the whole time so far."

Very cool, that's generous of them. I guess they figure the 3G network could take a load of it's back-haul for now, get it. Enjoy, your 4G guys, I hope LTE gets going as WiMax is dead.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

LTE has not been lit up in my area yet, though I watched those guys installing that gear 200' up on a tower. They looked like ants up that high. Not a job I could do. If you have seen a mono pole there are pegs up it, the tower climbers have put a foot on each one to get a lift up. Incredibly fit people needed to do that. Hats off to them.
DS1192
join:2010-07-16
La Crosse, WI

DS1192

Member

Interesting, they must get paid a lot. I know where my tower is, I just haven't found out how to drive up-to it yet.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

why is that? If there is a road to the tower follow it
DS1192
join:2010-07-16
La Crosse, WI

DS1192

Member

I can see it at the top of some bluffs from the river. There is no road that goes to it that I can see, but I am sure if I go on the ridge I will be able to find it.
Lamiel
join:2008-04-05
Saint Johns, MI

Lamiel

Member

I found mine. Actually, I've known about this tower since they put it up more than a year ago - I just didn't realize it was LTE. Lansing was one of the first places in MI that got LTE, but I'm a good 20 miles north of the city limits, so it never occured to me to check on coverage; I'm guessing they must have run a ring of towers around the city, a few miles out, just to ensure full coverage within the advertised market. Lucky me, it bleeds out into my neck of the woods! I just couldn't believe it when my brother pulled down that 16mbps speedtest on his 4G phone, while sitting on my couch. Crazy...

vobguy
A fool with a tool is still a fool
Premium Member
join:2003-01-21
Mineral, VA

vobguy to Lamiel

Premium Member

to Lamiel
Interesting.. I am thinking about switching to Verizon over Sprint because the coverage map now shows my place on the edge of 4G signal for Verizon, while I am about oh, 22 miles away for Sprint. That would be amazing to be able to watch a movie on demand, but given some people in my family (the ones who are always downloading music and watching sometimes even watching FULL TV episodes.. ugh) are not careful about using bandwidth I do worry about overages.
Aranarth
join:2011-11-04
Stanwood, MI

Aranarth to Lamiel

Member

to Lamiel
I'm wondering if they meant you would get dropped from "4G" speeds to "3g" speeds or if they really are dropping you from one carrier type to another.

If they are really dropping your speed then they must be doing traffic shaping, if they are dropping your carrier type then wouldn't that affect your ability to connect?
Lamiel
join:2008-04-05
Saint Johns, MI

Lamiel

Member

said by Aranarth:

I'm wondering if they meant you would get dropped from "4G" speeds to "3g" speeds or if they really are dropping you from one carrier type to another.

If they are really dropping your speed then they must be doing traffic shaping, if they are dropping your carrier type then wouldn't that affect your ability to connect?

All the LTE devices are backward-compatible with CDMA, so if there's no 4G service available, they should automatically switch over to 3G.
DS1192
join:2010-07-16
La Crosse, WI

DS1192 to Aranarth

Member

to Aranarth
I was wondering that also, but after 10gigs of 4G, perhaps it just blocks you from connecting to 4G, and your modem then just connects to 3G/1x. So I think it's legit, but I wonder why they put it on hold.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

as I quoted earlier "we haven't had anyone drop to 3G ... it has remained 4G for everyone the whole time "

That reads ... 20 GB on 4G and not dropping to 3G at all.
DS1192
join:2010-07-16
La Crosse, WI

DS1192 to Lamiel

Member

to Lamiel
Well it looks like things might change around my area. My local ISP became a WISP last year with only 1 tower and called HBC Air. But now they have since changed the service to HBC Air Rural Broadband. They know our area wants it so maybe I can expect a tower soon near me, that's if one isn't already near me, but I think they would have told us. Another reason for the change, is another WISP went out of business so maybe they just bought all the towers to expand their service. Whatever the case may be, it seems my 3G days may be coming to an end
Lamiel
join:2008-04-05
Saint Johns, MI

Lamiel

Member

Best of luck in getting service from the WISP. There's a WISP that supposedly services my area, but I've had them out to my house twice now, to do a signal test, and both times they said the signal was too weak for service. Very frustrating, because their tower is only 5 miles away as the crow flies, and I've heard of 900mhz signals reaching much further than that. As a matter of fact, I'm further from the tower I use for my 3G connection, and my grid antenna has no trouble providing me with a strong connection (as long as the tower isn't congested at the time). I would have thought that professional installers, who have far more experience in making a connection, would be able to do better than that. Perhaps their antennas just aren't that good.
DS1192
join:2010-07-16
La Crosse, WI

DS1192

Member

Ask them if they can utilize your grid antenna for their WISP service, but it's probably not the right frequency. Then purchase the right frequency and an amp. See if they can try that.
stenman
join:2007-03-07
Salinas, CA

stenman to Lamiel

Member

to Lamiel
If no 4G is available the modem should switch back to 3G - actually what I have experienced is that in a 3G area the connection is continually getting dropped as the modem tries and fails to connect to a 4G transmitter. At least with the modem I got from Millenicom for Verizon the 4G connection could not be disabled the way you can shut off having it connect to a 1xRTT transmitter.

After a couple weeks of constantly dropped connections I went back to my 3G only modem. I do not expect 4G out at my house in my lifetime, anymore than I expect digital cable or even for AT&T to run DSL into my neighborhood.

With the 20GB cap there is very little value for me in having 4G in any event. Downloading movies would blow through the cap in no time. Thank god for satellite service or I would have no service at all.