Huawei HiLink modems (E303, E3131, etc.)

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brucem

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It seems the Hilink features being able to use the modem without any dashboard software I.e. just plug in and control device thru 192.168.1.1 in browser.

However, mdma can't see the device at all...
 
Please expand USB device section in device manager (View -> Devices by connection). Do you see modem device and/or PC UI Interface, Application interface? Or just 3G Network Card and mass storage device? Post picture.
If there is no modem device, mdma will not work.
 
brucem said:
It seems the Hilink features being able to use the modem without any dashboard software I.e. just plug in and control device thru 192.168.1.1 in browser.

However, mdma can't see the device at all...
Click to expand...
I haven't come across one of the HiLink modems, but it seems it is possible to switch the modem between serial and network modes:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2076601
 
Thanks guys, I'll try this afternoon and let you know how it goes
 
My apologies if this is not the correct place to post this, but I am rather desperate at present.

Will converting the modem to use serial port drivers improve the throughput on the E3131?

Can anyone recommend a Windows terminal program that will allow you to connect to the modem using the usb ports?

I am using K4605, K3772-Z, K3765 and E1752 modems with Vodacom and Cell-C sims and all of these modems give me download speeds of 3Mb/s and higher. Signal strength is between -77dBm and -71dBm on all modems. K4605 with Vodacom sim gives me better than 15Mb/s download. Even my Iburst modems gives me better than 800Kb/s download.

I am struggling to get 500Kb/s download and 300Kb/s upload with the E3131.

All these tests have been done in the same location, with the modems laying in the same area on the desk, orientation of modems are similar and they are connected to the same Windows XP SP3 notebook and Windows 7 Professional SP1 desktop.

I cannot see what the signal strength in dBm is that is being reported by the E3131, but the HiLink monitor reports 5 Bars 3G signal strength. I've bought four E3131 for a client but I'm pretty sure he is not going to be happy with the throughput on the E3131 as it is right now.

Any help to improve the throughput (short of installing antennas, as this is a portable mobile solution) will be greatly appreciated. Besides, the signal strength and quality is good enough for the other modems to download at up to 15Mb/s.
 
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Huawei E3131 HiLink Performance

I am trying to isolate the reason for the poor performance I experience with the Huawei E3131 HiLink modem.
I would appreciate it if any users of this modem would share their experience.

I am using K4605, K3772-Z, K3765 and E1752 modems with Vodacom and Cell-C sims and all of these modems give me download speeds of 3Mb/s and higher. Signal strength is between -77dBm and -71dBm on all modems. K4605 with Vodacom sim gives me better than 15Mb/s download. Even my Iburst modems gives me better than 800Kb/s download.

I am struggling to get 500Kb/s download and 300Kb/s upload with the E3131 from the same location that I experience relatively good performance from my other modems.
The latency using the E3131 modem with the HiLink drivers is more than double that of the K4605 using the serial port drivers. Sub 50ms ping to Vodacom JHB using the K4605 compared to 128ms to Vodacom JHB using the E3131 and HiLink drivers.

All these tests have been done in the same location, with the modems laying in the same area on the desk, orientation of modems are similar and they are connected to the same Windows XP SP3 notebook and Windows 7 Professional SP1 desktop. The same sim is used in the different modems when doing comparison testing.

I cannot see what the signal strength in dBm is that is being reported by the E3131, but the HiLink monitor reports 5 Bars 3G signal strength. Why is the performance of the other Vodafone and Cell-C modems acceptable and that of the E3131 so poor? The signal quality and signal strength is fine for all the other modems. The 5 Bars 3G in the HiLink status screen would indicate that the strength of the signal is fine for the E3131 as well. So, why the poor performance?

Is this just a poor design / implementation by Huawei or is there hope for these modems?
 
Hi There Howzit42,
I would not expect the serial interface to improve the connectivity at all.
Have you done testing in a different cell location to see if that changed the figures?

Regards

Tim
 
The only way to find out whether modem is faulty or HiLink sucks is to enable serial interface.
 
sajunky said:
The only way to find out whether modem is faulty or HiLink sucks is to enable serial interface.
Click to expand...

Thanks for stating the obvious :D

That would entail using Linux PC to do so or can it be done using Windows OS. Only info I have seen to use the E3131 in serial mode is directly addressing it as tty in Linux. Also I have no idea how to address the modem using something like Hyperterm in Windows. If I do manage to set it to serial mode in Linux, I would probably still need to find Windows drivers to use it in Windows, or not?
 
I think you refer to the ginggs post in this thread: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/507680

ginggs leads you to: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2076601

It says how to do in linux. Use your brain and figure out how to do the same in Windows: :)

What I understand you need to do first two steps as described, it will be the same in Windows, as you are accessing Web page:
To make the switch plug in the modem wait for Hilink to initialize and go to:
http://192.168.1.1
Make sure automatic connect and reconect is disabled, disable everything even delete AP using web page.
go to:
http://192.168.1.1/html/switchProjectMode.html
modem will disconnect and switch to serial, new device should apear in:
Click to expand...
Guess, what? In your Device Manager!
In device Manager check what COM ports were assigned to the modem, open Hyper terminal for the relevant COM port and issue the following commands:
Code: 
To enable gms modem mode execute the following:
Code:
AT^U2DIAG=0

To switch back HiLink execute:

Code:
AT^U2DIAG=119
Remove the modem and plug it again for changes to take effect.
 
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Isolated the problem for seemingly poor performance of E3131 using HiLink drivers. Unlike the serial modems drivers, the HiLink drivers do not replace the gateway IP in the route table when initialised. It simply adds the E3131 as a ICS device and inserts the gateway IP with a low metric cost into the route table. The gateway IP for the ethernet LAN is still retained, albeit at a much higher metric cost. Even though the E3131 dashboard shows the E3131 is connected (which it is), the route used for the SpeedTest.net benchmarks, was still via the ethernet LAN gateway IP and thus the Iburst modem. Picked this up when analysing the SpeedTest.net resulst and noticed that my originating IP was from Iburst and ISP was reported as Wireless Business Solutions.
I deleted the ethernet LAN gateway IP from the routing table and the SpeedTest.net benchmarks improved substantially.
Average Down is now 2.5 to 3Mb/s and Up 1.2Mb/s and latency 56 to 89msecs.
Still not as good as the K4605, but acceptable. On par with the E1752. The speed at which the modem initialises and connects using the HiLink drivers, are substantially better than the time taken by the modems using the serial drivers.
Still not sure why the default route used for the SpeedTest.net benchmarks was the ethernet LAN gateway IP when its metric cost was more than 10x that of the E3131 ICS gateway IP?

Would like to hear from anybody who manages to get this modem working in Windows using serial drivers.

I miss being able to use MDMA and all the useful info available through this super application.
(Thanks to Ginggs for developing this utility. Don't know what I would do without it.)
 
Very interesting information. Anybody using multiple Internet connections should read this.
Re switching to serial port, read my previous post.
 
Thanks sajunky. I can only see one possible problem with your instructions.

Once you have switched to to serial mode using http://192.168.1.1/html/switchProjectMode.html and there are no compatibles drivers for the device, it will probably appear in your device manager as an unknown device under Other devices. At this point, no resources will be assigned to the device, so you will not know what COM port to use to address the modem. Without being able to address the COM port of the modem, it will not be possible to switch it back to HiLink mode in Windows, effectively bricking the modem, unless u have access to a Linux box to recover the modem back to HiLink mode.

Or am I missing something?
 
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No, you need drivers. I thought it would install from CD-ROM device automatically.

Edit: Or you have forgotten to re-insert device?

just came to this: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/161813-huawei-hilink-umts-usb-modems-any-chance-to-run-on-winme/
It seems there is CD-ROM device and drivers for the modem. Try to find it in MobileBrServ\data.bin (zip archive). Decompress archive to the hard drive and use advanced installation to point it to this folder.
The above link also give you access to E303 CD-ROM image. Use Power ISO to mount image (or any other program). If E303 is newer, it should also include drivers for your modem.

Edit 2: E3131 also has drivers on CD-ROM device. Info and download link here: http://chaddyhv.wordpress.com/2012...d-installing-huawei-hilink-e3131-under-linux/
 
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HiLink E3131 - Make it show in the Dial Up connections

Hey all ...

I currently have the new Hilink E3131 3G modem on the 8ta promo5 contract and have a massive issue with it.


Seems it doesn't connect like a standard 3G modem but rather connects via http, I have noticed a lot of my apps that require a Dial Up profile do not work.

For example setting up a pop3 email in outlook, it will not connect due to the dial up setting not being selectable (it works with my older E353 modem).



Is there a way to make it show up as a standard modem with a Dial-Up profile ???


All information would be greatly appreciated.
Regards.
 
I use latest MDMA Beta, i can use it for Huawei E303 HiLink after change it to serial mode, but when you re-plug itu it back to modem mode :mad:
 
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