Elevate 4g mobile hotspot connectivi​ty issues.

[phunky_21]

First off I live in the back 40's. I'm surpised I even get a connection here but I do. For most of the winter my internet was decent (edge) connected. Very rarely did I get a disconnect but it did happen. Wasn't high speed but it was alright. Then as summer started my internet started cutting out a lot. Lots of dc's and sometimes no connectivity at all. It would be down almost all day for days on end. I bought an antenna for the device (which actually helped a lot). The antenna however only helped for the signal. It did not help with the outages. I'm sometimes getting 4g signal with 2-4 bars and still no internet connectivity. I updated the firmware today. That increased the signal a little bit.

What else can I do? I read somewhere if I'm getting a signal and all of my settings are proper then it's most likely something on ATT's end that is the problem. Perhaps the DNS server going down? Should I use an alternate DNS? Would that work on a hotspot I dont know...

 

[eibgrad]

DNS has absolutely nothing to do w/ your signal quality, or the reliability of your connections. A DNS server is only for name resolution. It takes something like www.google.com and translate it into an internet IP address your router can use to locate that domain (e.g., 173.194.73.103). A DNS server doesn't even come into the picture until your connection is well established.

Sounds like you already took some good steps to address the weak signal, such as the antenna. But unless using a stronger and/or better placed antenna can show even more improvement, there’s not much more you can do about it. Anyone on the “edge” faces this problem.

Are there neighbors around you? Anyone that perhaps has solved this problem, if only because they have a slightly better signal given their particular location? Or even better, has a decent dsl/cable connection even though you might not? I’m just wondering if it’s possible to use them as a bridge for your own network (neighbor helping neighbor). Desperate times call for desperate measures.