Archive for the ‘4G’ tag
More speed testing on Sprint 4G WiMax
I’m taking the train along Metra’s Milwauke District West. Here’s a test close to the Elgin Station:
That’s right: 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. Except that by the time I reached the next station, the 4G was disconnected. I can’t say that this is due to Sprint’s 4G network, due to their software, or if it’s due to my laptop. Regardless, it’s annoying. I do have a couple firmware updates to install, though. I tried doing it last night, but I’m not exactly sure how to (the button to update didn’t seem to do the job.)
Another thing that’s annoying? After I reconnect, the Sprint Smartview software opens Sprint’s web site in my browser. This is mildly annoying when I have firefox up (it just adds another tab). However, it’s absolutely intolerable when I don’t, because I just want to get back to work, but instead, all of a sudden, firefox pops up with:
I’ve been looking for a way to stop SmarView from doing this, but I haven’t found it yet. Incidently, I had to reconnect twice while writing this post.
OK: make that 4 times. If anyone is wondering, I’m using the U300 (can’t tell if it’s Sierra Wireless or Franklin) modem. It supports both EV-DO and WiMax. It does not automatically hand over. I’ve also tried getting SmartView to auto-reconnect to WiMax, but that doesn’t work either. You have to manually reconnect when disconnected.
Sprint’s Chicago 4G Initial Speed Tests
I’ve been upgraded to Sprint’s 4G WiMax. I’ve tried it for all of 10 minutes. The connection (coming out of downtown on the Metra) was a little spotty. I keep getting disconnected. It’s unlikely but possibly the fault of my laptop (the Lenovo T400 seem to have trouble holding a WiFi connection, but AT&T and Sprint 3G mobile broadband seem fine). Anyway, here’s the speed test results:
1.047 Mbps download isn’t bad. However, I’m extremely happy about the 657 kbps upload. That’s going to be some good VNC.
A little further out (near the Grand/Chicago stop on the Metra Milwaukee District West line), I got the following:
2.3 Mbps down and 731 kbps up. Nice! Hopefully, the connection holds stable.