B660 Router - How to enable external antenna connector

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DirkCoetsee

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Hi Guys,

Does somebody know why the external antenna setting on the B660 is disabled?

Regards
 
Yeah, im having same problem... after connecting external and changing to setting to external, I get error "operation in progress, unable to change setting"...
 
Thought I'd confirm the same in case someone's come up with a solution thus far. No feedback yet from MTN's Tech Support either...

Wondering whether the same issue exists with the unbranded Huawei (B683), if not it might be worthwhile attempting to flash the B660 (MTN Branded) with the B683 firmware... I have been unable to find firmware online for either of these two devices though :cry: huaweidevice.com only has a few startup manuals listed for download

I'm not experienced in Linux (which I understand is what these things run) - anyone know how to telnet into the device and change the antenna settings via telnet?
 
Huawei B660

TheDude2You said:
Thought I'd confirm the same in case someone's come up with a solution thus far. No feedback yet from MTN's Tech Support either...

Wondering whether the same issue exists with the unbranded Huawei (B683), if not it might be worthwhile attempting to flash the B660 (MTN Branded) with the B683 firmware... I have been unable to find firmware online for either of these two devices though :cry: huaweidevice.com only has a few startup manuals listed for download

I'm not experienced in Linux (which I understand is what these things run) - anyone know how to telnet into the device and change the antenna settings via telnet?
Click to expand...

Hi as far as I know you will not be able to flash the B683 rom on to the B660. as the B683 has a extra usb.

As for setting it to the external antenna. you should set your connection to manual disconnect from the internet and the try enabling the external antenna . after enabling it set it back to auto. it worked on mine.

Kind regards

andre
 
it works

Thanks Boerseun :-)

I missed that little note in the manual where it states you cannot change the antenna settings whilst a voice/data connection is active. Did as you said - setting connection to manual, swapping antenna settings and reconnecting on Auto/On-Demand again and viola... external antenna is in use.

Thanks again!
 
LoneWolf said:
what external antennas are you guys using and did it really increase the signal strength i.e from HSPA to HSDPA???
Click to expand...
HSPA and HSDPA are not measurements of the signal strength, and besides, HSPA is better than HSDPA as it includes both HSDPA and HSUPA.
 
so doesnt matter if i can get an antenna, it would not help??? my signal bounces between WCDMA and HSPA....but speed are quite crap....websites load long with flash etc...
 
LoneWolf said:
so doesnt matter if i can get an antenna, it would not help???
Click to expand...
In my experience, using an external antenna with any wireless service is a good thing. I would go so far as to say if you are using any wireless service from a fixed location you should invest in an external antenna.

I cannot comment specifically on the B660 though.
 
Antenna

I got one of the High Gain antenna's from Poynting:
http://www.poyntingdirect.co.za/pK-...or-cellular-data-cards-include-7-m-cable.aspx

Signal at my house bounces between HSPA and EDGE - as soon as it drops to EDGE you're pretty much dead in the water. Since using the external antenna it's been constantly connected on HSPA.

Difference in speed between HSPA with or without the antenna was negligent - the DB gain with the external antenna improved considerably so I would say the throughput is limited by the MTN base station or the backhaul in turn.

At least we've overcome the signal flapping which was the biggest frustration of it all.
 
BUMP

Anyone running windows 8 over WIFI to one of these B660 routers? Since I introduced a new windows 8 laptop, the damn router keeps locking up everytime i boot up the laptop,

Read somewhere it is because windows 8 and it's live tiles exceed the max 32 wifi connections the router can handle.....

Have searched in vain for a firmware update!! Getting upset now!
 
Number of connections are limited, as resources are limited. Don't expect that new firmware will fix that. Rather upgrade Windows 8, or find out why its opens so many connections.
 
flashsa said:
BUMP

Anyone running windows 8 over WIFI to one of these B660 routers? Since I introduced a new windows 8 laptop, the damn router keeps locking up everytime i boot up the laptop,

Read somewhere it is because windows 8 and it's live tiles exceed the max 32 wifi connections the router can handle.....

Have searched in vain for a firmware update!! Getting upset now!
Click to expand...

I have got the B660 router working very well at a client of mine in the Karoo with a LDPA external antenna. The WIFI functionality is crap though on this router so what I did was buy a seperate AP like this one, http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=1_55_56&products_id=405, and then linked it up to the B660, and switched off the WIFI on the B660. So now I've got a dedicated AP handling the WIFI and this is linked to the B660 with a LAN cable to one of the 4 ports and the whole setup works REALLY well. My client has got 6 laptops connecting flawlessly to this setup.

So to summarise, your best bet is to buy a dedicated WIFI AP for the B660. That's not to say it isn't a great router, it really is! But if you're going to hammer the WIFI, you going to need a dedicated WIFI AP.
 
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