Playing on an aircard

I don't know if anyone else is in an area without wired broadband, I live in rural Michigan and so the only way to play for me is via Aircard. Now it has it's issues a 5gb cap which daily play of 2-3 hours has never reached and the affects storms have on reception - very negative.

I wanted to share what 5 years of aircard usage has taught me and to offer some help if needed.

Buying an aircard:
1) Do not get a contract longer than 1 year - the devices change so quickly that within 1 year you may go from terrible connections to blazing fast on another vendor. So don't tie yourself to a longer contract.

2) go to your local Best Buy and ask then who covers your area best. They sell ALL vendors cards and so won't blow smoke up your rear. They want you happy and with good coverage and they sell these things all day and know who covers what. Buying from Best Buy is a good idea as well because you pay a minor cost for the aircard but if you have an issue you take it to them not the vendor



Using your aircard:
Wouldn't it be great if you just plugged it in and it worked? Well it might but not at optimal speeds. You need to install the software with your card and then IMMEDIATELY look for a newer version of the software. It can change like night and day with a newer version opening up new options. Going from Rev A towers to Rev B is just a software tweak but it is much faster as an example.

1) Your connection is in db and the LOWER the better. If you get 80 db or less you have a great connection. 100 dba and above it will be choppy but solo you can play - in teams you won't like it.

2) Download http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp Dr. TCP and once installed set the TCP Recieve Window to 65536 and your Max MTU to 1472. This sould be the best settings for aircards. Then reboot your computer and you are all set.



Weak signal can be rectified several ways either by a signal booster or an antenna.
Signal boosters are about $400 and can really boost a weak signal for a small area http://www.wpsantennas.com/cell-phon...-boosters.aspx.

Antennas are either directional or Omni-directional (it shoots all around). The directional ones are based on either a panel or a Yagi and the Omni directional is based on just a whip antenna like on your car. http://www.wpsantennas.com/cell-phone-antennas.aspx



Tips for antennas:

Your card will need an adaptor to connect to an antenna and your card vendor will have those!

Omni directional ones are better the higher gain they have a 9dbi is better than a 3 dbi. They also do have a "flat spot" where the signal is weaker and directional antennas are usually covering a 6 degree arc (give or take a bit). Here is a good basic coverage primer http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk72...807f34d3.shtml

If you do get an antenna understand an Omni directional MUST HAVE A REFLECTIVE SURFACE to get best signal. I mounted mine outside on a 12 foot pole and used a flat metal disc 6 inches in diameter and set the magnetic antenna in the center and with trial and error slowly rotated the Omni until it gave the best signal.

A Yagi can give better duty in a busy area with a lot of interference. They have a 6 degree arc of coverage and so they don't pick up the noise from other sources as easily. A thing you must be aware of with Yagi's THEY MUST BE GROUNDED OR THEY DON'T WORK. I have heard people say these Yagi's are terrible they don't work - and asked do you have it grounded? They say nope - and I say then it isn't even on yet. Buy a fairly cheap copper grounding pole at a hardware store and pund it in the ground near the Yagi and run a simple ground wire to the antenna (it should have a location for one).




Several new network developments will make wireless near Broadband speeds http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-4g.htm

One issue you will have on an aircard is lag or latency and it is completely dependant on the distance from the tower you are connected to. I get 200-225 ping rate doing a /netgraph 1 in the City of command line. (To turn it off /netgraph 0) Which is fine for this game but would be dreadful in a game like Quake. I have heard some folks getting as low as 70 or so but that is rare.



I hope this helps!

I should point out, grounding is not only important for signal reception... on any outdoor antenna, it is critical for safety and equipment-protection reasons. Any outdoor antenna needs to have a grounded lightning arrestor of some sort.

Mind you, nothing will protect your equipment from a direct lightning strike, but proper grounding will at least drain away everyday static charges and help protect from near-misses.