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Cellular Phone Forum / Country Specific / Australian Group / December 20063 HSPDA NetConnect Card Problem
Are there any "tricks" to setting up one of these style cards, or should it simply be a case of install the software on the cd, plug in the card and go. I got one of these the other day, but I haven't been able to connect to any network. I know I've been in a Three coverage area. I get a steady red light on the card, which indicates that it's not picking up a network. If I do a network search, the only network it says it picks up has network ID 50501, which I believe from memory is Telstra's GSM network. The only thing confusing me is that the card says it's picking up a UMTS network with that ID. Given that the card also supports UMTS 850, is the network it's seeing (but not letting me log onto) likely to be the Telstra NextG network? Following on from that, does it sound like my card might be faulty as it doesn't find Three's UMTS network or even Telstra GPRS. I'm inclined to take it back, but I don't want to find when I return it that I've overlook something obvious elsewhere. >Are there any "tricks" to setting up one of these style cards, or should >it simply be a case of install the software on the cd, plug in the card [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >I'm inclined to take it back, but I don't want to find when I return it >that I've overlook something obvious elsewhere. Since when does the 3 card support 850Mhz? UMTS 2100 shows up as Telstra as well. They share the network. >> Are there any "tricks" to setting up one of these style cards, or should >> it simply be a case of install the software on the cd, plug in the card [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Since when does the 3 card support 850Mhz? UMTS 2100 shows up as > Telstra as well. They share the network. Have a look at www.novatelwireless.com The card is a Merlin XU870. It says that it supports 850 mhz. >>> Are there any "tricks" to setting up one of these style cards, or should >>> it simply be a case of install the software on the cd, plug in the card [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >Have a look at www.novatelwireless.com The card is a Merlin XU870. It >says that it supports 850 mhz. Ok, that's news to me. Have you tried talking to Three? >>>> Are there any "tricks" to setting up one of these style cards, or should >>>> it simply be a case of install the software on the cd, plug in the card [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > Have you tried talking to Three? I took it back to 3. They exchanged it. The new one worked. Now that I've come out of range of 3, it's doing the same thing again. I'm just about to ring the 3 technical support, but I'm not looking forward to it based on minor problems I had with my account once and the frustration of dealing with their call centre. The fact that a second card has done the same thing makes me wonder if there's a bug in the firmware. When I watch the card closely at power-up, the led lights up steady blue for a few seconds, indicating that there is a UMTS network detected. Then it goes steady red which indicates that there is no network available. If I then do a manual network search, it detecte network 50501 which I believe to be Telstra. (For the network name, it says "Roaming") Yesterday as I left the 3 store, I did a manual search, and it detected the Three, Optus and Vodafone UMTS networks, but of course, it said that Optus and Vodfone were forbidden. It didn't detect the Telstra network. Earlier today I was in the same location where I detected those two networks and it would only detect the Telstra network. It seems to detect two different "groups" of networks, and I'm wondering whether it searches the bands separatelyy. I'm wondering whether the firmware in the card doesn't understand that it can only roam on to one of the Telstra networks. I don't imagine there are too many places in the world where mobile telcos have multiple networks, so maybe it's just something that wasn't considered when the firmware was written. > I'm just about to ring the 3 technical support, but I'm not > looking forward to it based on minor problems I had with my > account once and the frustration of dealing with their call > centre. Please keep us informed of progress. > I'm wondering whether it searches the bands separatelyy. Although far from being the only possible explanation, the simplest explanation seems to be that it's restricting itself to searching 850 MHz, once having been exposed to an environment where that's the only UMTS signal available. This seems consistent with what you've seen. I've downloaded the XU870 manual, which is a bit short on details (to say the least). If you haven't already, perhaps try removing the card, then removing the SIM. Reinstall the card without SIM, and try to connect. Then remove card, insert SIM, and try again in an area where there's 3 UMTS coverage. John >> I'm just about to ring the 3 technical support, but I'm not >> looking forward to it based on minor problems I had with my [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > environment where that's the only UMTS signal available. This > seems consistent with what you've seen. I may not have said quite that, but that's basically what I was thinking. Assuming that Three did their testing of the card several months ago(if they did any), Telstra may not have had the NextG network switched on at the time, and so they may not have discovered or anticipated this happening. > I've downloaded the XU870 manual, which is a bit short on > details (to say the least). [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > John That sounded like a good suggestion, but once it reports that it can't find a USIM, it doesn't even display the network section, so you can't change it. I've definately tried to connect in a 3 area. This second card did work for a day, but then I did a manual scan (without trying to actually connect to anything) and then it got stuck where it is now. The Three technical assistant told me that it's because I'm not in their service area. Technically he is right, but noone told the NetConnect card that the day before when it was managing a 1.8 megabit connection. > That sounded like a good suggestion, but once it reports that > it can't find a USIM, it doesn't even display the network > section, so you can't change it. I've definately tried to > connect in a 3 area. OK, I'd anticipated behaviour like that. I was hoping that being powered on without a SIM would undo enough of its memory so that it would search all bands at the subsequent power-on. And if you do that in a 3 coverage area, the card might come good. Another possibility is that being powered on with another SIM (either another network's USIM or an ordinary GSM SIM) might have the same effect, so that it would find 3 when the 3 USIM is reinserted within a 3 coverage area. That would simulate what many people would do as they travel between the USA and Europe (where different bands are in use) - hopefully something the manufacturer has tested and got working properly. John >> That sounded like a good suggestion, but once it reports that >> it can't find a USIM, it doesn't even display the network [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > John I tried another GSM sim, but that produced a SIM error message. I'm not sure whether it's because it's locked, or because it only accepts USIM cards. I sent an email to Novatel last night. I received an automated email from them. It was only 7:25 am local time, Christmas morning there, so it'll be a couple of days at least before I get a reply, I would imagine. >>> That sounded like a good suggestion, but once it reports that >>> it can't find a USIM, it doesn't even display the network [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > there, so it'll be a couple of days at least before I get a reply, I > would imagine. Novatel provided a firmware upgrade for the card and an update for the Mobilink software which runs on the PC, but the problem is still not resolved. I can still only see what I assume is the NextG network. > Novatel provided a firmware upgrade for the card and an update > for the Mobilink software which runs on the PC, but the > problem is still not resolved. I can still only see what I > assume is the NextG network. Is the card locked to 3? I'm guessing, but I wonder if a network lock is causing the problem. Perhaps it's locked (but with roaming onto Telstra allowed), and they haven't catered for its seeing 850 MHz Telstra cells that won't accept roaming. John >> Novatel provided a firmware upgrade for the card and an update >> for the Mobilink software which runs on the PC, but the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > John It is locked to 3. I don't know why it's happening from a technical perspective, but I think that that's exactly what's happening. I'd imagine that at the time they would've done the testing with this NetConnect card, the NextG network would not have been active. That was what I suggested to the 3 staff today at the store when I went back. > It is locked to 3. OK, I'd missed the possibility that it might be locked until I reread one of Simon's posts. So ignore my earlier suggestion about changing SIMs. There's a possibility that we can make the card ignore the Telstra network completely, and that this might get you working with 3 again when you're in a 3 coverage area. I'm uncertain about a few of the fine details, so you'll need to bear with me. Firstly, we need to find 3's PLMN. Telstra's is 50501, Optus is 50502, and Vodafone is 50503. One-tel used to be 50508, and I have no idea what 3's is other than it will start with 505 (Australia). Next, we need to force the card to restrict itself to this PLMN with the "AT+COPS" (PLMN selection) command. The command is optional for manufacturer implementation, but most do implement it. I'm running Linux, and don't have access to Windows later than 98. But I imagine later versions of Windows implement modem "Extra settings", where you can put such commands. On my Windows 98 machine I can get there via Control Panel / Modems / Properties / Connection / Advanced / Extra settings. Looking at the on-line XU870 manual, page numbered 31, you may be able to access it via the Internet Options / Connections / Setup tab also. Put AT+COPS=1,2,"505nn" (for the correct value of "nn") into the Extra settings field. It there's already something in this field, just add ;+COPS=1,2,"505nn" to the end of what's already there instead. And if it doesn't work with those quotes in place, try it without them. When you want it to revert to automatic PLMN selection, just remove the above command from "Extra settings" and cycle the power to the card/laptop. As a last resort, AT+COPS=0 sets the device to automatic network selection (this is the default value specified in 3GPP 27.007). John >> It is locked to 3. > [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > > John Thanks. I tried that, but it didn't work. I went into the terminal programme in Windows XP , set the "modem" to be the NetConnect card and typed those commands and it accepted them. It just didn't have any effect on the way the card performed. Three is 50506, BTW. >>> It is locked to 3. >> [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] >typed those commands and it accepted them. It just didn't have any >effect on the way the card performed. Three is 50506, BTW. Like I said earlier, did you ring them? Despite the reputation that some calls centers have, they have solved problems for me. >>>> It is locked to 3. >>> OK, I'd missed the possibility that it might be locked until I [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] > Like I said earlier, did you ring them? Despite the reputation that > some calls centers have, they have solved problems for me. Yes, I rang them and was transferred to the data support people. He looked at where I live, which is outside of the defined Three coverage area and decided that my card would not work there because I was not in a Three coverage area. When I asked why I wasn't roaming to Telstra, he said it was because I wasn't in range of Telstra either. Apparently, every Telstra GSM and Telstra CDMA phone I've ever known didn't realise they were out of range of Telstra, and the 3 Net Connect Card itself didn't realise it was out of range when it connected at 1.8 megabits the day before either. It wasn't a once of, either, I walked outside with the laptop a few times the day before, and it re-established the connection each time. I went back to the Three store on Friday (my first day off since before Christmas) but that was at 4 pm Brisbane time. They escalated the issue with their technical support people, but the technical support people are in Sydney apparently, so they'd already gone home by the time I got there. (Not that I'm complaining about that because if we'd had daylight saving here, Three would already have been closed and I wouldn't have gotten there until Tuesday at the earliest. I'm not bagging the people who work in their call centre. Do do their job, they either have to translate to and from English quickly, or they have to learn how to think in English. I know from when I've done some basic foreign language studies that learning how to think in another language can be difficult, especially if the other language doesn't have any common origins with your own, such as English and some of the other European languages do. I should also add that I've taken my laptop back into an area where I know there is good Three coverage, and it still makes no difference to how the card behaves, so I still think it's a firmware problem. |
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