4G and storm chasing......

[Steve Worthington]

Dont fall for it!!!!

Long story short, We broke our Verizon usb760 aircard back in May and was forced to go with a new Verizon Pantech aircard uml295. Everything about it was BAD. First off 4G is something new so you cant get it everywhere. 4G is not compatible with our cell amps. The 3G aircards are the only way to go if your chasing storms as your service will not be changing all the time causing you to restart your streaming programs and other programs that need internet. We would have full bars up in SD but no internet. We had nothing in western KS/OK at all. Eastern CO, nope nothing. So I did some testing here at the shop and saw that I only had 2 bars and I'm just 5 miles from the cell tower and It`s a clear shot. I bought a new 3G usb760 the other day and we are now back in business with full bars and a working cell amp. Lesson learned, 4G would be great if you`re at home and using a yagi or parabolic antenna. In a chase car, well not so great. So with that all said don`t let Verizon talk you in to going 4G and being stuck with a 2 year plan that dosen`t work for what we do. I am fighting really hard to get my old plan back as I was on the 3G unlimited data plan...

 

[rdale]

Must be location/carrier dependent... I've used 4G/LTE just fine for streaming and everything related. Not a single problem.

 

[Dan Robinson]

You probably needed to get a 4G/3G combo modem that can do both. I have the VL600 without an amp, and I've had data everywhere except a few places in the Plains that are known to be bad for most carriers (NW OK, SE OK, etc).

 

[Steve Worthington]

rdale and how many miles do you chase in a season and what states? 4G is not out in the woods so I`m gonna have to call BS unless you only chase in the city.

Dan, the uml295 is a 4G/3G combo modem that can do both. But you must ask yourself "Why and I paying for 4G if I cant use it?" and the cell amps dont work with 4G so try and get service in south western KS and north western OK as well as south eastern CO. I had full bars with 4G in south western SD but no internet...hummmm Verizon even says "Yea, this is not going to work if you drive all over like you do"

 

[Skip Talbot]

The trick is finding a device that smoothly handles the 4G/3G transition. I've been holding out on making the jump to a 4G data device (other than my Sprint phone), but have been really impressed with the Verizon 4G that others that I've chased with are getting. It's not everywhere, but it sure is available in a lot of rural area of the plains. I couldn't even make voice calls in some of the areas a few years ago, or I'd be rejoicing if I had Edge data. Now you can watch HD movies in western Kansas. Their coverage is expanding so rapdily too. I'll definitely be making the switch for the '14 season, but the focus will be on getting a device that provides a reliable connection, which seems to be your main issue, not necessarily the lack of 4G coverage. Even if you don't have 4G connectivity mid chase, it's great to have it when you stop for dinner in a decent sized town and want to upload some video.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

That map must be old, Skip. I've gotten Verizon 4G LTE in the back country of western OK in several areas. I'm sure someone can shine more light about it but a lot of OK is now LTE thanks to their partnership with Pioneer Wireless.

 

[James Hilger]

I get 4g almost everywhere as well, even through the mountains here in Arkansas. I do run a Wilson sleek v. I use the Pantech 290. I had issues with it disconnecting and Verizon was no help. Ultimately I downloaded a hotfix off some forum and it's just unreal the difference between what I was running-sprint with custom prls so nearly half a dozen carriers.

 

[rdale]

rdale and how many miles do you chase in a season and what states? 4G is not out in the woods so I`m gonna have to call BS unless you only chase in the city.

MI/IN/OH and a dash of IL. LTE in the cities, down to 4G in some areas and the occasional 3G in the boonies. But I very rarely have to stop/start the streaming. It resumes just fine on its own.

 

[Bob Schafer]

I used the Pantech 290 each of the last two seasons, with Verizon, and have experienced some problems with getting disconnected even when there were 3 or 4 bars. However, I MUST EMPHASIZE that the problems were minor and isolated incidents, until my USB port broke, but I already discussed that (briefly) on another thread.

I chased from central TX to MT to MN, and all points in between, during that time, and had overall good experience with my equipment. I DO NOT use an amplifier NOR an external antenna.

 

[Steve Worthington]

Dave will be up here tonight to help work on the UTAV over the weekend. He just went to the uml295 and 4G. I just went back to a usb760 with 3G. We will see a side by side on what is what He`s already bitching about the uml295 and only lives about 15 miles south east of OKC.

 

[Brett Roberts]

The trick is finding a device that smoothly handles the 4G/3G transition. I've been holding out on making the jump to a 4G data device (other than my Sprint phone), but have been really impressed with the Verizon 4G that others that I've chased with are getting. It's not everywhere, but it sure is available in a lot of rural area of the plains. I couldn't even make voice calls in some of the areas a few years ago, or I'd be rejoicing if I had Edge data. Now you can watch HD movies in western Kansas. Their coverage is expanding so rapdily too. I'll definitely be making the switch for the '14 season, but the focus will be on getting a device that provides a reliable connection, which seems to be your main issue, not necessarily the lack of 4G coverage. Even if you don't have 4G connectivity mid chase, it's great to have it when you stop for dinner in a decent sized town and want to upload some video.

Skip, have you been able to find a 4G LTE device good enough to switch? I was just about to activate my trusty UMW190 when I decided to check the latest coverage maps. If they're to be believed, 4G LTE is available more places than not, even outside metro areas. It's getting harder and harder to justify using a 3G device. But I don't want to get greedy, either. Verizon's 3G speeds are good enough for chasing unless you want to use GR2. If there's even a 20% drop in reliability because of 4G/3G handoff issues, I'll stick with what I've got. Was just hoping you or someone else could share up-to-date firsthand experience.

I'm especially interested in the LG VL600. Very cheap used, small, and doesn't have the widespread negative reviews of the Pantech 4G device. Is it true that the 3G antenna port is extremely fragile, as suggested here?

 

[Bob Schafer]

Brett, I used a 4G Pantech 190 (think that's right) all last season. You may have seen my other post where I said that I see no reason for using amps and external antennae anymore. I cannot think of any time last year that I had a serious problem with getting data, and used no amp or antenna. 22K miles, in CO, WY, MT, TX, OK, KS, NE, SD, ND, IA, MO, AR and IL. I have since *upgraded* to a (4G) MiFi 5510L to alleviate the broken USB issue. I did a dry run at the end of December while driving from Columbus OH to Orange Beach AL, 800-ish miles, and it worked like a dream. 100% connectivity? No, but darn close.

 

[Mark Blue]

Has anyone with a Pantech UML290 modem on Verizon used the 4G external antenna port (rear right side) with an LTE antenna only and no amplifier? Just curious if anyone has been down this road and what kind of experiences you've had.

 

[Clarence Bennett]

Mark, my best friend has the 290 and recently bought a 40" antenna. He lives in Goodland, KS right now and tested it out a couple of weeks ago with what he said were great results. He drove a good ways out from GLD and said he saw a huge difference using the antenna. Anyone that knows northwest KS, knows how desolate it is.

 

[Bob Schafer]

I've climbed up on this soapbox and refuse to step down, LOL. Define huge difference!! Think about it. That can mean several different things.

Does that mean more bars showing at some given spot at the fringe of a service area? Does it mean YES being able to get data at that particular spot vs. NO, not getting data without the antenna? One thing I can tell you is that most of the time that I am chasing, if I happen upon a spot where I am not getting data there's no reason I can't move to another spot .5 miles or 2 miles away where I CAN get data. I do this several times per year. I don't consider it a nuisance or hardship.

I tested my (3G) setup with/without amp+antenna in some marginal spots a few years ago, and my results were that there was absolutely no difference whatsoever, but YMMV. Contrarily, I will admit this: I did come across another chaser in the NE PH a few years ago who was getting data using a mid-size antenna while I was not (using an antenna nor getting data).