Problem with Linksys WRT54G3G router and Huawei E620 datacard

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mrkumm

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Hi,
I know this has been posted to death! I know because I have spent the past 7 or so hours searching for a solution.

My problem in a nutshell is that I am unable to get my new Linksys WRT54G3G router to work with my Huawei E620 datacard.
I have upgraded the firmware of the router to the latest I could find i.e. (2.11.05). My problem is that as soon as I insert the Datacard into the router, the router seems to hang. If I try to access the admin page via the browser, I cannot, if I release my IP address and refresh, I get nothing and even the wireless stops working. Unplug the datacard and after about 3 seconds, everything starts to function. I have switched the router off, plugged the datacard in and then get the same problem, this time the power LED does not stop flashing as it is suppose to.
I have now gone as far as trying my datacard in another identical linksys router to eliminatye the posibility that the router is faulty.
The datacard works 100% in both my wifes and my own laptop. I have a "strong" feeling the problem is the to do with the firmware on my datacard. My datacard has firmware 11.16.09.06.X and I have read the router needs 11.16.09.09.11. I have managed to download the new firmware for my datacard (This was after hours of searching) and have a problem when installing it. It comes up and tells me : Software is not compatible, access is forbidden. I am not sure if this is to do with the locking on the datacard? I have tried to unlock the datacard but with no success.

I have phoned Vodacoms help line and the technician was not able to assist.

Judging from past posts, there seems there is a problem with the e620 cards and the linksys router but there are also many cases where guys go it working by upgrading the router firmware. This has not helped me. My datacard is pretty old, at least 2 and half years which would explain the old firmware.

I would really appreciate any ideas or solution that you may have!!!

Regards
Mike
 
Look on the bottom of your DATA card and then post the serial here...

Had some problems with data cards where it freezes the router or the router's wifi didnt want to respond. If the card is made before 31st of October 2006 then maybe you gonna have a problem.
 
I was always under the impression that the issues with the E620 was limited too specific notebook models as per this thread.

While looking for that thread however I found another person with and older E620 that had similar issues with a Billion router.

I would be cautious with firmware downloaded from just any site, as you may end up locking you card (happened to ginggs once). I did however manage to find the MTN firmware update for the E620 which should leave your card in an unlocked state. Grab it here. Not sure if other forumites have flashed their Vodafone E620 cards with MTN firmware before, but my guess is it should work as essentially the only difference is the paint job on the card ;)

Edit: Interestingly enough since the MTN site redesign this firmware is no longer available on their download page, I really had to google hard for it.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the replies guys,
My S/N for the datacard is: E87NAC1652300572

Thanks Morkhans for the link to the Firmware update. I tried this and it went though 100% with no errors like the other firmware update I had found. I have tried the datacard in the router again but it still hangs. The power LED never stops flashing and I am unable to get an IP or access the wireless. I have checked the firmware version via the diagnostics screen and it is on 11.18.02.60.00 as per the downloaded file.
The card is luckily still working in my PC.

I am pretty sure this card is from before Oct 2006 as i have had since i moved into my current house and that was around Jun 2006.

If the card is the problem, what are my options? I really do not want to fork out more money for a replacement. I am pretty sure i should be able to upgrade this card as its on a databundle contract and the contract is still going even though I am sure its past the renewal date.

Cheers
Mike
 
mrkumm said:
My S/N for the datacard is: E87NAC1652300572

I am pretty sure this card is from before Oct 2006 as i have had since i moved into my current house and that was around Jun 2006.

If the card is the problem, what are my options? I really do not want to fork out more money for a replacement. I am pretty sure i should be able to upgrade this card as its on a databundle contract and the contract is still going even though I am sure its past the renewal date.
Click to expand...

Yip card was made on 23 May 2006.

Maybe phone Voda and ask if you could do a swop?
Dunno if you get a new card when you upgrade.....
 
Thanks for the info Snormossel, at least that puts my mind at ease as too the problem. I always suspected this but kept thinking a firmware upgrade will fix it... guess not.

I will contact Voda tomorrow and see what I can do.
Cheers
Mike
 
mrkumm said:
Thanks for the replies guys,
My S/N for the datacard is: E87NAC1652300572

Thanks Morkhans for the link to the Firmware update. I tried this and it went though 100% with no errors like the other firmware update I had found. I have tried the datacard in the router again but it still hangs. The power LED never stops flashing and I am unable to get an IP or access the wireless. I have checked the firmware version via the diagnostics screen and it is on 11.18.02.60.00 as per the downloaded file.
The card is luckily still working in my PC.

I am pretty sure this card is from before Oct 2006 as i have had since i moved into my current house and that was around Jun 2006.

If the card is the problem, what are my options? I really do not want to fork out more money for a replacement. I am pretty sure i should be able to upgrade this card as its on a databundle contract and the contract is still going even though I am sure its past the renewal date.

Cheers
Mike
Click to expand...

Cool. If you are due for upgrade you should qualify for a new card. Try get the E630 if they have. Your other option would be to go for the Huawei B970 router with an integrated 3G modem. There was a recent thread and you can get one on a topup 315 for free. It's literally just getting into the shops now, so you might get a blank stare from your local vodashop. Just make them call whoever they need to call and get them to order it.

I did once get a E620 swapped for an E630, but it took a lot of convincing even with the print-out from the forum indicating a physical fault with the card.
 
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Thanks for the tip Morkhans, I will be on my way to Vodacom shortly.

Cheers
Mike
 
Hi,
just to update you, I took the router and my datacard to a vodacare shop and got them to test another datacard in my router. Their datacard did not want to work on my router either.They then took my datacard and put it in their router and what do you know, it worked. They suggested that I try get another router which I tried but the store had no stock and could not refund at the time as the lady who does that was off. I have just phoned linksys support and they have suggested that I return the router as well.

Oh well, was hoping to get it working so that all my effort was not in vain but at least I know there is not much that can be done here.
Cheers
Mike
 
mrkumm said:
Hi,
just to update you, I took the router and my datacard to a vodacare shop and got them to test another datacard in my router. Their datacard did not want to work on my router either.They then took my datacard and put it in their router and what do you know, it worked. They suggested that I try get another router which I tried but the store had no stock and could not refund at the time as the lady who does that was off. I have just phoned linksys support and they have suggested that I return the router as well.

Oh well, was hoping to get it working so that all my effort was not in vain but at least I know there is not much that can be done here.
Cheers
Mike
Click to expand...

Interesting that the router is actually at fault, but it happens. I assume it is brand new? Hope you manage to get this solved before the holidays kick in completely. :)

BTW. If you are going to carry on committing to a contract it makes no sense to not upgrade if you can get a free modem or router out of it. Otherwise cancel the contract and go pre-paid. There are a number of airtime incentives that give you discount (like PnP R1100 voucher for R970). You can also avoid the bill shock some forumites have encountered when Windows updates or spyware has gone haywire on their machines.
 
Whats more interesting is that I have tried 2 routers from the same place, both did the same thing. I am just sick of battling with this, I have tried just about every possible thing i can given what I have to test with. I will just be happy to get a new one not struggle anymore.

I am actually using prepaid and my wife still uses the contract. She does not use much bandwidth a month and its only a 500mb data bundle. I prefer to use prepaid as i can topup if I use more than normal in a month.
I agree about the shock you save yourself with prepaid, when I initally got my laptop setup with 3G, windows update ended up using almost my entire bundle. Since then I disabled anything that connects to the net without me knowing about it...

Thanks again for all the input!
Cheers
 
mrkumm said:
Whats more interesting is that I have tried 2 routers from the same place, both did the same thing. I am just sick of battling with this, I have tried just about every possible thing i can given what I have to test with. I will just be happy to get a new one not struggle anymore.
Click to expand...

Did you take a note of what hardware revision the router was (bottom where the serial number is). From the Linksys site it seems there is a 1.0 , 1.1 and 2.0 version. What did the Vodashop have and what firmware were they using? Maybe there is some hardware difference in the routers that is causing the problem?

mrkumm said:
I am actually using prepaid and my wife still uses the contract. She does not use much bandwidth a month and its only a 500mb data bundle. I prefer to use prepaid as i can topup if I use more than normal in a month.
I agree about the shock you save yourself with prepaid, when I initally got my laptop setup with 3G, windows update ended up using almost my entire bundle. Since then I disabled anything that connects to the net without me knowing about it...

Thanks again for all the input!
Cheers
Click to expand...

Pre-paid rocks! Hope you get things sorted.
 
Hi Morkhans,
I did take note of that, mine was ver 1.1. I also checked that on the router at the vodacom shop and it was exactly the same. the only difference i could actually see was the back of the box, the rest was the same (as far as the eye could tell.) At the end, I ended up with the same firmeware version as them (2.10.17) but i had also tried 2.11.05.
Anyway, dropped the router off at the shop 1st thing this morning and got my money refunded as they did not have other stock to try.
I will definately take my datacard with when I go looking for a replacement and insist the test it.

Cheers and thanks for the help!
Mike
 
Hi Morkhans,
I know this is not part of the original thread but out of interest, how much better are those high gain antennas? I noticed when I was testing the wireless signal in my house that between my study and TV room which is about 10m away from each other but has a double brick wall in between (actually 2 walls with double bricks), I was loosing huge amounts of signal. I would get about 10% signal from a device in my TV room to the router. I had tried moving it to a more central place like our kitchen which has better direct line of sight to both rooms and that worked much better. The problem is my desktop PC has no wireless card and I have another device which is also only wired so I need the router in the study.
Is there also any special design to these antennas? Looking at it, it appears to be relatively simple design. (I can start a new thread on this if you think it would be an appropriate discussion!)

Cheers
Mike
 
mrkumm said:
Hi Morkhans,
I know this is not part of the original thread but out of interest, how much better are those high gain antennas? I noticed when I was testing the wireless signal in my house that between my study and TV room which is about 10m away from each other but has a double brick wall in between (actually 2 walls with double bricks), I was loosing huge amounts of signal. I would get about 10% signal from a device in my TV room to the router. I had tried moving it to a more central place like our kitchen which has better direct line of sight to both rooms and that worked much better. The problem is my desktop PC has no wireless card and I have another device which is also only wired so I need the router in the study.
Is there also any special design to these antennas? Looking at it, it appears to be relatively simple design. (I can start a new thread on this if you think it would be an appropriate discussion!)

Cheers
Mike
Click to expand...

If you can, you REALLY should mount an external antenna and plug it into your data card. It will make a big difference to the signal level and quality with a resulting increase in speed.
 
mrkumm said:
Hi Morkhans,
I know this is not part of the original thread but out of interest, how much better are those high gain antennas? I noticed when I was testing the wireless signal in my house that between my study and TV room which is about 10m away from each other but has a double brick wall in between (actually 2 walls with double bricks), I was loosing huge amounts of signal. I would get about 10% signal from a device in my TV room to the router. I had tried moving it to a more central place like our kitchen which has better direct line of sight to both rooms and that worked much better. The problem is my desktop PC has no wireless card and I have another device which is also only wired so I need the router in the study.
Is there also any special design to these antennas? Looking at it, it appears to be relatively simple design. (I can start a new thread on this if you think it would be an appropriate discussion!)

Cheers
Mike
Click to expand...

Are you talking about your WiFi signal or your 3G signal?
 
Hi Guys,
sorry, I was referring to the wifi. My 3G signal is strong without the external antenna. My wifi range is whats poor in my house.
Cheers
 
mrkumm said:
Hi Guys,
sorry, I was referring to the wifi. My 3G signal is strong without the external antenna. My wifi range is whats poor in my house.
Cheers
Click to expand...

You do get a high gain WiFi antenna for the Linksys. The connection is generic (I think) so you don't have to buy Linksys. I have not used one so I am not sure how much of a difference it will make.

It however might be best to place your router in a central location and get a WiFi adapter for your PC.
 
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