DOVADO UMR - 3G USB router (For use with O2, Three & Vodafone)

Hi there

Just got a Dovado UMR and it works like a treat with my E220 modem on O2.ie. It now feels like I've got a 'proper' internet setup in my house, with 3 computers online simultaneously.

The only thing is, when I enable 'Connection Tracker', it seems to have the opposite effect, my connection keeps coming and going - so I had to turn it off. I like the idea of connection tracker because the E220 modem can drop connection every so often but when I turn on connection tracker, it's much worse!

Also, when I tried to set up the MAC numbers list, so that only registered computers could get on the network, I couldn't connect any of the computers, even though I'd entered the right MAC numbers in my list.

On another general note, I'm considering buying an E170 modem. Would this give me better performance (especially upload) or would there be no difference? Apparently O2 Ireland are soon going to switch to Sierra wireless modems which they claim are better (better for firmware updating apparently). Is this true and will it work with Dovado?

Thanks in advance for any answers...

DOVADO wrote: »

Hello Jfinlan!


Connection Tracker:

Connection Tracker works, for certain. It's been rigorously tested, proven and appraised by countless users.

The CT pings 3 different destinations each minute. My best advice would be that each IP address that is pinged belongs to a different geography. If ALL three fail to respond, the CT will attempt a reconnect. Depending on your Failure Handling selection, should the UMR still not be able to connect to the Internet after 3 attempts, it will restart itself and retry.

In your instance, my guess would be that your internet connection might be experiencing intermittent drops, which in effect trigger the Connection Tracker (after having polled each minute) to detect a temporary drop and convince it that the line is dropped for good. My suggestion based on that would be that you widen out the pinging poll from 1 minute to say 10 minutes or more. Make sure that the 3 IP addresses you've assigned have been tested by the CT and that they are "stabile" addresses. I typically target the more established organizations which are already running loads of traffic.

MAC Addess Control:

Say, that is odd! Are you combining it with WLAN Encryption of any kind? If so, have you checked first if the computers can work with Encryption only before enabling the MAC Address Control? Also, did you do a restart after applying and saving this configuration before attempting to connect the computers? If the problem persists, please send us an email at support@dovado.com and we'll gladly look into it!

Huawei E170 modem:

A very good device when combined with the DOVADO UMR, indeed. I used it throughout the summer when it came out, and must say am happy with the uplink speed. I was getting between 3-5Mbps down and over 1.3Mbps up with that one. Plus, in the UMR it supports SMS (like all Huawei modems), and you'll be seeing a lot of cool features in the coming 3.0 release from us related to that!

Sierra Wireless:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmaybe! Right now we do not see much of a market demand for that brand, but we're not closing the door on supporting them. They are a respected brand, but the market is clearly dominated on this side of the Atlantic by Huawei, Option Technology, Novatel Wireless and ZTE.

All the best.

Thanks for your reply. I have connection tracker on again and it's working okay. I ended up powering down the router and powering it up again and the modem seems to be working again. Those modems can be tempermental. I've it set on 1 min. now and it seems fine. O2 only have one ip address, so I put the same address in twice in the connection tracker window.

As regards MAC address, I had already tested with encryption and all computers worked fine. As soon as I enabled the MAC address list, they couldn't find the router. I double checked the MAC addresses and they're correct.

I guess I'm safe with WEP encryption but I'd be happier with no encryption and using the MAC address list (should be safe, right?) but I can't get it working. Anyway, I don't want to waste your time with too many questions as things are working pretty good now. Do you think I'd notice significant improvement if I swapped my E220 for an E170? My E220 is pretty good though sometimes upload is bad. I use skype a lot and it works pretty well, despite what people say about mobile broadband not being suited to VOIP.

I've signed up for the beta test too...

James

jfinlan wrote: »

using the MAC address list (should be safe, right?)

Unfortunately no, Mac addresses can be easily sniffed using software, and easily spoofed too.

Hi Dovado,

I installed a UMR last year, with a Huawei E270, on O2 Broadband. I have the latest firmware on both UMR and Huawei. The connection tracker is configured and set to ping a few hosts like Google and Yahoo.

I have two issues, different symptoms, same end result. The UMR is installed in the attic of my father's house and gets minimal usage. 50% of the time when he or I attempt to use it, there is no internet access and the UMR has to be physically power-cycled (not an easy job, given its location).

Syptom 1:

No internet access. I can login to the UMR web interface, and the modem status page says "Disconnected". I can restart the UMR from the browser, but when it boots up again, the modem status is still "Disconnected". No matter how many times I reset this way, it never reconnects. The only way to restore connection is to pull the power, wait a minute or so, and plug back in. After a power cycle, the UMR boots up normally and connection is restored. This does not seem to be an O2 issue, because it always connects fine immediately after the power cycle.

Symptom 2:

No internet access. When I connect either a PC, or my laptop, regardless of whether I use wireless lan or a wired port, the result is the same. The wired port shows link up, and the wireless lan connects ok, but DHCP seems to be down. The PC never gets an IP address from the UMR and times out after 30 seconds or so. Of course I can't access the web interface in this situation. However, I have found that if I manually configure an IP address on the PC (in the same range as the UMR itself) then I can actually ping the IP of the device... however the ping response is the only sign of life. I get timeouts when I try to connect to the web interface, or get a DNS lookup against it, or anything else. It is as if the kernel running in the UMR has hung and all it can do is respond to ping... Again, from this situation, a hard power-cycle is the only way to recover.


Both of the above issues appear after a period of inactivity. The UMR might not be used for days at a time. Then when someone attempts to use it, there is a 50-50 chance that it will be found in one of the above states and then they have to wait until the next time I call around and climb the attic ladder. Needless to say, no-one is happy with this situation, least of all me because I recommended this setup and now have to support it.

I have a couple of questions...

first: has the UMR ever been tested for this kind of usage? i.e. left idle for say a week, and then tested?

second: is there any kind of diagnostic information that can be collected somehow, to figure out what is going on? (I asked this before in post #51 on this thread, but never got a reply)

Thanks

[ cc'ed to support@dovado.com ]

Just bought one of these and its working well, review here:

www.reverbstudios.ie/blog/3g-usb-mobile-broadband-router/

Hi Dovado,

I have just acquired a Dovado UMR for use with a Huawei modem supplied by 3 and a MacBook Air on Mac OS 10.5.6. The modem works just fine when connected directly to the computer.

I have gone through the setup procedures outlined in the manual and am able to go online with the dongle in the UMR and an ethernet cable connecting the UMR to the MacBook Air.

However, when I disconnect the ethernet cable, I am completely unable to connect wirelessly, which was my purpose in buying the Dovado UMR in the first place.

Can you tell me what I need to do in order to get the UMR and computer to communicate?

DOVADO wrote: »

Hello Ireland!

Today we announce news of the coming 3.0 firmware. A more detailed list shall be made available at a later time.

For now, you can read these press releases:

http://www.dovado.com/press/dovado-20090212.html

http://www.dovado.com/press/dovado-20090212-2.html

All the best,

Team DOVADO

Looking forward to installing it and getting it running, the remote text control feature looks very promising!!!!! I can see that coming in handy at times;)

Hi dovado,

I was just wondering what would happen if i plugged in 2 Huawei E220 modems into the router?? Both would be on different networks....

when you go to 192.168.100.1 in web browser what comes on the screen?


Cable Modems are usually 192.168.100.1, but if you have only the Dovado, then that is the address of it.

You do know you can't have more than one routers or modems etc that acts as a DHCP server on the same LAN?

Routers can usually have the DHCP for LAN feature turned on or off. Most ethernet or USB interfaced Modems (no router built in) are usually pass through DHCP, but if there is no WAN (Internet connection) they usually give out one IP on the same subnet as their status/control LAN IP page.