How to Keep a Mobile Broadband Aircard Constantly Active When Moving From Tower to Tower
Mobile broadband providers offer service across wide areas of the country and where they lack coverage, subscribers can roam onto competing networks. However, while a user is traveling --- switching from tower to tower --- they might lose connectivity in the process. If the user is paying attention to the computer, they might notice a sound or pop-up notification, but that is not always possible, especially while driving. If you use Windows, however, you can program its native Internet connection functions to keep the aircard active while waiting for a new tower to come into range.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Click "Start." Type "Network Sharing" in the search box at the bottom of the "Start" menu. Press "Enter" to open the "Network and Sharing Center" window.
-
2
Click "Change Adapter Settings" on the left side of the window.
-
-
3
Find the mobile broadband aircard from the list of adapters. Right-click and then select "Properties."
-
4
Click the "Options" tab. Type a number of "5" or greater in the "Redial Attempts" box. Select "10 Seconds" or greater from the menu next to "Time Between Redial Attempts." Select "Next" from the drop-down menu next to "Idle Time Before Hanging Up." Click a check mark in the box next to "Redial If the Line Is Dropped."
-
5
Click "OK" to complete the configuration of keeping the aircard active if the mobile broadband connection drops when changing cell phone towers. As an example, the aircard might disconnect if you are driving along a highway, going out of the range of a tower. Based on redial settings in previous steps, the Windows operating system will instruct the aircard to redial, and eventually capture the signal of the next tower.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Increase or decrease the redial time frames in Step 4 above, at will. For example, if you know that an area has very few cell towers, you might want to increase the redial attempts as well as the time frame between attempts.
If the mobile broadband connection drops in the middle of downloading a large file, the Windows operating system and the Internet browser might pause and preserve the file at the point of disconnect. When a new broadband connection has been established, the file download will continue from that paused point and complete the download.
The naming conventions for aircards vary, but they usually take on the name of the mobile broadband provider or the maker of the device, such as "Sprint" or "Motorola," respectively.
You should not rely on this technique to maintain a mobile broadband connection for activities such as VoIP telephone calls or streaming Web conferencing.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit mobile office image by Pali A from Fotolia.com
