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Kribby
join:2005-02-08
Seekonk, MA

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Kribby

Member

Problems with Sprint towers

I've had Millenicom piggybacking off the Sprint towers for a few months now. There's always been a few problems when it comes to connectivity that I should probably ask about to see if it's considered the norm for 3G

1) I've had problems with consistent download and upload speeds, even if there is great signal strength. For example, I can easily hit 250kb/s download speeds for a couple seconds, but then it will slow right down to 25-50kb/s....and it will continue cycling through that. This even happens with a -75dbm signal strength during the middle of the night when there is no tower load.

2) Ever since a severe thunderstorm last week, I've been having troubles with signal strength. I called millenicom and they acknowledge that my local tower was having problems. Still experiencing signal strength between -85 to -98 (it fluctuates very wildly now), I called them up today to see if there was an update. They said that all the repairs were completed last Friday, and that it might be a problem on my end. I highly doubt that, because I didn't change anything on my side.

Thinking that it might of been a modem problem, I swapped my 598U with a 250U....to no difference
m12345s
join:2010-10-13
Bolivar, MO

m12345s

Member

I have the same thing with mine, only I have consistent -72 signal all the time, Millenicom did everything they could possibly do with me, even sent a new modem but that didn't do anything. This is with Verizon though. They finally decided that it must be the distance from the tower, I am a good 8 miles from the tower and the only reason I get -72 signal is because I have an amp. How far are you from the tower? Do you have an amp? Millenicom told me that even though I have good signal that the signal is probably a degraded signal and bad quality. What is your EC/IO? Mine hovers around -7 to -10, I am also between 2 tower sectors so I think that my device keeps switching between 2 different sectors.
Kribby
join:2005-02-08
Seekonk, MA

Kribby

Member

Well here's the thing. It appears my nearest tower is only 2 miles away. Before the thunderstorm, I was getting a consistent -75 to -79dbm signal strength. Then after the thunderstorm, it jumped up to between -89 and -100dbm.

As far as the Ec/lo is concerned, it's never been a high-volume tower. I think the highest I ever seen it was -2. I'm starting to wonder if they did repairs on the wrong tower

Rombus
Premium Member
join:2007-04-11
Opelika, AL

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I too have been having very odd issues, almost exactly what your describing. I got a Wilson triband antenna up and for 4 months it was solid -65 with absolutely no problems. ECIO -0. Then about 2 weeks ago we had a thunderstorm that caused the internet to go to 1X speeds over the weekend with a signal fluctuating. It came back but now its been a constant struggle to get a good signal. Right now, it seems fine during the night, but it goes out during the day, fluctuating -66 and -125, with the ECIO going from -0 to -30. It finally gets "normal" about 8pm cst.

Im getting ready to call sprint again and see what they say, but I have a feeling im going to have to swap over to the 20GB VZW plan if this keeps up.
Rombus

Rombus

Premium Member

So I tried chatting with Sprint: Helen G.: Thank you for contacting Sprint. I am happy to help you. Please give me a moment to take a look at your account.
Helen G.: Let's move this chat and make it a window of its own. It will enable you to view other Web pages while we chat.

Simply click the white Yes button below now.
Helen G.: Thanks for moving the chat window.
Helen G.: Thanks. Let’s chat about your account.
Helen G.: May I please have your 6-10 digit numeric PIN to access your account?
You: I dont have one, this is an account that was resold from Millenicom
Helen G.: We have a specialized service department for our business customers. To chat with a business care specialist, please visit sprint.com/mysprintbusiness, sign in and click Chat. To speak with someone, call 1-800-927-2199. Their hours of operation are:
* Monday-Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Central Time (CT)
* Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CT
* Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CT
You: Do I have to call them to get tower status?
Helen G.: No, as I am unable to access your account so you can contact them for any account issues if the services are good on your phones. but for the tower issues, I would like to inform you that Sprint is expanding the 4G services in your area and tower replacing work is under process. The process started on 07/10/2012 and our technicians are working on it.
You: Just curious, How can you tell what area im in?
Helen G.: The phone number states the are zip code 35619
You: Can you check around zip code 35072? Its where im located at
Helen G.: Sure , let me check this for you quickly.
Helen G.: Thank you for waiting.
Helen G.: With this zip code 35072, the services are good and the towers have been replaced so the services will be regular within 1-2 more days, as our technicians are n last stage to complete the process.
You: Ok good to hear, Just curious, does that mean i may have 4G soon?
You: (assuming i get upgraded devices)
Helen G.: Yes, these towers are fixed and will be able to access the 4G very soon.
You: Ok good to hear, thank you!
Helen G.: You're welcome.
Helen G.: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
You: Nope thats it
Helen G.: Have a sweet night ahead.

Stay blessed and take care!

I take this with a grain of salt, since its pretty BFE Alabama out here, And its not really near any major markets (Im an hour away from Birmingham, Auburn, and Montgomery). Also the network.sprint.com page shows nothing in my area. I guess I'll give it a day or two and see if it improves.
Kribby
join:2005-02-08
Seekonk, MA

Kribby

Member

Didn't know Sprint was able to assist Millenicom customers.

I just did a live chat. The representative acknowledged a downed tower around my area about a mile away, right after the lightning storm. It was reported on 7/20, and they said completion for the repair would be around 7/28. However, he didn't say if the tower that was down was the one I was connecting to before (kinda hard to determine that, I suppose)

Other than that, wait until Monday and see what happens

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

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My tower down. Hitting Jim-in-VA's tower 6.8 miles vx the 2.7 to my tower. -90dBm signal. I'm surprised my up will even reach his tower.
Jack_in_VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member



Looks like Sprint did it right. Note the up speed