E620 3g no carrier

J

jvj

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Running Unbuntu 6.06

I get a "No Carrier" with my E620 card when dialing. Please help!

My wvdail.conf
[Dialer Defaults]

Phone = *99***1#
Username = username
Password = password
Stupid Mode = 1
Dial Command = ATDT
Carrier Check = No

[Dialer pin]
Init1 = AT+CPIN=5516

[Dialer option]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Baud = 460800
Init2 = ATZ
Init3 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Modem Type = Analog Modem

[Dialer 2gonly]
Init4 = AT+COPS=0,0,"Vodacom-SA",0

[Dialer 3gonly]
Init4 = AT+COPS=0,0,"Vodacom-SA",2

[Dialer internet]
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet";

[Dialer internetvpn]
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internetvpn";

[Dialer myapn]
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","myapn"

[Dialer 384k]
Init6 = AT+CGEQMIN=1,4,64,384,64,384
Init7 = AT+CGEQREQ=1,4,64,384,64,384

When I connect:
wvdial pin option && sleep 10 && internet 3gonly 384k
--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.55
--> Cannot get information for serial port.
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: AT+CPIN=5516
AT+CPIN=5516
OK
--> Sending: ATZ
ATZ
OK
--> Sending: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99***1#
NO CARRIER
--> No Carrier! Trying again.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99***1#
NO CARRIER
--> No Carrier! Trying again.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.

:confused:
 
jvj said:
Running Unbuntu 6.06

I get a "No Carrier" with my E620 card when dialing. Please help!

My wvdail.conf
[Dialer Defaults]

Phone = *99***1#
Username = username
Password = password
Stupid Mode = 1
Dial Command = ATDT
Carrier Check = No

[Dialer pin]
Init1 = AT+CPIN=5516

[Dialer option]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Baud = 460800
Init2 = ATZ
Init3 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Modem Type = Analog Modem

[Dialer 2gonly]
Init4 = AT+COPS=0,0,"Vodacom-SA",0

[Dialer 3gonly]
Init4 = AT+COPS=0,0,"Vodacom-SA",2

[Dialer internet]
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet";

[Dialer internetvpn]
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internetvpn";

[Dialer myapn]
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","myapn"

[Dialer 384k]
Init6 = AT+CGEQMIN=1,4,64,384,64,384
Init7 = AT+CGEQREQ=1,4,64,384,64,384

When I connect:
wvdial pin option && sleep 10 && internet 3gonly 384k
--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.55
--> Cannot get information for serial port.
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: AT+CPIN=5516
AT+CPIN=5516
OK
--> Sending: ATZ
ATZ
OK
--> Sending: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99***1#
NO CARRIER
--> No Carrier! Trying again.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99***1#
NO CARRIER
--> No Carrier! Trying again.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.

:confused:
Click to expand...

It's this "&& sleep &&" command again .. :eek: we really need to look at this..
Check your output .. the "internet 3gonly 384k" part of your command does not get run.. it never will. ( I am now 99.99% sure of my case here :o )

Disable the pin for a start and try connecting with
Code: 
wvdial option internet 3gonly 384k

Or if you really really want the pin try running it as you did - just remove the "&& sleep 10 &&" thing..
 
I also have this problem on Linux!!!

Occasionally I'll have no connectivity (lots of packet loss and terrible response times) or the connection drops. If I disconnect or reboot and try to reconnect I get the NO CARRIER problem and it persists sometimes for hours on end. When it's like this the card LED only flashes green, meaning GPRS, though just after resetting the card and before trying to dial it will flash blue, indicating there's 3g. As soon as I try to connect I get NO CARRIER and the LED changes to green. It's very strange.

The PIN is disabled on my card and its not like that would make any difference because it often connects just fine! Other times it just simply won't.

I have 2 Huawei E620s here with 2 sims (one my dad uses in his laptop). What I noticed is that when this happens I can swap sims and then it works! If I swap the original sim back it then doesn't work again... so it's not even like it's a signal thing. Very strange.

Then, taking the datacard and sim that doesn't work under linux and putting it in the laptop (Windows) I can get it to work - it sits saying "aquiring" for a long time in the windows mobile connect software, but it does eventually connect. If I then put that same card+sim straight back into the linux box it then STILL doesn't work.

So... I'm starting to think that this E620 card needs extra assistance from the software under these circumstances, which we can't do under Linux because we don't know what the problem is or what commends to issue to fix it (or ensure it does it correctly each time).

My dad had a theory that for some reason the tower the card connects to automatically has decided to not allow that particular sim to connect, and that the Windows software somehow realises it can't get a connection and then tells the card to find a different tower to connect to, which is why it says "aquiring" for a while (even though it showed lots of signal before you try to connect), then eventually manages a connection, but at a lower signal strength than before trying to connect.

Does any of this make sense? I really don't know what to do about it and VC's policy of "we don't support you using Linux" really leaves us without a paddle :(

And even if it's a firmware problem on the E620... just TRY to find any information on how to upgrade the firmware. NOBODY can tell me how to do it.

If someone reads this who DOES know how to upgrade the E620 firmware... PLEASE chime in here and say how! Thanks.
 
On this issue... I just suddenly remembered..

I stayed in Saldanha for a few weeks some time back.. and then I had this strange problem where I simply could not connect with my datacard (note that I'm on MTN), I was getting the exact result that jvj reported i.e:
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99***1#
NO CARRIER
--> No Carrier! Trying again.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99***1#
NO CARRIER
--> No Carrier! Trying again.
--> Sending: ATDT*99***1#
--> Waiting for carrier.
Click to expand...
Even after leaving it for like ten minutes it would not connect.. the odd thing is I could connect via my cellphone with the same simcard - so obviously there was no problem with the provider..

Anyway after sitting there a few days I managed to get it to connect by using the "AT+CGEQMIN" commands in Tazz_Tux's wvdial.conf ... In other words including 384k on the command line.
I don't know if you guys have been doing that.. but it might be worth a try..

Hmm.. I see jvj's command line does include "384k" .. but it will not actually get included..
 
Hey Oberon,

This kinda makes sense, just like Vodacom kinda doesn't support Linux :)

(I work for Vodacom btw :D)

Ok - here is what I think happens. When the card starts up, it will revert back to the "last known network and mode" - For some reason, that sim doesn't like 3G. I know it sounds stupid at first, but you said that even under Windows it takes a while.

I think both you and jvj must disable the pin and re-run the command as stated above. Try it and let me know - I have some other commands that I need to add to my wvdail.conf....maybe that will help :)

Laterz !

Oberon said:
I also have this problem on Linux!!!

Occasionally I'll have no connectivity (lots of packet loss and terrible response times) or the connection drops. If I disconnect or reboot and try to reconnect I get the NO CARRIER problem and it persists sometimes for hours on end. When it's like this the card LED only flashes green, meaning GPRS, though just after resetting the card and before trying to dial it will flash blue, indicating there's 3g. As soon as I try to connect I get NO CARRIER and the LED changes to green. It's very strange.

The PIN is disabled on my card and its not like that would make any difference because it often connects just fine! Other times it just simply won't.

I have 2 Huawei E620s here with 2 sims (one my dad uses in his laptop). What I noticed is that when this happens I can swap sims and then it works! If I swap the original sim back it then doesn't work again... so it's not even like it's a signal thing. Very strange.

Then, taking the datacard and sim that doesn't work under linux and putting it in the laptop (Windows) I can get it to work - it sits saying "aquiring" for a long time in the windows mobile connect software, but it does eventually connect. If I then put that same card+sim straight back into the linux box it then STILL doesn't work.

So... I'm starting to think that this E620 card needs extra assistance from the software under these circumstances, which we can't do under Linux because we don't know what the problem is or what commends to issue to fix it (or ensure it does it correctly each time).

My dad had a theory that for some reason the tower the card connects to automatically has decided to not allow that particular sim to connect, and that the Windows software somehow realises it can't get a connection and then tells the card to find a different tower to connect to, which is why it says "aquiring" for a while (even though it showed lots of signal before you try to connect), then eventually manages a connection, but at a lower signal strength than before trying to connect.

Does any of this make sense? I really don't know what to do about it and VC's policy of "we don't support you using Linux" really leaves us without a paddle :(

And even if it's a firmware problem on the E620... just TRY to find any information on how to upgrade the firmware. NOBODY can tell me how to do it.

If someone reads this who DOES know how to upgrade the E620 firmware... PLEASE chime in here and say how! Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
This is just a bit of a follow-up.

The "no carrier" problem seems to have subsided here, possible coinciding with the "fixes" applied by Vodacom to the towers. This is what V3G posted on another thread recently:
vodacom3g said:
We can, and do, upgrade the RF capacity on sites that get loaded. As a matter of fact the recent problems were caused by this upgrade. We doubled the RF infrastructure on most sites and then found a problem where the data card's automatic switching between the multiple transceivers did not work properly. The end result was even worse performance than with the lower RF capability. :(

It was quite a complex software problem to fix and took some work as we could only fix it on one side.
Click to expand...

I did just try using the "384k" init lines as suggested. It still worked but limited my speed to 3G speeds, even though it was connecting as HSDPA. Removing the option again yielded higher speeds.

Also, a vodacom guy visited my house a few days ago and tested coverage using my external antenna using his own Option card and USB modem. In both cases he got as good speeds without using the areal as with using it. And his speeds were MUCH higher than what my equipment manages, so now I don't know. I don't have time to mess with this all the time to find what the problem is. Though I'm beginning to suspect it's just that these Huawei E620 cards are crappy. The command-set is non-standard and there's zero support for them too. :(

I have been suspecting an improved firmware would help, though the guy said my card has the latest firmware.

Forgive my self-pity on this, but I'm just somewhat unimpressed with it all. At least I can say the connection is working fairly stable, even though it's still got its quirks.
 
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