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pnyxxpress
join:2008-11-20
Valles Mines, MO

pnyxxpress to TonyKZ1

Member

to TonyKZ1

Re: Big River Broadband Now Available in eastern Missouri

Well I never got that callback so I called them. The 4 T1 lines that was used as the backhaul on my local tower has been upgraded to a 100 meg backhaul. I guess it's time for round 2?
pnyxxpress

pnyxxpress

Member

Second round looks real good! Latency is averaging 40ms and 3ms of jitter. In simple terms I now have a near level playing field when playing Black Ops on xbox live. No more 1/2 second delay.

I signed up for the 10 meg plan just to see what it would do without hitting the limits of the lower download packages. Given my location I've got a best of 6.6 down and 1 up. The average seem to be just below 5 meg. So I guess there is no reason to pay for the 10 meg plan if I will never see 10 meg downloads. I'm going to continue testing it for a couple of more days then I'll swap to the 5 meg plan for the remainer of the 14 day trial period. Tech support assured me I still should see the same download speeds with the cheaper plan but I wanted to be certain.

I'm also using my own external antenna so I'm not stuck renting theirs. I'll report back in few days.

TonyKZ1
join:2010-04-08
Marble Hill, MO

TonyKZ1

Member

please keep us updated. what external antenna are you using? You've also said before that you can see their tower, so it's pretty close, is that right?
Thanks, Tony
pnyxxpress
join:2008-11-20
Valles Mines, MO

pnyxxpress

Member

I am about 2 miles from the tower. In the winter I can just see the lights at night peeking over the a nearby hill. I am using a Wilson antenna.
»3gstore.com/product/2875 ··· 453.html

TonyKZ1
join:2010-04-08
Marble Hill, MO

TonyKZ1

Member

Okay, thanks I just saved that link to the antenna, still debating on trying them (BRT) again as it's not like we have a lot of isp's to choose from out here. How high did you install the antenna?
Thanks, Tony
pnyxxpress
join:2008-11-20
Valles Mines, MO

pnyxxpress

Member

I'm only about 10 feet off the ground. I only see 0-2 bars. I know those graphic signal strenth indicators aren't that accurate but that is all I have to work with. Even when I have no bars the downlaod and latency are the same as two bars.

TonyKZ1
join:2010-04-08
Marble Hill, MO

TonyKZ1

Member

so only two bars and it's working? that's kinda funny 'cause at times I'd have all the 4 or 5 bars and then other times nothing. They just said that you can't go by the bars for some reason. Still makes me think my modem was faulty.
hmmm.. Tony
pnyxxpress
join:2008-11-20
Valles Mines, MO

pnyxxpress

Member

OK.. Well I'm going to keep it. I made arrangements to cancel sprint and suck up the canellation fee.

As for the modem being faulty. I'm seeing some issues that I can't explain. The modem does drop connection randomly. This is evident because of the randomly changing IP address.

I noticed this last night and again this morning. When I log into the modem I have no info in the status tab. Which would indicate it has no connection but it is working. This morning it changed the IP address again and know I can't get to my network from my phone. So it appears it is now not allowing traffic to flow even though tech support can login into the modem. The service is not perfect but it is the best thing going.

I have a ticket open that hasn't been worked yet regarding the random disconnects. My last call to tech support they said no updates have been put in the ticket.

I'm going to raise my antenna this weekend another 10 feet. Hopefully that will help.

Based on what I seen this morning with the modem having a IP address but not allowing traffic to get through. I also have a digital timer I am going to use to power cycle the modem once a day. This issue could be related our wierd power fluctuations. I also have a router on my home network that seems to choke traffic if it isn't occasionally powercycled.
pnyxxpress

pnyxxpress

Member

It's official. You will only get about 1/2 the advertised download. I was getting about 5-6 meg downloads on the most expensive plan. Tech support told me that would be the best I would probably see given the my location from the tower. If 5-6 is the best I can get no need to pay the 10 meg download. I downgraded to the 5 meg plan now I'm getting 3 meg at best. How's that work? My location hasn't changed.
pnyxxpress

pnyxxpress

Member

It took a couple of calls but I'm now getting 5 meg download on the 5 meg service plan..

TonyKZ1
join:2010-04-08
Marble Hill, MO

TonyKZ1

Member

glad to see that it's somewhat working for you. I wonder if they are remotely accessing the modem to fix/change settings? Or if the issues are just in their tower(s). The "Home and Garden Show" at the Show-Me Center was this weekend in Cape Girardeau, I wonder how many people signed up for BRT's service.
Tony
pnyxxpress
join:2008-11-20
Valles Mines, MO

pnyxxpress

Member

They can remotely access the modem. They actually have access to more settings than I can see locally. Whatever they did to fix the problem required me to power cycle. So far everything is working well. I had the same IP address all weekend. No drops or performance issues even with the the snow.
alex14464
join:2004-11-11
Bonne Terre, MO

alex14464

Member

dose anyone know what the login and password are to theses modems? I would like to change the wifi SSID and password thanks
pnyxxpress
join:2008-11-20
Valles Mines, MO

pnyxxpress

Member

Mine was real secure. not!
user
password
pnyxxpress

pnyxxpress

Member

So far so good. Only the occasional hiccup that requires a modem power cycle. I still haven't had a chance to raise my antenna. Hopefully this weekend.

On another note. My wife's AT&T phone recently started connecting 4G LTE. We didn't expect to see this for another year or so. I can't help to wonder if is because of the Big River Wireless buildout..
pnyxxpress

pnyxxpress

Member

Update. After the initial issues with download speeds and disconnects everything is performing really good. I have now had the same IP for 3 weeks so it hasn't dropped. Every time I do a speed test I'm getting at least what my plan is advertised. Good luck to everyone.