Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 03-08-2010, 12:19 PM   #21
Platinum Member
 
renrut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 254
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

Quote:
Originally Posted by born2camp
Most of the towers are listed under "Other". Which phone company do you choose for those remote towers?
I think the "other" is Bell. For example, Manitoba has Manitoba Telephone System (MTS) but that is the same as Bell. I think Manitoba only has Rogers and MTS but there is Telus in Winnipeg but they lease the MTS towers in rural Manitoba.

It looks like they may be updating that website. The map has changed quite a bit since I looked at it a few days ago. It use to have Bell towers and there was about half of what the map now shows as Other. There doesn't seem to be near enough Bell towers in Ontario either.
renrut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-11-2010, 08:32 PM   #22
Platinum Member
 
renrut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 254
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

Quote:
Originally Posted by markopolo
Thanks

I ordered the Rocket Hub today with phone service. I can't wait to try it.
Did it arrive yet? If not, I would call Rogers. When we ordered our Hub, they canceled the order on us because they had to do a credit check. Of course, they didn't let us know. I found it funny considering we have been customers of Rogers since it was Cantel back in 89/90. We ended up buying one from a local Rogers store.
renrut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-24-2010, 02:23 AM   #23
Platinum Member
 
markopolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 8,828
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

Yes, I got it. The phone part is great. The internet is slow because there are no 3G towers nearby. There's one 38 kilometres away. I'm getting up to 170kbps download tonight. Average is 120kbps. A GPRS tower is about 2 kilometers from here. That's what I connect to.



Do you think this antenna for approx $50 delivered would help?



I've seen a few on eBay for less but they don't seem to include 850 MHz frequency.
markopolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-24-2010, 11:45 AM   #24
Platinum Member
 
renrut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 254
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

I purchased a simular antenna for mine but it didn't make much of a difference. This is the one I purchased:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=390141182371

I have several towers around me and 2 of them are 850Mhz and 1900Mhz. The antenna only increases the signal by about 1. When I had my hub setup in the basement, I was getting a signal of about 2 to 3 but with the antenna, it would be 3 maybe 4. If I could get the antenna outside, I'm sure it would have been more but the magnetic mount is more for a car and the coax isn't really long enough to go any distance.

I found this site that talks about range of GSM celular towers. They say the maximum range is 35km

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/33302-39-tower-range

I've seen external, directional antennas that have 40db or more gain but they are quite expensive. I've even seen them on Ebay. Don't know if one would work or not to reach the 3G tower.

I found a forum on the Rocket Hub (Ericsson W35) which may have some information. I've seen people posting about external antennas.

http://fwt.ericsson.net/viewforum.ph...2aae5365293fe9

One thing I just did was purchase a wireless Bridge for my Hub. That way, I can now have the Hub in my master bedroom where is gets 4 to 5 signal and run my computers in the basement wirelessly. The Bridge is a Print Server and allows me to print to one printer from any computer in the home Network. Tiger Direct had them on sale.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...4183&CatId=371

There were a few issues getting it to hold connection to my Hub but I've got it working now using another wireless router I have. I spent quite a bit of time on it but never did try differnet security setting. The Whitelist doesn't seem to work properly on the Hub but again, I haven't had much time to work on it.
renrut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-24-2010, 03:11 PM   #25
Platinum Member
 
markopolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 8,828
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

Thanks for all of the info. I'm getting 2 bars signal out of a possible 5 so I think getting it to 3 would help.

I'm going to keep the Rocket Hub and not send it back because my options are so limited. There's high speed nearby because occasionally I get 1.5 mbs via someones N network but I think it is across the river though.

I found an eBay seller who will sell me an antenna with the two frequencies I want and will put on the correct connector so I'll try that for $20 first. I'll post more info when I confirm the price & specs etc.
markopolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2010, 04:57 PM   #26
Platinum Member
 
markopolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 8,828
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

I bought this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0417234246

During the checkout process I moved the router and am getting 4 bars now -

Specification:

9dBi gains
Frequency range : 824-960/1710-2200 MHz
VSWR< 1.5 : 1 max
Impedance 50 Ohm
Polarization Linear Vertical
Light Weight
Omnidirectional Antenna
Polarization Vertical
Diameter: 13.5mm
With 2 meter pigtail and with MCX plug RA
Colour: black
Mounting:Magnetic Base
Cable:RG174
Working Temperature : -20~+55 deg C
markopolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2010, 12:40 AM   #27
Platinum Member
 
renrut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 254
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

I'm glad it's working for you Mark. It's too bad there isn't a 3G tower a little closer but I noticed NB doesn't have much 3G coverage. Just the main 3 cities from what I can see. Having over 100k download speed is still not bad. When I was with Xplornet, I could only get 60k to 80k. I have seen people complaining about 300kbps download speeds with them but I have no idea where they get those speeds. I'm guessing it's from the satellite systems.

My wife and I are talking about enabling the phone on our Hub. It's a lot cheaper than what we are paying for our home phone now. We purchased the backup battery so we're not too worried about power outages.

I was very lucky when I bought the battery by the looks of it. I found it on the Powertech Canadian website and it was listed at $42. When I contacted Powertech, they told me it was a mistake and it was actually $68. I asked them to honor the price advertised and they did. They also shipped it by mail for $9.50 instead of the $30 courier charge. I checked the Powertech website today and the backup batteries are now listed at $117. That's what I call a major price increase. I'm hoping Ebay has someone sell these soon.

If you're interested, here is a speed test on my Hub. The Internet is a little slower this evening but it's not too bad:

:::.. testmy.net test results ..:::
Download Connection is:: 3241 Kbps about 3.24 Mbps (tested with 3072 kB)
Download Speed is:: 396 kB/s
Upload Connection is:: 753 Kbps about 0.8 Mbps (tested with 1496 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 92 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net (Main)
Test Time:: 2010/03/25 - 9:06pm
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.2)

Normally, I'm getting between 4 and 5Mbps. usually closer to 5.
renrut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-13-2010, 11:26 PM   #28
Platinum Member
 
markopolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 8,828
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm,

With the Rocket Hub, my internet connection quits when we use the phone - is it my setup or have I been sent back in time to the dial-up days?

I'm using 5.8 GHz phones............
markopolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-14-2010, 04:36 PM   #29
Platinum Member
 
renrut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 254
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

Since I'm on the phone with Rogers, I decided to ask about this. Apparently, if you have 3G, both the phone and Internet will work at the same time. On a 2G, it may not.

We have our phone enabled now and it has been interesting. Everyone I've talked to said Call Display would show name and number of the person calling. Apparently, only number will display and you need to add on the name display. I'm in the process of getting that added free since I've been told over and over again, both would work.
renrut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2010, 12:22 AM   #30
Platinum Member
 
markopolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 8,828
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

I'll have to check my Call Display.

Thanks for asking Rogers about my internet not working when we're using the phone. I only get a 2g connection here.

I got the antenna I bought on eBay. My signal strength drops when using it! 3 bars with the antenna and 4 without it. I've moved it around etc. I wonder why that is?
markopolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2010, 12:41 AM   #31
Platinum Member
 
renrut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 254
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

Quote:
Originally Posted by markopolo
I'll have to check my Call Display.

Thanks for asking Rogers about my internet not working when we're using the phone. I only get a 2g connection here.

I got the antenna I bought on eBay. My signal strength drops when using it! 3 bars with the antenna and 4 without it. I've moved it around etc. I wonder why that is?
I've been doing a lot of phoning Rogers this week. One technical support guy really seemed to know what he was doing so I mentioned the phone and internet problem to him. He stated the phone requires a minimum speed to work so if the speed is not high enough, the internet will be shut down.

I eventually got the name display. I've been with Rogers since 1991 and told them I was going to Bell or Telus if they don't give me the name display. Everyone told me name and number would be included but it's apparently not. Since the Hub is designed to replace a home phone and home phone call display includes both name and number, one would think the Hub would have both. It's only an extra $2 for the name display but it should be included. I got it free for now.

My wife is really PO'ed about the Hub right now. Instead of my bill dropping the $18 difference, it's gone up $10. They say it's because they charge a month ahead or something. My wife spent a good hour on the phone with them getting that sorted out. We just transferred our Rogers Home Phone to the Hub so everything was already paid for.

The voice mail did not work and a Technical support guy refused to fix it because he did not work in the Rocket Hub support section and it was closed. He told me to phone back the next day to get the problem fixed. Needless to say, I called right back and talked to another person who got everything fixed. He made a note on the previous person's conduct.

I don't like the fact our phones do not displaying something to say we have a message. Only having the little light on the front of the Hub isn't very useful.

As far as the Internet goes, I happy with it. We're just having quite a few issues getting the phone to work. It seems to be working for now so we'll be trying it for a bit. My wife wants to cancel it at the end of this billing period. Just have to see how this month goes.
renrut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-21-2010, 01:50 PM   #32
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Lutz, FL
Posts: 11
Default Re: New Portable Internet/Phone from Rogers

I own an Android phone and connect my netbook and desktop via my usb connection on the phone when I want internet. My phone plan includes unlimited data. The connection speed is about twice the speed of dialup but I have internet anywhere I have coverage.

The software is free and downloadable from Android Market on the phone. Look for an app called "PDAnet".
rdbyrne is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT. The time now is 05:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.