| Tri-Fi won't connect 4G LTE? I purchased a Tri-Fi 4G LTE device off eBay.
The device came with another week to go on the account. The owner didn't seem particularly concerned (?). The result is that the I can play with it for free but the downside is the ESN isn't clear yet (he swears it will be when his account expires on the 8th).
The problem I have is that it won't connect on 4G LTE. I'm in an area where in theory I shouldn't get it but the same is true for Sprint 3G. I'm on an island over water with line of site to the tower. The run is around 9 miles but less then 1 mile passes over land. In any case, the web admin for the Tri-fi shows 100% signal for the 4G LTE. It says I have an RSRP of -78 dBm which as I read is really good so I assume that means it should connect with a good data rate.
However, it I tell it to prefer a 4G signal it tries and tries but never connects. I see in the device's "System Event Log"which you can enable that I get a "connection attempt failed with error 138". Not sure what to make of that.
If I tell it to use 3G (where I also have an excellent signal) it connects right away, every time.
The folks at Sprint were helpful to a point but needed an accont to start remote resets, etc. They did confirm that the area I was connecting to had good 4G LTE coverage and that he accunt was enabled for 4G LTE. I manually reset the device via the pin hole and it still won't connect to 4G LTE, only 3G.
I'll be "off island" over the weekend with a few days to go on his contract so if nothing else I can try there where the towers are.
Could the distance somehow show a high signal but fail to allow connects? |
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 Jim_in_VA
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA
kudos:4 | you sure there is Sprint LTE in that area?
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... need help? »evdo-tips.com/ |
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| Yes, I'm sure. |
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| reply to Jim_in_VA
This drills down to the island East of us but if you go more or less due north you see the tower with the 2 improvements. This is the tower I go off. I you then look at the Sprint 4G coverage map it matches with that tower.
»network.sprint.com/search/02713/
I get great signal. Better then most people so that lack of a connection is puzzling. I bought it from a guy in Philadelphia. Could it have locked somehow to down there?
I guess I don't want it to connect even when I go to the center of the nearby 4G support areas as this would indicate an issue with the modem or the account, not a fundamental issue at my location... |
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 dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO
kudos:2
2 edits | perhaps the lte (sim account) is already terminated, and the legacy system (cdma) is all that is still provisioned.
edit: sorry I re-read I see that sprint thinks its still active.
edit2: who makes that device, if its sierra wireless
error 138 is "Lower layer failure"
»eguides.sprint.com/support/eguid···rintskin
quote:
4.3.4.4 Abnormal cases
The following abnormal cases can be identified:
a) Lower layer failure
If the establishment of an RR connection is unsuccessful, or the RR connection is lost, the IMSI detach is aborted by
the mobile station
there are a lot of references to lower layer failure in addition to the above
»www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/124···600p.pdf |
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| Yes, this is a Sierra device.
Thanks for the links. Not real revealing and too technical to help so far. |
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 vobguyA fool with a tool is still a foolPremium
join:2003-01-21
Mineral, VA | reply to GrantS
Total shot in the dark, try this
Click Advanced settings (Advanced settings button).
Click WAN > Setup > Update 3G Profile.
(yes I realize the problem is 4G). This is out of the troubleshooting for the trifi hotspot manual, so you may already have done this.
The lower layer failure has so many possibilities in GSM, that it would require some pretty advanced debugging I would think, which will require the account to be clear and in your name. Hopefully this all works out...
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A happy customer of Millenicom.com - so far. |
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| Thanks! I gave your suggestion a try but no change.
Thanks for the encouragement. I should know more when I try in various locations that show very high 4G LTE support this weekend. I guess then I hope it continues to NOT connect as this would indicate a problem with the device or account vs. a problem with my location.
It seems like a problem in that the device will never try to conect on 3G unless I tell it to have a preference or only connect on 3G. It sees the 100% LTE signal and wants to connect to 4G never falling back and trying 3G. |
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| It does seem like the device or account is the issue. If I tell it to only try to connect on WiMax with 4G preferred it briefly tries but finding no WiMax signal drops down to 3G and stays connected on 3G. This is as opposed to when I tell it to use LTE when it fails to connect to 4G but also fails to drop back to connect on 3G. Preferred should mean that if it can't connect on 4G then use 3G. However, it seems to get fooled by the high strength LTE signal but then can't connect... |
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