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[Varche]

I am having a lot of problems with my O2 company 3G Internet modem dongle. Only used on a desktop for rural Internet access - no hard wired service. It always works on GPRS (dial up). I have an average signal for 3G and sometimes get 1.5Meg download speeds.

However it also often will not connect to 3G at all. Error 619.(cannot connect with distant computer)

When I speak to the helpdesk. They have a set routine they work through. Try it somewhere else in the county, what version of software are you using, clear cookies, force it to select 3G only as you haven't a very strong signal. Always after getting through to the Tecnico in the end and being forced to restart my PC it "magically" works. Once they even admitted there was a "limiter on the line".

I took the modem to an O2 shop on Friday for testing as they suggested and the first shop didn't have a computer to plug it into and the second did but couldn't test as (unusually apparently) the antenna serving our area was down.

Now the questions.

Do SIMs go faulty?
Do the modem dongles go faulty (Alcatel x220D)?
Is it possible that I have some sort of gremlin associated with my SIM/mobile number perhaps at their end?
What would a UK service provider do in a similar situation.? Here the onus(being Spain) is always on the customer to do something !

[Jimbob]

We have had funny occurences with phones in the past, which do work, but not properly, ie no internet, missed messages, phone straight to answerphone etc.

Getting a new sim (replacement with same number) always seems to sort the issue

(with network 3 )

[TheBoy]

Do SIMs go faulty? YES
Do the modem dongles go faulty (Alcatel x220D)? YES
Is it possible that I have some sort of gremlin associated with my SIM/mobile number perhaps at their end? YES
What would a UK service provider do in a similar situation.? Here the onus(being Spain) is always on the customer to do something ! Sod all

[TheBoy]

Worth gently cleaning the gold contacts on the SIM with surgical spirits and a cotton bud. Don't bend it though.

[pscocoa]

I have been a long time user of 3G dongles and provided you have latest drivers etc then you obviously have best chance of them working. You can get issues with older dongles if for example you plug into 64 bit machine - repeat make sure you have correct drivers.

Even when you have done all that they are still erratic. I have Orange and vodafone both on international roaming and an international 3g sim in my Ipad.

Sometimes in same location I have been using Orange quite happily then it starts ot give trouble. Switch to Vodafone and no problem - also vice versa. When enquiring into this you do find mast faults etc. You need to test in an area ok known excellennt signal and go from there. In the nether regions there do seem to be odd occurrences.

[freecall666]

when i used to have a dongle, on 3 and voda, used to over heat so put in freezer for an hour aday and it worked fine, think have 4 in a drawer. worked better on a meter long usb lead.

[Varche]

Apart from Friday, the dongle never leaves the house.

I have tried all sorts including hanging the thing on the end of a five metre USB cable from the roof guttering.

I have got the latest software installed, that wasn't easy to find on their website.

Interesting comment about heat but I have yet to discern a pattern on when and why it doesn't work.

After posting this comment this morning, I sent an Email to their complaints department asking for the tecnico to reset the line. Tried it two hours later and bingo 1.3 Meg download. I can't say for certain they have done something. They never reply to Emails and there won't be a record of my EMail or what they did.

You will laugh at this bit. If the 3G shop (a franchise for selling and not really part of their empire) says the modem is faulty the customer can either BUY another even though you are renting it at your £40 a month or have yours sent away by them for repair and come back to the shop two weeks later(no offer of a loan modem, post out service or two weeks rental refund). Customer service at its best.

[zirk]

I am having a lot of problems with my O2 company 3G Internet modem dongle. Only used on a desktop for rural Internet access - no hard wired service. It always works on GPRS (dial up). I have an average signal for 3G and sometimes get 1.5Meg download speeds.

However it also often will not connect to 3G at all. Error 619.(cannot connect with distant computer)

When I speak to the helpdesk. They have a set routine they work through. Try it somewhere else in the county, what version of software are you using, clear cookies, force it to select 3G only as you haven't a very strong signal. Always after getting through to the Tecnico in the end and being forced to restart my PC it "magically" works. Once they even admitted there was a "limiter on the line".

I took the modem to an O2 shop on Friday for testing as they suggested and the first shop didn't have a computer to plug it into and the second did but couldn't test as (unusually apparently) the antenna serving our area was down.

Now the questions.

Do SIMs go faulty?
Do the modem dongles go faulty (Alcatel x220D)?
Is it possible that I have some sort of gremlin associated with my SIM/mobile number perhaps at their end?
What would a UK service provider do in a similar situation.? Here the onus(being Spain) is always on the customer to do something !

Error 619, from memory is a local fault, ie before you connect, most likely to be Sim related, assuming Sim is live for the Network your using, could be Sim contacts either on the Sim or the Dongle, also worth checking you have Data Roaming switched off, could be the Dongles trying to log on another Network.

Forcing it to 3g only when you have a crap signal will only make things worse, if you have a Signal Issue then the Dongle needs to near a window and higher.

In my experience USB Dongles are touch and go, compared to the old PCMIA and Card types, they sometimes hang the comm ports and even pulling them in and out a few times, end up needing a Hard Re Boot. They can overheat when used with a Net / Noteboock.

The O2 desktop software ins't that good either, can sometimes be a resource hog, try down loading the Dongles own Global Software and try that, normally a lot cleaner to run.

Or you can trying connecting directly using Windows, the Dongle would have made a Modem Icon in your Modems Folder called O2 something, click on that, No User or Password is required, Dial Up number should be in there already, something like *99*#, assuming you dont have the O2 Software running, if that works better for you use that and change in Properties>>Options>> and tick redial if line dropped and changed redial attempts from 0 to 10, then it will auto redial if Signal is dropped.

Personally I gave up using Dongles, and Bluetooth Tethering isn't much better, if I need to use mobile I use an old HSDPA Symbian Phone up as high as possible and close to a window and connect to it using WiFi, (additional cheap Software required) or already there with Android, works a treat and can stay connected for days.

Chris.

       

[Rods2]

My wife has problems in the Ukraine. We have good days and bad days with the line being dropped while using Skype. Signal strength is marginal, so that is one issue, but there also seems to be more problems at what I would expect to be peak call times.

1. Does anybody know what has priority, calls or data?

2. How good and what is the bandwidth of the link from your local antenna to the trunk system?

The local town in the Ukraine now has Wi-Max with speeds of up to 4MBit, with the village just outside of the coverage area due to a line of trees. The service provider is in talks to take the tops out of the trees, so they are covered. so will have to wait and see weather they will get this next generation system.

[Varche]

Rods2, I hate dongles. They are possibly fine to take with you to Pizzahut where the mast is next door but for always on, fast Internet in the countryside where hard wiring dare not go , don;t rate them.

A close neighbour 3 miles away from us has satellite from these people. He rates it highly over 3G dongles. Works with Skype though I would imagine you have to finish every sentence with over. Good Europe coverage and easy to set up yourself. About 4 hours from opening the parcel.

http://www.bentley-walker.com/tooway/tooway_home.php