Mobile Broadband

[ecpcsb]

I bought a Vodafone K3805 dongle, inserted the supplied SIM card, inserted it into the USB socket, the software installed automatically and all seemed to be going well. But it cannot find the network.

I've tried different locations in the house, re-installing, used the supplied USB cable in the hope it would increase signal strength, but nothing's working. I know for a fact that I normally receive an excellent vodafone signal in my house for mobile phones which is why I cannot understand why the dongle wont connect.

Do I need to register the SIM card? Could it be a faulty dongle? Is there something stupid that I'm not doing? Would be really grateful for your help.

[George]

Hi ecpcsb,

Firstly, a very warm welcome to the eForum Family, it's always great to see new faces on  here .

There's a few reasons that this could be happening.To begin with I'd recommend swapping the SIMs from your modem and phone to see if this is the case. If the SIM from the modem does the same thing in your phone then it's either faulty or hasn't been setup correctly, in which case I'd recommend visiting your Nearest Vodafone Store for a replacment, they'll also be able to check your account is setup too.

If the SIM does work in your phone, but your phone's SIM doesn't work in the modem then it could be a faulty modem, in which case I'd advise you test it in another laptop. If the problem persists then I'd recommend exchanging the modem for a working model.

If it does work in another laptop then we'll need to look at your setup. Try downloading the latest version of VMC and if that doesn't work then please let me know which version of Windows you're running.

George

eForum Team

[jarviser]

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ecpcsb wrote:I know for a fact that I normally receive an excellent vodafone signal in my house for mobile phones which is why I cannot understand why the dongle wont connect....

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Is the mobile phone a broadband phone, or just a voice phone? You may well have good 2G voice signal but no 3G - like most of Norfolk or Wales for example.  What colour does the light flash on the dongle?

Also the postcode may help staff diagnose.

[holmevale]

I have this dongle - at Christmas I discovered that I couldn't even detect a Vodafone network, despite my phone having a very good signal (with it's own SIM and the dongle SIM!) . My nephew could connect quickly and easily with his t-mobile dongle and browse the Internet. Asking the Connecting software to detect any available network it could find 4 of your competitors but not Vodafone - perhaps I'm with the wrong network! 

Ali

[James]

Hi Holmevale,

So we can help you with your issue, please can you verify;

When was the last time you used the dongle successfully?

Is the Dongle/SIm on PAYT or Contract?

If you can let us know we will be able to diagnose the issue for you.

James

eForum Team

[holmevale]

Good evening

I added the Dongle to my monthly contract and looking at my bills it was October when I last managed to use it but I've tried regularly since then.

Regards holmevale

[Trev]

Hi Holmevale,

I'm sure I can help with this issue, but i do need more information to do this.

Where is it the dongle is failing? e.g. connectiing, installing to PC/laptop etc

Do you get a specific error code when trying to use it, if so, what is it?

What model laptop/PC/Mac are you using, and what's the operating system installed?

What model dongle are you using?

Have you tried the SIM in a mobile phone, and been able to connect to the internal browser?

Have you tried the dongle on a different laptop?

If you could post a response to these questions, I'll be able to help you further in this matter.

Regards

Trev

eForum Team

[holmevale]

I have tried to use a K3805 dongle with a Windows 7 netbook and windows xp laptop. On both I have no trouble installing the software and the dongle is recognized, as is the SIM and the number is shown in the software. It then just sits there - detecting the network and never finds it. As I said previously - after it gives up and I scanned for any available networks it has no trouble finding Orange, T-mobile etc but not Vodafone even though my Smartphone connects OK with the SIM from the Dongle. I don't get any error messages it just can't detect the Vodafone network, so I never get to browse the Internet or use email etc. when I use the dongle.

Regards holmevale

[jarviser]

Flashing LED on dongle - is it red, green or blue?

If it's not blue then it can't detect a Vodafone 3G, so either dongle is bust or there really is no 3G (phone could be connected to 2G)

[Trev]

Hi holmevale

Did you try the dongle SIm in your smart phone?

If you place this in there, and use the browser and it connects, we can instantly discount the signal, SIM or account being the issue. Also this process can force the SIM to update on the network, so trying it back in the dongle after this, it may work.

If you could try this and advise of the results it would be most useful.

Regards

Trev

eForum Team

[holmevale]

Trev

I did try the dongle SIM in my phone and it worked. I'm now back home in Norfolk so haven't a hope of any sort of signal never mind 3G (even voice is patchy here outdoors) It's disappointing if the dongle will only connect in a very strong 3G signal location - I'll have to take a trip along the M1/M6 or M4 corridor to see if it works :-(

Regards holmevale