Very poor inconsistent connections, Discuss poor "hot spot" style usage...as now advertised. Options

[grumpy3b]

Hi,

While I can periodically use the system to get access around town...more often then not there is poor to no access in what one might consider "hot spot" areas.

One of the typical issues is access points falling in and out of range. For example sitting in the 100-block of South H St. (as in old downtown) one can typically see around 7-9 AP's...yet never has a single one either come into range or remained a viable connection/signal for more then a few seconds.

I am usually able to maintain a connection at the Starbucks in the Albertson's shopping center on North "H" but at best it's a crap shoot. The SNR (not SNR+) is rarely over about 35. I know this is more then enough for the data rate it's simple that any minor issue (including the wind) can drive the number to zero or none. To be honest I get a better signal from the Holiday Inn Express that is 5x farther away then the LompocNet AP node which is about 200' away. While HIE is about 750-1000' away.

Short of toting around the PepLink with me where ever I want to go something needs done.

Since the switch to a "hot spot" style service we have seen no changes to the system. At least I see no improved accessibility along Ocean Ave. of "H" St. I feel the people who have remained subscribers have been very patient and want this system to function. But there are node placements I seriously question. One is out in front of the Sears shopping center on "H" Street...the node is mounted to a pole located right in front of some very large eucalyptus trees blocking most of the signal. Then there is the node next to Walmart on North "O" St....ummm...it is next to an EMPTY LOT with no places one might consider a potential "hot spot" use location. The node located near Starbucks also is in questionable position.

And from that Starbucks we can see 5-7 nodes dropping in and out of view using NetStumbler...one windy stormy days (ie the perfect day for a place such as Starbucks) the connection is never stable even when sitting by the window facing the street.

One can park their car right below this node and get a great connection. For fun one day I did just that and was able to use Skype and browse to my heart's content...over 1k symmetrical connection. Very solid.

I have seen guys in vehicles driving around checking signal strengths...they need to enter the locations people would use as a HS...I mean just how much of a HS is the middle of the street? I suspect Lompton PD might take issue with me setting up a table and chair there so I can check my email.

Ironically I have been able to gain access at RIVER PARK of all places...but of course not at Ryan Park (middle of town)...if your people manning this support board do not know River Park is OUTSIDE of Lompoc across the river. But if you sit at a table on the far side of the picnic area you can usually get a solid connection...on nice days with good weather of course.

Hope something begins to develop consistent stable connections in the very near term...or the handful of loyal subscribers might decrease by one...I am seriously figuring I will be better off paying MORE for T-Mobile which will leave Southside Coffee shop out one customer too. Since the idea of a blanket coverage is certainly not working perhaps re-tasking residential nodes to saturate the business areas of town where one might expect "hot spots" to exist is a ticket toward developing customer confidence in the system.

BTW, these issues are not my setting the Tx power too low on my laptop...I am commenting on poor Rx signals...

[grumpy3b]

OK, here is today's speed test using speedtest.net:



And here is a ST from DSLReports.com:



This is OK., actually just it's FINE...but if I move tables or the weather is not pristine as it is today there might be no connectivity from the exact same spot here in Starbucks.

I think I will keep posting results here to see just how it works out overall...but I am seriously considering switching to Sprint's EVDO if I can get near the same speeds but ANYWHERE in town not a single table at Starbucks with my laptop sitting just ever so...

This is not to denegrade the system but to see exactly where the service is under real conditions. Not the fluff treatmet the Lompoc Record (Yesterday's-news-tomorrow and completely slanted rarely objective, indepth or factual).

[grumpy3b]

Am still at Starbucks and just spent the last 20ish minutes trying to grab a connection...I suspect it went down for a good 25 mins though as I was reading then found the connection dropped out. Here are the new speed test results:



Huge drop in speed. I was in the middle of another test when the connection dropped and the d/l speed was about 450k with pings over 300ms and then there was no connection.

Here is a 2nd test within a few moments of the other one in this post:



My system is on full power is a C2D T7200 with 3GB RAM...and the NIC is maxed on all power settings for Tx and set to roam to a different node as needed. As the nodes pop in and out of sight perhaps it would be best to be more restrictive on the roaming?

Third test w/o changes just for S&G's...



hehehehe...I know everyone is doing their best to improve the system but as it exists it has been increasingly frustrating to woork with...and I do not receive better results even with the AP/Bridge. Plus I am not thrilled with the idea of lugging around the bridge...it sort of defeats the whole idea of MOBILE...

Perhaps it might be worth testing a PC Express/PCMCIA card with an external antenna to boost the upstream and down stream detection?

[grumpy3b]

Here is today's speed test results from Starbucks. I did try down at Southside but no luck getting any usable signal.



And fwiw, the signal strength I am getting reports via NetStumbler about -62 down to -70 on node 00D9700162.

I am able to see nodes 00D9700168D, 00D9700163B, 00D97048611, 00D970400B4 with no usable signal.

Node 00D97040324 drops in and out never staying viable for more then a few seconds. The signal stays in the same range as node 00D9700162 but the SNR pops in and out.

For reference where I am sitting today the tmobile hotspot signal strength is about -50db and the SNR is about 47db.

Well, as I was trying the message I lost connection...and had to login all over again.

[grumpy3b]

OK, I have disabled roaming completely on my NIC. We'll see if that reduces the connection drops. I am thinking it was being too agressive when the SNR drops and searching for a new node. Then with the one node close in strength poping in and out of sight the card would try and grab that node if the signal was higher. ???

Hopefull that solves the issue here...but we still have the problem I cannot really use the service anywhere else that might be laptop-friendly. Or even in the park on a sunny day sitting under a nice shady tree on the one day a year we have those conditions in Lompoc.

[grumpy3b]

Zoikes!!!





These were truly DISMAL and took 15 minutes to get done. With a connection drop as the 2nd test completed. I think I am giving up and going to move to Millenicom (http://www.millenicom.com) and their EVDO rev A service. It cannot be worse then this...it's completely unusable.

[grumpy3b]

Thought I would spend a relaxing afternoon at Starbucks (H & Central for those who act as techs for this muni Wifi Tepid Spot system).

I was there for about 2 hrs...trying to get some emails answered, watch a TV show and do a bit of work on a few projects. Well, after what seemed like 8-10 connection drops, despite 3-bars, I gave up in frustration. I maxed out the power settings on the wifi card and nothing, and I mean nothing improved the connection reliability. I moved by the window I even walked outside just to monitor the connection strength to see if it was the building. Nope, watching nodes using NetStumbler shown numerous LompocNet nodes that rarely stayed viable for more then a few SECONDS, not hours, not 10s of minutes but a handful of SECONDS...that goes for the node under 100-yards from the Starbucks.

I have ordered EVDO service from Millenicom and they even offered me a no questions money back guarantee if I am not happy with the speed. And supposedly we are in an EVDO Rev A area so that means even more bandwidth in the 500-2000 Mb range up depending.

But we will see if even that works...still I feel our city has seriously blown it this time. The project lacked true local management...the poor staff in town do the best job they can with the resources provided by a privatized company who is only in it to turn a profit for themselves not the town. They will make a fast few million then walk away saying there was simply a lack of funding...this is the "Lompoc/Surf Pier" all over again...take a trip out to Surf Park and see how well that turned out...and take a peek on College Ave and see what happened to the college they were gonna build with the money used for the pier instead...funny the guy who laughed all the way to the bank on that deal seems an awful lot like the folks who claimed they had the ability to build us a WORKING Wifi system...

Here are some of today's test results:









Some of these speeds would be OK...if the connection stayed AND I could go somewhere other then a couple hundred feet from a node....there were also three tests that never completed due to connection instability.

I have said before I WANT this system to work but right now I have to simply say it is not worth the cost, even as a back-up should my home DSL go down...

FYI, the tests are done on an HP NX9420, Dual Core T7200 with 3GB RAM...hardware is not a problem on my end. Plus I can walk a good 300-400 feet away from my house and my stock Linksys WRT54G rev 4 router and STILL have a connection testing over 2000/500 (normal speed is 2850/740) tested on DSLReports which tend to provide lower results. My point is the equipment as setup by LompocNet is not doing the job...and it looks like it will be at least a year before anything happens.

BTW, do not expect unbiased coverage in the Record...they have done nothing but fluff pieces on the system. Never has the reporter asked for specific speed expectations nor explained about being shown a live real world demo...I mean there should be coverage at H & Ocean, right? Hardly...I would visit the Southside Coffee shop more often but since there is no coverage in the 100 block of So. H I am pretty much forced to go elsewhere when I need out of the office to get any work done.

And YES, I have the SurfLink bridge...nothing like having to take a device I must PLUG IN in order to get a connection...btw, the bridge in inconsistent as well but does help a bit.

I would rather spend another $35/mo ($49.99/mo) for coverage almost ANYWHERE I travel in the US...

Sorry, this is so darned negative but it's a years frustration building up...I was fine with the service being a tad flaky last year when i signed up, they system was new and of course there would need to be some adjusting...but there have been ZERO IMPROVEMENTS that I have been able to find in that time...it's time to light a fire under the seats of those in charge of this issue...I feel I have blown a good $200 on the system and it has provided me nothing positive in return.

[grumpy3b]

That has been pretty much my numbers for the past 4-hours of connection with NO DROPS...actually the latency has been around 59ish and the signal strength is about -59db INSIDE and about -43db outside.

See Ya LomptonNet...thanks for absolutely nothing.