Verizon Jetpack

docj wrote:

mavapa wrote:
If you don't believe there are problems with a Jetpack, just google something like 'verizon jetpack connection issues." I know all about the problems, except how to resolve them. Ours is almost unusable now. It runs fine for a while, and then we get a message that we're not connected to the internet. I check the jetpack, and it shows that we are connected. Sometimes turning it off and then back on helps, and sometimes it doesn't. I have reset it and modified settings, but nothing seems to help. Our 4G connection had been great for a long time, but now ... well, not so much.

I assume you realize that any cellular connection can have "pauses" in the data signal that last from seconds to a couple of minutes. Verizon and the other carriers don't like to tell you that, but it's true. During one of those pauses your computer will tell you you aren't connected to the internet but you will still be connected to the Jetpack. Quite often by the time you walk over to the device (or reboot it) the issue will already have been resolved and it will seem as if the reboot actually accomplished something but the result might have been the same if you hadn't done anything.

Since we use our phone's hotspot as our internet access I am acutely sensitive to the "ups and downs" of the Verizon system (it's a geek thing) and you can see all of this happen if you have a smartphone with a good display at the top. On my phone there are a pair of red and green arrows on the display that indicate incoming and outgoing data. Normally both colors light up as data is sent and received. During a data "pause" the red incoming arrow won't be lit at all and the green one repeatedly as if it is sending a "is anyone home?" message to the server. Once I see the red arrow start up again I know the problem has been resolved. Sometimes, when the cellular system is totally messed up the 3G and 4G LTE symbols next to these arrows may actually disappear; that indicates that the phone isn't receiving a data signal at all.

Your Jetpack will experience the same sorts of network issues but I don't think it has the same sort of displays as a smartphone so you may not be as aware of what is happening. I find that these outages are more frequent in rural environments compared with big cities but I have seen in occur in both. I've experienced it with both 3G and 4G service so I don't think that is an issue.

Maybe someone with more telecommunications experience can explain what I'm describing in more precise technical terms.

it is after all, a phone. So those "pauses" are hung up, and then it dials. The question is if the Verison switch is refusing the connect for some reason, or its the Jetpack?