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It’s been a few weeks since the Verizon cellular broadband service was initiated and we installed the companion Cradlepoint MBR 1000 router in a small church office and, so far the results have been good. With the addition of the external antenna the signal has remained consistently much stronger with a resulting major increase in speed over the original no-antenna setup. In fact, by using the built in monitoring function on the router, we observed that the signal strength without the antenna which showed an average of 28-33% was raised to an average of 50-55%. This near-doubling makes all the difference in the speed and quality of service. The antenna is a must-have for installations with a weak unaided signal.
Is 5GB enough for a small office?
In the case of the small 2-4 part-time user church office, yes. Projected usage for the first 30 days is well below 5GB. Keep in mind that if you download or upload big files a lot or use continuous streaming online audio or video you should be very careful to monitor usage ro prevent surprises on your next Verizon bill. After 3 weeks, the usage for the office is just under 2GB, even uploading hour-long sermon audio to the church web site every week.
Speed markedly increased
The best news is the increased speed and reliability of the broadband connection, especially on those sermon uploads. What took 12-30 minutes with the Hughesnet system has been cut to an average of just over 3 minutes for a 10-13mb MP3 file using FTP. It is now possible to easily maintain the church web site from the church office instead of offloading the uploading chores to a home cable connection at night.
Overall online productivity has increased making it much more practical for use in online banking, continuous web mail communication, research for church publications and more. And, for those of us who use the web in this office, the reliability of the connection during stormy weather is greatly appreciated after enduring connection blackouts with the Hughesnet system every time there was a big cloud on the southern horizon.
So far so good!
It’s still early in our new live with the new cellular broadband system, but so far it gets high marks, even though it will never be a match for a good cable or DSL connection. For this particular installation and this small office it works!
We’ll keep you posted as the system is used and evaluated over the next weeks and months. But, for now our advice for those of you who cannot get either DSL or cable broadband connections, or the cable company wants too much money to install it in your area, this system is viable for the low-demand user, which probably fits most users.
The key for this entire project was the discovery of a relatively new product on the market, the CradlePoint MBR 1000 router. It is one of several available now which allow end users to use the cellular mobile broadband adapters as an Internet connection in the router itself making the connection instantly available to everyone connected to the LAN (local area network) controlled by the router. The CradlePoint MBR 1000 was chosen because it is one of the few that also supports wireless “N” technology for the LAN.
Installing the auxiliary antenna
As we mentioned in our previous article, the Verizon cellular signal at the church office is not strong enough for broadband speeds to be maintained, so we also purchased an external antenna which plugs directly into the U760 Verizon cellular broadband adapter. The antenna was ordered from More Mobile Internet since their prices are competitive and our first order was received so quickly. The model ordered was described as an “RV/Truck and Roof Antenna,” priced at $79.95 plus shipping. The antenna arrived in short order and, after studying the mounting bracket, it was decided to mount the antenna on the fascia of the small office building within 10 feet of the router so the cable would easily reach without an extension. The signal strength increased substantially with the antenna attached to the point that the decision was made that this was indeed a viable and economical alternative to the cable broadband connection for this small office application.
Conclusion on the antenna addition: Good! It made a barely usable cellular broadband signal strong enough to speed up Internet access substantially and is well worth the purchase price for a stationary installation the way we have installed it here. And, since the antenna and bracket is primarily designed for RV or tuck installations, we suspect that it would be a good addition for those applications in marginal coverage areas as well.
Installing the MBR 1000 router
With the now viable signal strength, the router was installed in the ideal position for the wireless “N” signal to reach all the computers in the office and the old Hughesnet satellite so that the Verizon cellular broadband service could be evaluated over the next few days. The wireless router hooked up without a hitch to all the laptops — except one.
That one laptop did connect, but dropped the connection intermittently and was completely unreliable so CradlePoint, the router manufacturer, was called for support during their Monday-Friday 7:00am to 7:00pm MST support office hours. CradlePoint staff answered within a few minutes with courteous, knowledgeable support and, after a few adjustments on the router settings it was discovered that the problem was with the laptop instead of the router. the laptop was built with a “draft” version of wireless “N.” The MBR 1000 on the other hand is built with the final, official wireless “N” standard which, in this case turned out to be the problem — the laptop’s older version simply would not connect reliably at the faster wireless “N” speeds. The solution was to make an adjustment to the laptop’s wireless settings to use only the older wireless “G” speeds which allowed a flawless, reliable albeit slower connection.
There is one other concern that has surfaced since then. A Xerox printer connected directly to the MBR 1000 via ethernet cable cannot be printed to from a computer connected to the router wirelessly. Laptop computers must connect to the router with an ethernet cable to print to the Xerox printer. Both CradlePoint and Xerox have been contacted about the problem with no success so far. We’ll keep you posted about the resolution of this particular problem, but more than likely, it’s just a setting on either the printer or the router that needs to be changed for this particular combination of equipment. for the average user with only local printers connected to computers via a USB cable it is of no concern at all. Small offices with printers connected via ethernet may want to look into the resolution of this problem before committing to the MBR 1000, but again we do not feel that this problem is unresolvable.
Conclusion on the MBR 1000 so far: Good! CradlePoint MBR 1000 is an attractive package and one of the few cellular broadband compatible routers around with wireless “N” capability. Availability and support seem to be first class and it brings a potential new source of broadband service to small offices who are outside the big, metropolitan areas and, either can’t get DSL or cable service, or find the installation fees beyond their budget.
The next step
Over the next few days the complete, installed setup will be evaluated for speed and reliability along with a close monitoring of usage within the 5GB monthly limit of the Verizon cellular broadband plan. So far it looks good. Speed is greatly increased over the Hughesnet satellite system and there isn’t the intermittent problem with clouds blocking the satellite signal during thunderstorms like the Hughesnet system. In the next installment we’ll give you the lowdown on the final decision to keep this cellular braodband/MBR 1000 system or move on to another choice.
As part two in our series about new broadband internet connection options in and around the Willis, Texas, area we’re going to continue with our exploration of the case of a small church office as they try to upgrade from an aging Hughesnet broadband system.
Ordering the equipment
The Verizon Mobile Broadband service and the Cradlepoint MBR 1000 router were ordered as a package deal which saved a good deal of cash for the church in the form of a cash discount on the router and rebates on both the router and the Verizon U760 adapter. Ordering was pretty straightforward after researching various sources on the web. An order was placed with More Mobile Internet on a Wednesday and received Friday afternoon via priority mail, the least expensive delivery choice available. The Verizon U760 adapter arrived from a different source Monday afternoon via Fedex, again the least expensive delivery choice. So far we’ve found the service from More Mobile Internet to be friendly, quick and knowledgeable. In addition, their web site is full of useful information about wireless broadband equipment including instructional videos, available accessories and online order forms. Overall, the buying experience was a good one, with the total initial cash outlay of $211.99 including shipping. Of course the rebates will need to be sent away and who knows when those will arrive. You’ve probably played the rebate game before!
Activation & Installation of U760
The first step in putting this all together is to install the Verizon U760 USB adapter into an available laptop and see how well it works. Since the VZAccess Manager software comes on the USB adapter itself ready to install on the host computer there were not CD’s to juggle or software to download. The only glitch in the installation process came when the installation process did not begin automatically as described in the quick start information. It turned out that the autoplay option in Windows had been turned off and all that was needed was to open the U760 as if it were a disk drive and begin the installation manually. After a couple of minutes the sotware installed itself, booted up quickly and gave the option to download and install the newest version of VZAccess Manager directly. Once the software is installed it’s a one-button click to get the modem connected.
Working from the small office of the church the signal was found to be much weaker than expected, barely one bar on the graphic connection scale. And, the connection was only marginally better than the old satellite system. Not quite what we’d hoped since Verizon’s web representation of coverage showed the entire area blanketed with signal well past the location of the church. In fairness though, the office was sort of down in a depression in the terrain and completely surrounded by large trees. When carried outside with the adapter still connected the signal showed improvement, but even in higher, open areas the signal seldom achieved a second bar on the scale, although performance did increase significantly to around twice the speed of the satellite system. But it still was not as quick as expected. Back to the drawing board.
What’s the next step? Well, More Mobile Internet had antennas listed as accessories for this particular Verizon adapter, so the plan was amended to include ordering an antenna to help overcome the poor wireless signal in the office. For now, while we wait for the antenna’s arrival, there’s the router to set up and configure. But I’ll reserve that for the next installment in the series. I will say that the setup was not without challenges, but the challenges turned out not to be getting the Verizon service working, but with the wireless “N” connection established. The blow-by-blow description of how it all went down is our next installment … LATER!
Problem: We need a faster internet connection — NOW
Solution: Make a phone call to my traditional telephone or cable TV providers to set it up. — Wrong! – at least for some of us.
A Brief Case History
The answer five years ago had been a Hughesnet satellite system donated by a member of the church. It was a definite improvement over the existing, agonizingly slow dial-up connection, but still very slow compared to either typical DSL or cable broadband. the system has served pretty well, but sometimes doesn’t download the entire page on a complicated web site and the upload speeds, while faster than dial-up are still pretty slow when you are trying to upload an 11mb MP3 sermon file.
Current (2009) monthly charges for satellite broadband services are $69.95 plus the usual extra little access fees, taxes, etc. The objective in upgrading to a faster broadband connection was to improve service while still maintaining or decreasing budget expenditures.
Broadband Internet Access Explained
- Wikipedia.org
the free encyclopedia
- Federal Communications Commission
a complete, somewhat technically oriented definition and explanation about broadband in general, specific types of broadband and the state of broadband distribution in America today
As it turned out for one church on the north side of Conroe (Christ Church on League Line Road), making the connection to the Internet via a better broadband service was not so easy. The cable wire runs along the same utility poles as the wires from the power company and conventional phone lines had been installed decades ago with continuous service ever since. But broadband services were not readily available without exorbitant installation charges the church could not justify. The cable company told them they would have to pay $2,ooo to bring the cable to the church from the nearest fiber optic cable access point, some 1,500 feet away to the church. And the phone company could not (or would not) provide DSL service at all.
With all the advertisements on TV about 3G broadband they decided to check out other newly available options. Of course, these new generation wireless broadband solutions were first intended for mobile users, but the decision was made to check out this technology as it might apply to small, limited demand offices with 1-4 part-time users.
Until recently there was no easy way to share the wireless broadband connection with other computers. But now that’s changed with a new generation of routers intended for use specifically for this purpose. With one of these new routers the mobile broadband receiver, which is normally installed directly into the computer itself, can be installed into the router instead, making the broadband connection available to any computer connected to the router. This changes the market entirely by adding homes and small businesses with relatively modest broadband needs to the thousands of laptop users already using the current 3G broadband networks.
One caveat is that, unlike higher throughput DSL and cable connections, current 3G wireless broadband contracts from all the major 3G providers impose a limit on how much data can be sent and received each month before charging overage fees, much like using too many minutes on your cell phone. If you are a heavy user this could get expensive. The plan the church is signed up for allows for 5Gb of transfer per month, which should be enough for their needs.
The router just arrived and hasn’t been evaluated yet,so we’ll follow the progress and give a full report on how things work out. Stay tuned.
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