EVDOinfo.com has long been your source for tips, tricks, hacks and suggestions for getting the most out of your EVDO service, and each week we will be highlighting a particularly interesting or popular topic in the "Tip of the Week" feature. To suggest future Tips of the Week, contact us at suggestions@evdoinfo.com or post your suggestions in the EVDO Forums.

Avoid Interference Between WiMAX Modems & WiFi Routers

Since 3Gstore.com recently began selling CLEAR 4G WiMAX products and services, this week's tip is geared towards folks who are using a Sprint or CLEAR 4G (or 3G/4G) device in a Cradlepoint router. Despite the fact that Cradlepoint officially supports CLEAR and Sprint 4G modems, some users were reporting performance issues when using their modems in Cradlepoint routers - a drop in signal strength upon inserting the modem, and a slowdown in performance.

After doing some testing, our tech support experts were able to identify the problem, and luckily, it's a simple one: we found that in some cases the WiFi signal broadcast by the Cradlepoint router will interfere with the WiMAX signal that the Sprint & CLEAR devices use if they are too close to each other. Since WiMAX uses the 2.5-2.7Ghz frequency and WiFi uses the 2.4Ghz frequency, you may experience interference if there isn't sufficient separation between the 4G modem & the WiFi router. This is obviously a common problem, since most users are accustomed to attaching their modems directly to their routers, but there is a very easy way to solve it: simply use a USB extension cable between your 4G modem and your router!

We highly recommend that anyone using a 4G or 3G/4G modem in a router use a USB extension cable like the 118" (3 meters) cable sold by 3Gstore to provide sufficient seperation which will reduce interference and provide optimal results from your modem.

Related links:

• Discuss this Tip on the EVDO Forums
• Purchase the 3-Meter USB Extension Cable for $11.99
  
• View/buy Cradlepoint routers 
• View previous Tips of the Week