Hi Herbert, I think you're specifically referring to GSM services and specifically GPRS= ? GPRS is a packet-based service and doesn't use the same time slots that car= ry voice calls on a GSM network. There're likely a few things happening tha= t compound to form your issues: (1) Everyone else in cottage country is duking it out for terminal to the t= ower bandwidth (the channel that's packet switched). (2) Attention of the tower in handling the packet switching (the towers mig= ht not be sized optimally given the rural nature of the installation). (3) The limited backhaul bandwidth from the tower that's set aside for IP. Thank the proliferation of iPhones and folk like yourself who think it's ac= ceptable to work from the cottage ;) Hope that helps. -m On 2013-07-08, at 2:36 PM, Herbert Graf wrote: > Hello all! >=20 > This may be one of those "first world" type problems, but I'm curious to > get the group's input. >=20 > When at the cottage we use a "rocket hub" for internet access. To those > not familiar with the term, it's a WiFi router with a 3G/HSPA modem in > it. >=20 > It's an earlier revision of this one: > http://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Products/NETGEAR_MVBR_1210C_Turbo_Hub >=20 > Anyways, it works very well pretty much everywhere it's been used, > except the cottage. The symptom is it connects to the 3G network > sporadically, for no apparent reason. It seems to be up more > consistently on weekdays and early in the morning. >=20 > Now, this is cottage country, and of the 2 provider networks we have in > our area, only one works at all (the other has a site as nearby but > there must be geography in the way). My phone (a Samsung Galaxy Nexus) > also has trouble keeping a connection, best signal strength it reports > is -97dBm, more often it's in the -101 to -110 dBm range, which is just > barely enough to connect. >=20 > The rocket hub, when it is connected, reports similar signal strengths > on it's status webpage, somewhere around -95 to -99dBm. >=20 > So, based on these observations I suggested that the way to "fix" the > problem was to get a directional antenna, point it at the closest site, > and off to the races! >=20 > I did exactly that. I purchased a 24dBm Yagi, mounted it and after > discovering the closest site had zero signal strength (lots of hills in > that direction, so not surprised) I pointed it at the next closest site. >=20 > Using my wonderful RFExplorer spectrum analyzer > (http://micro.arocholl.com/) I confirmed that we were pointed at the > site and that the signal strength from the site had jumped from -98dBm > using just an omni whip to -80dBm at ~885Mhz (and that's with some > mismatched coax going to the spectrum analyzer that I needed to convert > the connectors, stupid RP-TNC, grrr...). >=20 > I plugged the cable into the rocket hub and NO improvement. The > connection still wouldn't come up with any sort of regularity. >=20 > My father in law then asked a question which got me thinking: with all > these internet dropouts, why do phone calls always seem to work? Why > does my phone have a pretty reliable internet connection (I end up > tethering to my phone instead of using the rocket hub) yet the rocket > hub goes up and down all the time? >=20 > So with all that said, I'm wondering if anyone in the industry might be > familiar with this theory: do the providers set priorities based on > types of service? Do the sites provision things so that if there are too > many people in the area they start cutting back, denying things like 3G > USB sticks and rocket hubs from connecting, while allowing my phone to > stay connected? >=20 > A simple test would have been to put my sim in the rocket hub. > Unfortunately although we're on the same network, our service is > supplied by 2 different companies, and since all devices are provider > locked here my sim would have been rejected. I do plan to get my hands > on an unlocked USB stick and connect that up to the Yagi next time I'm > up there. That way I'll be able to switch SIMs and see if there is a > provisioning type of difference. >=20 >=20 > Thanks for any info/comments/critiques/suggestions! >=20 > TTYL >=20 >=20 > --=20 > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .