Unlocking an Huawei E586 modem

RangeR · 11-02-2013 11:56am #1

I was in contract for mobile internet up until a few months ago. I now want to change provider and bring MY E586 with me. Provider is refusing to unlock my E586.

Is it common for providers to not unlock the modems?
If so, why is that?

chris2008x · 16-02-2013 9:06pm

They are not obliged to unlock the modem for you that is what Comreg told me about two years ago when I was out of contract with Three. I never got a dongle unlocked before so can't recommend any sites which will unlock it for you. Be careful as some of these sites can steal your personal information/debit/credit details.
Hopefully someone who can help you will see this thread and best of luck in finding a better provider.

RangeR · 16-02-2013 10:12pm

chris2008x wrote: »

They are not obliged to unlock the modem for you that is what Comreg told me about two years ago when I was out of contract with Three. I never got a dongle unlocked before so can't recommend any sites which will unlock it for you. Be careful as some of these sites can steal your personal information/debit/credit details.
Hopefully someone who can help you will see this thread and best of luck in finding a better provider.

Sure,I had the unlock code 10 minutes after Three refused to give it to me. Not by using sites but just because. The nature of my job dictates favours go around.

It's the fact that Three lock units that they DON'T own (but say they do), and refuse to unlock them, is repugnant and just wrong.

Might ring NCA on Monday for clarification.

RangeR · 26-02-2013 4:17pm

I've been on to the National Consumer Agency. They agree that there is no regulation on this. It know boils down to what the Terms and Conditions state. I've read through the Terms and Conditions many times. I cannot find anywhere that states Three retain ownership of the dongle [legal claimed that was in there]. Nowhere does it state that the device may not be used on a different network after contract.

Listen, I'm not trying to be a dick here. It's my modem. Not yours. Give me my unlock code.

I hereby give notice that I'm submitting a SCC claim against Three Ireland on Monday 4th March if there is no movement on this. What you are doing is wrong and you know it.

chris2008x · 26-02-2013 7:45pm

Are you taking them to the small claims court to recoup the losses you made having to find an alternative provider or just to get the modem unlocked? Good luck with your case I hope one way or another it will cost three money

RangeR · 26-02-2013 8:35pm

chris2008x wrote: »

Are you taking them to the small claims court to recoup the losses you made having to find an alternative provider or just to get the modem unlocked? Good luck with your case I hope one way or another it will cost three money

I'm taking them to the SCC because they are artificially stopping me from using hardware that I paid for and is mine. Because of this action, I will have a financial loss for having to "purchase" another modem that I don't need. These cost in the region of €100 to €120 unlocked or about €70 subsidised [contract].

It is VERY easy for Three to obtain an unlock code and give it to me. They actively choose not to. This is a business decision that they made.

It's no different than if they refused to give you an unlock code to your shiny new phone, when you are out of contract. It'e your phone. It's my modem.

Nowhere in their terms and conditions does it state that the modem belongs to them. As they won't budge on this, it's now for a judge to decide.

chris2008x · 26-02-2013 10:45pm

Best to buy the unlocked one and try claim for the cost. Also claim other expenses like interest on your credit card if applicable postage fees etc

RangeR · 26-02-2013 11:17pm

No. The cost of the modem or an unlock code will suffice. I only want what's mine.

RangeR · 27-02-2013 11:34am

Three have had their final comment. It's a refusal again. They say that they are not obliged to provide, nor have the facility to provide an unlock code.

My comment would be, why lock it in the first place if Three can't unlock it? If they are going to hinder my device while in contract, it should be unhindered after.

I'm going to research this over the weekend, see what's involved in unlocking a modem and "how hard it is" or even if it's possible.

Still set on filing a SCC on Monday. The Terms and Conditions don't state anywhere that there is an artificial restriction on the hardware that I purchase.

Never been to the SCC before.

alanowx · 13-03-2013 7:47pm

Hi RangeR..

Did u manage to unlock your E586?

I have the same MiFi from 3 and according to https://www.dc-unlocker.com/ client software the sim is already unlocked but I have not tested it on another network.

Initially running this software would not detect my modem and crashed each time on my win7 64bit system but try the following if u have issues:

Turn off WiFi on pc..Connect modem to pc using usb cable and establish a "lan" network connection... Go into Device Manager, under Network Adapter find and disable HUAWEI Mobile Connect..under Ports change to Com port1 (default is com3/4) for the modem. It may also be necessary to disable UAC- for Win7). See my attached photo

I understand it costs 2 Euro (2 credits) to unlock the E586 with this software

Good luck

Alan

RangeR · 13-03-2013 9:19pm

alanowx wrote: »

Hi RangeR..

Did u manage to unlock your E586?

I have the same MiFi from 3 and according to https://www.dc-unlocker.com/ client software the sim is already unlocked but I have not tested it on another network.

Initially running this software would not detect my modem and crashed each time on my win7 64bit system but try the following if u have issues:

Turn off WiFi on pc..Connect modem to pc using usb cable and establish a "lan" network connection... Go into Device Manager, under Network Adapter find and disable HUAWEI Mobile Connect..under Ports change to Com port1 (default is com3/4) for the modem. It may also be necessary to disable UAC- for Win7). See my attached photo

I understand it costs 2 Euro (2 credits) to unlock the E586 with this software

Good luck

Alan

You shouldn't have to do that. Ask three for an unlock code. When they refuse, contact the SCC. I'm currently in the process at the moment and looking good.

alanowx · 14-03-2013 1:23am

Oh! I agree one shouldn't have to. Best of luck with your claim.

aman23 · 14-03-2013 1:34am

RangeR wrote: »

You shouldn't have to do that. Ask three for an unlock code. When they refuse, contact the SCC. I'm currently in the process at the moment and looking good.

fair play to you RangeR, hope you win, too many people, just bend over and take it. nice to see someone standing up for themselves, i wish more people would do it.

eirator · 16-03-2013 1:44am

I'm if favour of 3 being taken to the SCC as I hate the way they do business but I'm not sure what the OP will gain here?

The unlocking cost is a few euro the SCC costs are iirc €28 and you can't claim them back so the claim has to be for a decent amount like the cost of a new router to make it worthwhile.

RangeR · 16-03-2013 7:14am

eirator wrote: »

I'm if favour of 3 being taken to the SCC as I hate the way they do business but I'm not sure what the OP will gain here?

The unlocking cost is a few euro the SCC costs are iirc €28 and you can't claim them back so the claim has to be for a decent amount like the cost of a new router to make it worthwhile.

I'm not looking for money. A company is acting morally and ethically ... corrupt. What they are doing is just wrong.

eirator · 17-03-2013 11:30pm

You won't get any disagreement from me about 3's business practices.

madmoe · 23-03-2013 5:17pm

Anyone know if the Huawei E1752 can be unlocked?

Cheers,
M

chris2008x · 23-03-2013 9:11pm

They can be madmoe

madmoe · 23-03-2013 11:27pm

chris2008x wrote: »

They can be madmoe

Thanks mate....I literally just done it....in the end it was very handy to do :-)

Cheers,
M

PS: I now have an older Huawei E220 I found thrown in a drawer.... wonder if that can be done as well!?

moggser · 06-08-2013 8:27am

Can these actually be unlocked with out payment of some sort ...

RangeR · 06-08-2013 9:42am

They can be unlocked if your provider gives you the unlock. They DO exist, regardless of what the networks tell you. What Three are doing is downright robbery, allegedly.

moggser · 06-08-2013 9:53am

RangeR wrote: »

They can be unlocked if your provider gives you the unlock. They DO exist, regardless of what the networks tell you. What Three are doing is downright robbery, allegedly.

what is it that 3 are doing?

funny enough its a 3 wifi dongle i have a loan of and was trying to unlock it for use with meteor as they are cheapest so far .. do i have to get the owner to ring the customer care to unlock it which they might or might not do 3 that is not the owner

RangeR · 06-08-2013 10:45am

moggser wrote: »

what is it that 3 are doing?

funny enough its a 3 wifi dongle i have a loan of and was trying to unlock it for use with meteor as they are cheapest so far .. do i have to get the owner to ring the customer care to unlock it which they might or might not do 3 that is not the owner

They charge you a subsidised price. You complete your 12 month contract. Three then refuse to give you an unlock code. It's in the first post, the reason for this thread.

Three WILL NOT give an unlock code to one of their locked modems. They don't notify you of this point when you purchase one. They even go so far as to say that you don't purchase it. You pay an activation charge [different for every model

]. They say that you don't own the product.

This is all untrue. They just won't give an unlock code for your product.

Try get one off them.

moggser · 06-08-2013 10:56am

oh that.. well they have always been stupid like that . they have no good customer care anymore they used to be fantastic before they outsourced and changed everything about .. im not gonna bother contacting them id lose the rag fairly sharpish talking to them as they just repeat ****e to ya over and over

madmoe · 06-08-2013 6:36pm

I found a tutorial online to unlock the O2 one I had but never saved the link! It's 100% possible guys!!

moggser · 11-08-2013 10:17am

madmoe wrote: »

Thanks mate....I literally just done it....in the end it was very handy to do

Wanna share

. Was it the e586 ya done

madmoe · 11-08-2013 11:48am

moggser wrote: »

Wanna share . Was it the e586 ya done

I can't remember where I found the tutorial mate :-(

ahnowbrowncow · 18-10-2013 8:54pm

RangeR wrote: »

They charge you a subsidised price. You complete your 12 month contract. Three then refuse to give you an unlock code. It's in the first post, the reason for this thread.

Three WILL NOT give an unlock code to one of their locked modems. They don't notify you of this point when you purchase one. They even go so far as to say that you don't purchase it. You pay an activation charge [different for every model ]. They say that you don't own the product.

This is all untrue. They just won't give an unlock code for your product.

Try get one off them.

How did you get one RangeR?

RangeR · 18-10-2013 10:06pm

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

How did you get one RangeR?

I'm in with all the manufacturers.

CptSternn · 27-10-2013 12:42pm

To unlock a E585 / E586 you will need a couple tools:

DC-Unlocker (https://www.dc-unlocker.com/downloads)

PSAS/REVSkill (http://revskills.de/downloads/revskills.zip)

1. Install those two apps.

2. Put the new SIM in the device and hook it up to your computer.

3. Run PSAS

4. Click the tab labeled HARDWARE then select PORT UTILS then QC + AT Cmd and a new window will open.

5. Select the DIAGS tab then click SEND. Make sure your device is listed in the box.

6. On this same tab then select READ EFS FACTORY IMAGE from the dropdown box, click ALTERNATIVE METHOD and then click LETS GO and you will be prompted for a place to save the file and give it a name. Name it anything you want but save it as a text file (Ex. DUMP.TXT)

The app will then do it's magic and dump the factory firmware image in text format to the file. It can take like 10-15 minutes depending on your computer.

Now when that is done you have the unlock code you need, somewhere in that file. The next step is to retrieve the code. This takes a bit of time but I have done this a few times and can tell you it does work.

Open the file you dumped with Notepad. Don't use any fancy text editors like Notepad++ as they will read in all the extra control characters which will cause this step to take even longer.

You need to find an eight digit code to unlock the device. To find it do a SEARCH for 55000 or 255000

It will look like this when you find it:

It's usually near the bottom of the file.

This is the unlock code for your device!

To use it do this:

1. Open a web browser and type in this address: http://192.168.1.1

2. Click ADVANCED SETTINGS then SIM SETTINGS then UNLOCK DEVICE.

3. Enter the Unlock Code you got from the text file above and click APPLY.

DONE!

Now open DC-UNLOCKER and it should read your device and confirm that your device has been unlocked -

That's it! The only tricky part is searching for the code, but you will know it when you find it sure.

CptSternn · 27-10-2013 1:10pm

madmoe wrote: »

Anyone know if the Huawei E1752 can be unlocked?

Yes, it can, an very easily I might add (much easier than the E585 / E586 / MiFi).

You will need two tools:

DC-Unlocker (https://www.dc-unlocker.com/downloads)

UNIVERSAL MASTER CODE (http://huaweifirmwares.com/download/universal-master-code-calculator-download/)

1. Install both apps.

2. Run DC-UNLOCKER and it should detect your device and give you the IMEI code you need.

3. Run UNIVERSAL MASTER CODE and enter the IMEI to get the UNLOCK CODE.

4. Put the new SIM in the device.

5. Open Mobile Partner and it should prompt you for the unlock code. Enter it and it should start up and your device is now unlocked.

If you don't have the Mobile Partner software you can get it here:

http://www.huaweidevice.com/worldwide/downloadCenter.do?method=toDownloadFile&flay=software&softid=NDcxMjQ=

The Mobile Partner is the generic connection software that all providers bundle on the device with their own branding. This will replace whatever software you had. Once you have it unlocked you can then use the software than came with the device if you want OR setup a new APN with the details of your provider and continue to use the device with the Mobile Partner software.

An added footnote here, this method works for pretty much all HUAWEI devices including the E170, E171, E172, E173 and many, many others. In fact pretty much every USB broadband dongle in Ireland now sure, with the exception of the MiFi but I have detailed how to unlock those above.

Unlocking an Huawei E586 modem

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