How to do things with your USB Mobile Broadband

Printing this article: if it does not page properly, print in sections or try latest Opera browser for Windows which seems to behave better.

"If in doubt, pull it out and put it back again..."

1. How to prevent the 3 Mobile browser opening at startup
2. How to prevent Orange.co.uk opening at startup (Orange Mobile BB)
3. How to Connect 3G in Windows without software
4. How to make Vodafone 3G auto-connect
5. Use different DNS servers in 3G

1. How to prevent the browser at startup of 3Mobile broadband

UPDATE: (May 2011) My latest three mobile connection manager has a simpler solution:-
In the dashboard, in Settings, simply UNtick the option "Launch three.co.uk on opening" You do however have to hold onto Local and Localhost cookies which I believe are Flash cookies. If you run CCleaner or similar put local and localhost on the White-list.

(May 2009) a new connection panel update was introduced changing from the screen on the left which was contained in the dongle to the screen on the right which came as a download "upgrade"




The most annoyting feature of this is that once connected your browser is opened up at the 3 Mobile sales web page which, if you are on a slow connection, may not be ideal

To stop this

- Disconnect the connection
- Click on Settings then Advanced settings
- DoubleClick on Connections
- Highlight 3G then click on Properties
- on Applications tab, highlight the line with the IE browser and click on Delete.

that will stop your default browser opening (even if it is not IE)

2. How to prevent opening ORANGE homepage at startup of Orange Internet Everywhere

I am sure Orange want you to go into their lovely website as soon as you get the dongle connected, but it's such a busy web page it is not really what you need if your connection is slow!.
This irritating feature is caused by code written into the latest (circa November 2009) Connection Manager Software that runs on the PC and does the dialling on the dongle (see pic above).

For example my E160E will go into Orange home page with version 1.0.11 of the Internet Everywhere manager, but if I load the version 1.0 it does not. So the remedy is to try and find another or older version of the software. Ignore the warnings about loading an older version. If it does not work you can reinstall your current one over the top. If it will not load try uninstalling the previous one first.

Alternatively for huawei dongles, try Huawei generic connection software
(Windows_Mobile_Partner_11.302.09.01.539_Voice_USSD.zip - Google it)

Also try the How-to 3 (following this) and dial directly.

Finally try Ubuntu!

3. How to connect 3G dongle without software

This example is for Vodafone PAYG 2GB/30 day mobile broadband but can be altered to suit any provider. It is useful for Windows PCs where you have problems getting the provided software to work and Huawei generic software is not applicable, e.g. a Win7 b64bit PC with a ZTE dongle!
Linux PCs (2009 onwards) will have this built-in already.

-Go to the Windows Control Panel
-Go to Phone and Modem Options
-Click the Modems Tab (Fill in the location info if it asks for it)
-Highlight the detected Modem and click properties
-Click the Advanced Tab (On Vista or Windows 7, you'll need to click "Change Settings" first)
-In the Extra Initialisation Command Field type in
at+cgdcont=1,"IP","PPBUNDLE.INTERNET"
(or use PP.INTERNET for the old non-expiring PAYG or plain INTERNET for Vodafone contract)
and press OK

-Go back to the Control Panel and open Network and Sharing Centre (Network Connections on XP)
-Create a New Dial-Up Internet Connection with the following settings
-Phone number: *99#
-Username: web
-Password: web
-Account Name: Vodafone
Once you've done this, you'll be able to connect with it again by going to Start > Connect To.

(Credit - Vodafone eForum staff members).

Other providers:_

For Orange use
at+cgdcont=1,"IP","consumerbroadband"
Number *99#

For O2 use
at+cgdcont=1,"IP","m-bb.o2.co.uk"
Number *99#
Username o2web (thats an o for oscar not a zero)
Password password

4. How to make Vodafone auto-connect on startup

Windows based computers
Older Vodafone connect software (VMC) allowed a setting to aonnect automatically on Windows startup. Newer dongles and their VMC Lite fotware have had the option removed.

Using the business (Full-variant) software will often allow this option to be enabled.
Only problem is if you want to disconnect you need to exit VMC as well.

The advantage is that if connection is lost it will auto reconnect again!

This article references the two latest Vodafone Mobile Broadband software downloads:-

1. Using v9.4.6 downloaded from Vodafones Business software site This is the stable version recommended for UK users, but unfortunately does not support the new ZTE dongle K3570-Z. If you have that one see 2. below.

Start by uninstalling any Vodafone VMC software and any drivers. Uninstall the VMC using normal Control Panel.

To uninstall the drivers go to System Hardware Device Manager and find Modem, Network and Port instances for your dongle (You may need to have the dongle plugged-in to do this). This is an example for a ZTE dongle


In each case (five instances here) get to the drivers tab and "Uninstall"



Note in stubborn cases you may need to remove older drivers see howtogeek.com

With the dongle out,restart the PC, and install the V9.4.6 full version. Take care to answer correctly the question "Prepay" or "Contract". If you have the old prepay you will probably need to change the APN as per 2. below.

Switch off the PC. Plug in the dongle and restart the PC, when it should detect the dongle and display VMC on screen.
Make sure the internet connection is NOT connected or the settings will be inaccessible.

Click on Settings > Manage Connections >



then click on "View" in the white box under Vodafone UK




and you get a flag called "Connection behaviour" which is set at "Prompt"
Change it to "Automatic" and save.


You might like to set the General setting for Startup in Windows from "Start in background" to "Start as normal" so you can see what's happening when you start Windows.

2. using v10.0.201 downloaded from Vodafones Business software site

This version does not have the ability to change settings (but you can "add" a new set of settings). Also it is claimed to be not suitable for UK settings, but if you have 3570-Z dongle you will have to use this and put the right settings in. (Oct 2010).

Start by uninstalling any Vodafone VMC software and any drivers. Uninstall the VMC using normal Control Panel. To uninstall the drivers go to System Hardware Device Manager and find Modem, Network and Port instances for your dongle (You may need to have the dongle plugged-in to do this). This is an example for the ZTE 3570-Z


In each case (five instances here) get to the drivers tab and "Uninstall"



Note in stubborn cases you may need to remove older drivers see howtogeek.com

With the dongle out,restart the PC, and install the V10 full version. Switch off the PC. Plug in the dongle and restart the PC, when it should detect the dongle and get ready to connect in "Standard mode".
Now click on Advanced (RH side).

which will put VMC into Advanced Mode...



Advanced mode gives various options and settings....
First click on the Vodafone "pylon" symbol top left and click on Options. Make sure that the startup option "When Windows starts" says "Start this application as normal"


"OK" this.
Then back in Advanced click on the "Priorities" tab.
Click on "Add Settings" (blue plus sign)
A panel with three tabs will appear including "General", "Network" and "Security"
Check in the Network tab that the APN is correct for you.
- Vodafone 3GBytes/30day pay as you go is PPBUNDLE.INTERNET
- Vodafone contract is INTERNET
- If you have the old noon-expiring Vodafone PAYG it's PP.INTERNET.



In the General tab, in the Connection Behaviour panel there is a radio button against Prompt - Click on Automatic instead.

OK that

You should find displayed a new set of options with "Vodafone UK custom settings 01" with the radio button dotted.




I can't find any way to "Edit" or "Save" the new settings but if you shut down Windows whilst still in VMC it seems to save it. If you need to change, add another.

When Windows is rebooted it should go through the following sequence (In Standard mode)...
Searching for Device ... detected...
Enabling Device...
Searching for Network .... detected
Then soon after it will say "Connected"

5. Use different DNS servers (Apr 2011) First of all it must be noted that there are pros and cons with using different DNS servers.

Pro:
Very often using somethig like the Google servers 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 will give superior speed.
It may even get round the old problem of "Sending request" then nothing happens, or "Cannot resolve address" when trying to browse a web page.

Con:
3G mobile broadband on Pay As You Go terms has a get-out when you run out of credit. When that happens you can get onto the internet but only to the provider's top-up screen. If you use alternative DNS server addresses you will almost certainly NOT get to the top-up page. Therefore you need to have the alternative access profile for that purpose or else ensure that you never run out.

Example:
For this I will use my current provider O2(PAYG), using the connection manager that comes with the current (2011) PAYG dongle. The principle is the same with other providers and other versions of connection software, and very often upgrading to the "full variant" connection manager from the provider's website or business website will give the required profile editing access.

First select Settings, then Profiles.
Find the profile that uis used for the normal 3G connection, in this example it's O2UK
Take a look at the profile and in this case it has three tabs,
Profile Name, APN Address, and Network Configuration
Note down the user name in the first tab which is "O2bb" and the password is "password"