3G/3G+ Simple Trouble-shooting
(United Kingdom 2010)1. Can't get connected.
2. Good Download speed, SLOW upload.
3. PC will not recognise the modem dongle.
4. Dongle on end of a long USB cable disconnects.
5. My Dongle isn't very fast.
1. Can't get connected.
Assumiong normally you can connect.This is a big subject but FIRST THING to do is always
1. SHUT DOWN the Windows PC (Start / Shut Down). Do NOT use Restart.
2. Switch the PC back on and when booted try again.
9 times out of 10 it will reconnect and is preferable to pulling the Dongle which does not always work.
See PC will not recognise the modem dongle. below for more options.
2. Good Download, SLOW upload.
I had this recently on Orange for a few weeks.
It was much worse in busy periods and although the downstream speed was stable at its usual 1.6meg, upstream was varying between 0.1Meg and 0.01Meg!
Turns out there was a problem at the nearest mast (degraded) and the next nearest was down completely. This resulted in much more traffic on the nearest mast. The network management system diverts all resources to 2G voice as priority 1, and 3G downloadload (surfing etc) the next priority, but lowest priority of all, 3G upload gets what bandwidth left, and in this case very was left!
The help desk was able to tell me when it was scheduled to be fixed, and 2 days before that date the problem was indeed fixed.
3. PC will not recognise the modem dongle.
i.e. plug-n-play does not seem to work. Windows will for some reasson not recognise the modem part of the dongle. There are a few things you can try.a) Set Autoplay settings to "run".
Go to Windows Auto-Play settings (in Vista/Win7 type in "Auto" in the search bar at the Start menu and click on AutoPlay in the list). Where it says "Software and Games" change the default to "Install or Run Program". Then when the dongle is inserted it should run enough of the install routine to jerk the modem into action.
b) Avoid Sleep or Hibernation
I have been frustrated by the dongle not being recognised after Vista/Win7 Sleep or Hibernate but since I set the AutoPlay settings as above it has worked on waking provided I... 1)Set the Auto-Play for Games and Software to "Run or Install" as above.
2)Never let the PC sleep or hibernate by itself - so change the power settings!
3)Before sleeping or hibernating, click on the Disconnect button then exit the dashboard program.
4)Manually put the PC to sleep.
On re-awakening you then need to let Vista plough its way through all its treacle routines to find and activate the dongle software. My Vista used to take two minutes before it finally activates and asks for the PIN!! (At least setting a PIN you know when the dongle modem is ready - another tip!).
If you try to do anything with it before Windows finds the software folder on the dongle and auto-plays it, you will get the error message telling you the device is unavailable or disconnected. Have patience and wait!
c) Modem conflict
In Windows Device Manager, the Modem is found under Modems, not under USB devices. The USB devices are the storage drives usually with the lite connection software.
The device manager will usually show the offending modem with a warning triangle or may simply refuse to show it at all. If upgrading windows, changing dongles, changing broadband supplier etc some dongle modems - e.g. O2 - will not install if there has been another dongle installed before. To find out if there's conflicting old installations, you need to get device manager to show missing modems, HOWEVER Vista and Windows 7 need some special tweaking to see them.
I take this method from howtogeek.com
and an extract is reproduced below with some additions by me...
In Windows 7 or Vista, the first thing you’ll need to do is open a command prompt in administrator mode. Type cmd into the start menu search box, and then use Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open in administrator mode. (You can also right-click on the command prompt and choose Run as Administrator)
Now paste in the following line:
SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
Then type in devmgmt.msc to start up Device Manager from the administrator command prompt:
Once you are in Device Manager, go to the View menu and choose Show Hidden Devices, which will now show all the device drivers including things that aren’t currently installed in your computer.
...
Open up Modems section and Network Adapters section. Look for anything that looks like a dongle driver (see picture),
You can right-click on the driver and then choose Uninstall from the menu to remove the drivers for that old hardware. If you uninstall anything by mistake that should be there it will re-install on re-boot so don't worry if you accidentally uninstall a modem in your PC!
My thanks to the howtogeek site - when I did it I found four old modems installed which stopped my O2 dongle and software recognising the SIM at all.
d) Install "full variant" connection software
Some dongles have a "Lite" version of the software loaded-in. You can sometimes get better software online, e.g.
This new Orange download from www.orange.co.uk/updates (look for Connection Manager link) has proven to be much more reliable so maybe there was a weakness in the Mobile Partner software that this new one sorts out?? Seems to be a great improvement and may work on non-Orange donghles if you change/create the profile.
Vodafone's latest software is now suitable for UK, and the only one that supports latest dongles.
Vodafone V10 Connection Manager
e) 3G router solution
You could use a 3G router suitable for your dongle. This takes the dongle in its own USB socket and the firmware operates the dialling process. Several PCs of any OS (Windows, Mac, Linux...) will can share the internet access and connect to the router by Wi-Fi or Ethernet. See my article here
f) Install Linux with kernel version from 2011 or later - most dongles are supported without installinmg any software at all.
4. Dongle on end of a long USB cable disconnects.
Maybe you have the dongle high up in the ceiling or even in the loft on a long USB extension. I had this problem with two USB cables end-to-end connected to my Edimax 3G router. Total length was less than 3 metres but the dongle kept disconnecting, or never connected. I just use one short cable now.This problem can often be due to the cable length sapping power from the dongle at times of high usage. A chap called George Vita at a Greek electronics site http://www.acomelectronics.com/GeorgeVita/ has tried various methods of attaching electrolytic capacitors across the cable power lines to hold enough charge to overcome the short dearth of power.
see George's pictures |
see Huawei Forum post.
Alternatively...
It may also be possible to have the dongle plugged into a powered USB hub so that the powered hub provides the 4.5 volts rather than the PC at the other end of the long cable, but that would mean having the powered hub up high too - may not be possible if the dongle is on a pole!.
Some newer dongles are now provided with a "double-header" USB plug to take power from 2 sockets. You may ber able to cobble one together.
5. My Dongle isn't very fast.
Well what is slow? "Up to 3.6 Mbps" probably means 2Mbps at best even if you camp out under the mast. Also the speed of connection depends on several things.1. Distance from the mast. This will work on a "square law" which means that if you move twice as far from the mast you will get a quarter of the signal.
2. What is between you and the mast. Hills, Houses and your own house walls will soak up signal.
3. The dongle. Maybe it does not support HSDPA (aka 3G+).
So first step to check your kit, if you have a laptop, is to find your nearest mast using http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/and move as close as possible.
If the speed jumps up considerably and you start to get the HSDPA indicator (on Huawei it is usually a cyan LED) which stays on for the whole speed test, then the dongle is OK, and so is the PC.
If it's still slow, and the mast is definitely the right one, contact your ISP's customer services and tell them what you did to test it, and then see if there is anything they can do. Maybe the mast requires servicing, or maybe you need a better dongle.
Always use as reliable speedtester like the BBC diagnostics download speed tester. Some speedtest sites are themselves slow at busy times. The BBC has massive facilities and uses three independant streaming servers .
If you do get very fast connection nearer the mast, then all you can do is consider either changing ISPs, or think about getting a dongle that has an external antenna socket (Huawei E160E, E169 etc) and think about getting an outside panel aerial.
With 3 Mobile and some other suppliers you can get a wifi router (3-Mobile, Billion or Netgear) that takes some dongles. This could be placed in the attic to get the best signal. As they need firmware to support your dongle and your ISP, they only have a few supported dongles at the moment. 3 Mobile has a dedicated Huawei router.