3 usb modem problem

Akula

Picked one up today. Installed fine. Got a signal. Went to connect but am getting a message saying "Connection Failed".

When I click for more info I am getting "Error 619 connection to the remote computer could not be established...."

I called three and they said the cards take 24 hours to become active which I've heard from people just isn't true.

Any ideas?

Urban Weigl

This is a new product, not related to the broadband add on. It is quite possible that it can take up to 24 hours for it to become activated.

If it still isn't working after waiting 24 hours, call customer service again.

culabula

Not wishing to sound smart BUT -you do have the SIM in the right way up? It can happen.

(sending from my brand-new USB modem).

godskitchen

I got the same reply from Three when i told them mine was not working when i first got it (data card when it first came out)...............One of their selling points was that it just works out of the box

But no i was fobbed off with "give it 24 hours" until i stood my ground and they did something and guess what, a re-boot of the data card and all was well.

These boards will be full of this type of issue over the next few weeks or so now that more people will sign up to Three...........and here we are doing their job for them, informing their customers of how the product works/should work.

I want paying!

Urban Weigl

I just got an order confirmation, after ordering it this morning within minutes of it going up at the online store:

"We are delighted to tell you that we have now processed your order and it has been passed to our warehouse team to get everything ready to be dispatched."

There is one caveat:
"Important - your 3 video mobile can only be delivered to you in person. You will need to have the credit card you used to order the video mobile handy as proof of identity."

Thank God 3's delivery company takes ages to deliver anything (compared to standard An Post), so I will be back in Ireland in time.

culabula

Did we all crash my original USB modem post?

Urban Weigl

culabula wrote:

Did we all crash my original USB modem post?

Just typical boards.ie database issues I am afraid. It seems to happen quite often, though the site become more responsive again lately.

wirelessdude

if you are getting a signal then the sim is in correct...error 619 is usually an apn issue...make sure that the apn has been applied correctly on the hlr

Walkman

godskitchen wrote:

I got the same reply from Three when i told them mine was not working when i first got it (data card when it first came out)...............One of their selling points was that it just works out of the box

But no i was fobbed off with "give it 24 hours" until i stood my ground and they did something and guess what, a re-boot of the data card and all was well.

These boards will be full of this type of issue over the next few weeks or so now that more people will sign up to Three...........and here we are doing their job for them, informing their customers of how the product works/should work.

I want paying!

Oh my God. When are we going to stop acting like a pack of women in a sewing circle. Poor 3 can they do nothing right. Best value mobile broadband and all we can do is moan

godskitchen

Walkman wrote:

Oh my God. When are we going to stop acting like a pack of women in a sewing circle. Poor 3 can they do nothing right. Best value mobile broadband and all we can do is moan

I think I and other paying customers have every right to moan about poor service............If I make just one person think twice about joining Three I will be happy at that, I wish I had the information i know now before I joined.

Sam Vimes

Walkman wrote:

Oh my God. When are we going to stop acting like a pack of women in a sewing circle. Poor 3 can they do nothing right. Best value mobile broadband and all we can do is moan

to me best value means more than the cheapest. any problem you have with 3 will be met with polite bemusement by the customer care and so i'd rather pay more for a service that works than one that doesn't work despite the inept apologies

randomer

godskitchen wrote:

I think I and other paying customers have every right to moan about poor service............If I make just one person think twice about joining Three I will be happy at that, I wish I had the information i know now before I joined.

You are allowed to return the modem within 14 days for a full refund.

godskitchen

randomer wrote:

You are allowed to return the modem within 14 days for a full refund.

Im not sure how that helps me

podgeandrodge

just put the usb modem into the pc (xp) and no wizard started - it only recognised it as a mass storage device? any suggestions?

godskitchen

podgeandrodge wrote:

just put the usb modem into the pc (xp) and no wizard started - it only recognised it as a mass storage device? any suggestions?

Give Three a call on 083 3333333, they will sort you out for sure.

Oh and report back how you got on with them. Also time how long it takes to get an answer to the question your asking.

culabula

podgeandrodge wrote:

just put the usb modem into the pc (xp) and no wizard started - it only recognised it as a mass storage device? any suggestions?

The files needed should be contained within the 'mass storage device' -it's recognised as a virtual CD-ROM. Just click on the setup file. No need to phone 3.

culabula

3 seem to have messed up where the Mac is concerned: the zip contains a manual and an app to input the APN. But the driver is not contained.

Fortunately, I already had it downloaded from elsewhere some time ago -if anyone needs it, I'll fire it across.

Note that there appears to be a new APN for the 10GB service.

podgeandrodge

thanks, only problem was a 3 minute delay between recognising it as a mass storage device and the wizard starting - must be a slow laptop.

working fine.

question - to remove the modem do you have to go through the safe removal procedure or just shut down and remove...

culabula

podgeandrodge wrote:

thanks, only problem was a 3 minute delay between recognising it as a mass storage device and the wizard starting - must be a slow laptop.

working fine.

question - to remove the modem do you have to go through the safe removal procedure or just shut down and remove...

On a Mac, no, over on the Dark Side, the usual caveats apply :-)

mickger

What kind of speeds are people getting with this new service????

culabula

mickger wrote:

What kind of speeds are people getting with this new service????

2.7mbps in Connolly last night.

podgeandrodge

godskitchen wrote:

I got the same reply from Three when i told them mine was not working when i first got it (data card when it first came out)...............One of their selling points was that it just works out of the box

But no i was fobbed off with "give it 24 hours" until i stood my ground and they did something and guess what, a re-boot of the data card and all was well.

These boards will be full of this type of issue over the next few weeks or so now that more people will sign up to Three...........and here we are doing their job for them, informing their customers of how the product works/should work.

I want paying!

same here - 20 times trying to connect until i read above and rebooted modem - the spanners could have at least put that in the instructions!

ps is there the equivalent of a contention ratio with this service??

podgeandrodge

:eek: look at the price for a similar service in France by SFR

"Un modem USB 3G+ à 49€ et des forfaits à partir de 20 €

Modem USB 3G+ :
Prix du pack Modem USB 3G+ : 49€TTC
Tarif Forfait Internet mobile :
Forfait Internet mobile 25 Mo à 20 €/mois (avec un engagement de 24 mois ou 25 €/mois avec un engagement de 12 mois)
Forfait Internet mobile 100 Mo à 35 €/mois (avec un engagement de 24 mois ou 40 €/mois avec un engagement de 12 mois)
Forfait Internet mobile 500 Mo à 55 €/mois (avec engagement de 24 mois ou 60 €/mois avec un engagement de 12 mois) "

25 MEGAbyte limit for 20 a month!!
Half a gig for 55 a month!

Sam Vimes

podgeandrodge wrote:

:eek: look at the price for a similar service in France by SFR

"Un modem USB 3G+ à 49€ et des forfaits à partir de 20 €

Modem USB 3G+ :
Prix du pack Modem USB 3G+ : 49€TTC
Tarif Forfait Internet mobile :
Forfait Internet mobile 25 Mo à 20 €/mois (avec un engagement de 24 mois ou 25 €/mois avec un engagement de 12 mois)
Forfait Internet mobile 100 Mo à 35 €/mois (avec un engagement de 24 mois ou 40 €/mois avec un engagement de 12 mois)
Forfait Internet mobile 500 Mo à 55 €/mois (avec engagement de 24 mois ou 60 €/mois avec un engagement de 12 mois) "

25 MEGAbyte limit for 20 a month!!
Half a gig for 55 a month!

i suppose it costs a lot more to roll out a 3g network in such a big country and so they have to recoup their losses. for once being in ireland prevented us being ripped off :rolleyes:

culabula

Commander Vimes wrote:

i suppose it costs a lot more to roll out a 3g network in such a big country and so they have to recoup their losses. for once being in ireland prevented us being ripped off :rolleyes:

Ah, come on, there's also a population of 56+ million people! It's comparable to the UK where T-Mobile's web'n'walk is one of the best data bargains around (though what 3UK are still playing at with their 1GB for 70€, I have no idea).

France is still very dear for mobile use and SFR is one of the worst offenders.It was one country where it made more sense for me to avail of my Vodafone Passport facility (mak or return no calls, make everyone phone me!) than use SFR. In the end I got a Breizh Mobile SIM which was a bit better and worked for data out of the box.

France was one of the last countries where mobiles were adapted wholesale: in 1996-97 I was stared at in the street for having one whereas across the Alps in Italy it appeared as though everyone was born with one attached to an ear. The French still haven't cottoned on to 'doing the deal' in may ways as regards mobile use -a bit like the online retailing system where they haven't grasped that it's supposed to be cheaper than visiting a retail outlet.

As for us getting ripped off -well, we still are. It is 3 Ireland who are shaking things up a little and hopefully they will wake the others out of their complacency. But it isn't really our small island status that had helped but instead the deep pockets of Hutchinson Whampoa.

Tom Dunne

culabula wrote:

2.7mbps in Connolly last night.

Any chance of a picture of it connected to the laptop? I am wondering how far out it sticks (don't want to stab the person sitting beside me on the train ).

I am still going through the "Do I really need it phase" and all I can come up with is "I don't need it, but I do want it".

culabula

tom dunne wrote:

Any chance of a picture of it connected to the laptop? I am wondering how far out it sticks (don't want to stab the person sitting beside me on the train ).

I am still going through the "Do I really need it phase" and all I can come up with is "I don't need it, but I do want it".

Sticks out?? It's a datamodem, looks for all the world like an Apple product or a very tiny white mouse. It connects by a short USB cable and you can use the supplied velcro to stick it to the side of your screen or lid if you prefer.

How are you going to stab anyone with a round white svelte shiny thing? :-)

Tom Dunne

culabula wrote:

Sticks out?? It's a datamodem, looks for all the world like an Apple product or a very tiny white mouse. It connects by a short USB cable and you can use the supplied velcro to stick it to the side of your screen or lid if you prefer.

How are you going to stab anyone with a round white svelte shiny thing? :-)

Ah, I was thinking something along the lines of a USB memory stick. It's hard to tell from the picture on the 3 website.

No stabbing for my fellow passengers, so.

culabula

tom dunne wrote:

Ah, I was thinking something along the lines of a USB memory stick. It's hard to tell from the picture on the 3 website.

No stabbing for my fellow passengers, so.

Nah, that's just the yoke in isolation. You get two cables with it and the shorter one means it's just going to sit there like a big huge fat white mouse except that it's a tiny one.

Tom Dunne

Staying off topic for the moment (sorry!), I see you use it on the train, which is where I'll be using it (except, I'll be going East<->West), any problems with dropping connections when moving between cells? Is the signal consistent enough? Are speeds generally above 512k?

I won't be streaming or anything, just up/downloading from websites and of course more general surfing.

culabula

tom dunne wrote:

Staying off topic for the moment (sorry!), I see you use it on the train, which is where I'll be using it (except, I'll be going East<->West), any problems with dropping connections when moving between cells? Is the signal consistent enough? Are speeds generally above 512k?

I won't be streaming or anything, just up/downloading from websites and of course more general surfing.

I am almost positive that you will drop connections: I would say that this is inevitable. Connection is very easy to re-establish with the modem unlike phone-as-BT-modem.

Speeds are usually excellent.

I have on occasion been able to share the connection via Airport with a) fellow passengers and b) my PSP, allowing me to watch TV from home using Locationfree technology. It can be *that* good.

whisht

tom dunne wrote:

Staying off topic for the moment (sorry!), I see you use it on the train, which is where I'll be using it (except, I'll be going East<->West), any problems with dropping connections when moving between cells? Is the signal consistent enough? Are speeds generally above 512k?

I won't be streaming or anything, just up/downloading from websites and of course more general surfing.

Tom, send me a PM with email address and I can send you a map showing "some" of the route you mentioned. Its quite detailed and is not the standard map from the website

Tom Dunne

Great, thanks. PM sent.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

RE: PCMCIA vs. USB

Speeds in the airport using the PCMCIA card are excellent. However at home its very poor. Has anyone compared them both speed wise? Will it make any sort of difference having the USB jobbie?

Thanks
ambrose

culabula

kingambrose wrote:

RE: PCMCIA vs. USB

Speeds in the airport using the PCMCIA card are excellent. However at home its very poor. Has anyone compared them both speed wise? Will it make any sort of difference having the USB jobbie?

Thanks
ambrose

No

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Short and sweet! Thanks cula

mickger

culabula wrote:

2.7mbps in Connolly last night.

With full coverage i'm getting a max speed of 1.5mbps. There seems to be a constant flow of traffic being sent and received from the modem even though i'm not surfing the net. Should that be happening??? Should i be getting better speeds with full coverage being the way it is??? As it stand with those speeds i think i would be returning this within the 14 days.

Tom Dunne

mickger wrote:

With full coverage i'm getting a max speed of 1.5mbps. <snip> Should i be getting better speeds with full coverage being the way it is??? As it stand with those speeds i think i would be returning this within the 14 days.

I don't think any service of this nature will give the full speed advertised. If you read the Three website carefully, it says "up to 3.6Mb". Personally, I think 1.5mbps continually is damn good.

Maybe I'm just easily pleased.

Urban Weigl

kingambrose wrote:

Short and sweet! Thanks cula

You may, however, be able to get better speeds at home by using an external antenna with your PC card. A small one should suffice.

Edit: Provided you are currently getting a weak 3G signal. If you're on a GPRS signal, it would not make a difference unless you have line of sight and install a big dish on your roof.

culabula

mickger wrote:

With full coverage i'm getting a max speed of 1.5mbps. There seems to be a constant flow of traffic being sent and received from the modem even though i'm not surfing the net. Should that be happening??? Should i be getting better speeds with full coverage being the way it is??? As it stand with those speeds i think i would be returning this within the 14 days.

Think yourself lucky! You should try using it here in Belfast. Some of the following words conjure up the images I'm looking for. Paint. Dry. Snails.

Can't wait to get back to the Free-State-On-Acid tomorrow, tank de lawd.

Urban Weigl

mickger wrote:

With full coverage i'm getting a max speed of 1.5mbps. There seems to be a constant flow of traffic being sent and received from the modem even though i'm not surfing the net. Should that be happening??? Should i be getting better speeds with full coverage being the way it is??? As it stand with those speeds i think i would be returning this within the 14 days.

The web site very clearly states that 3's HSDPA network deliver speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps, not 3.6 Mbps all the time. In fact, it states clearly that speeds will vary depending on network conditions and how many users are using the service at the same time, etc..

1.5 Mbps is a very good speed for this kind of network, and 3 will be upgrading their network to 7.2 Mbps soon. The modem is firmware upgradable to support the higher speed.

I don't see any reason to cancel. It's working as advertised.

mickger

Urban Weigl wrote:

The web site very clearly states that 3's HSDPA network deliver speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps, not 3.6 Mbps all the time. In fact, it states clearly that speeds will vary depending on network conditions and how many users are using the service at the same time, etc..

1.5 Mbps is a very good speed for this kind of network, and 3 will be upgrading their network to 7.2 Mbps soon. The modem is firmware upgradable to support the higher speed.

I don't see any reason to cancel. It's working as advertised.

Point taken guys. Just when i saw a guy in a previous post getting 2.7 mbps i thought i might get that too.
Just on another issue the modem is not installing on my girlfriends notebook which has the Chinese version of Windows Xp. Is there any software or fix for it?

danicole

culabula wrote:

3 seem to have messed up where the Mac is concerned: the zip contains a manual and an app to input the APN. But the driver is not contained.

Fortunately, I already had it downloaded from elsewhere some time ago -if anyone needs it, I'll fire it across.

Note that there appears to be a new APN for the 10GB service.

http://www.three.ie/handsets_new/datacards-drivers.htm

Try this

culabula

danicole wrote:

http://www.three.ie/handsets_new/datacards-drivers.htm

Try this

Yes, I know this: the point is that on Monday night when I downloaded there were no Mac drivers contained in the zip. But I already had 'em.

culabula

mickger wrote:

Point taken guys. Just when i saw a guy in a previous post getting 2.7 mbps i thought i might get that too.
Just on another issue the modem is not installing on my girlfriends notebook which has the Chinese version of Windows Xp. Is there any software or fix for it?

Yes, I achieved this in the station itself, but not 10 minutes later when flying past Clontarf.

whisht

Akula wrote:

Picked one up today. Installed fine. Got a signal. Went to connect but am getting a message saying "Connection Failed".

When I click for more info I am getting "Error 619 connection to the remote computer could not be established...."

I called three and they said the cards take 24 hours to become active which I've heard from people just isn't true.

Any ideas?

You never did say if you got it sorted or how??

richie.c

Just sending this from my new modem. Took a day for it to work and finally I have broadband at home.

I live in the country in Kildare, no broadband services out here at all. Hell, my dial up only connects at 16.8kbp so it's unusable.

This connects at 3.6mb, actual speed about 1.2 to 1.5 in the garden and slows to about 600kb in the house. For me this is what I've been waiting for.

So first opinions are excellent, we'll see how it goes from here.

whisht

Hmmm
So were you getting the same error as reported here? A friend got one last night and he was told last night to allow 24 hours and today told to allow 48 hours!!!!! Trying to figure out if its actually time that fixes it or something else as all seems ok on the pc etc

ablelocks

whisht wrote:

Hmmm
So were you getting the same error as reported here? A friend got one last night and he was told last night to allow 24 hours and today told to allow 48 hours!!!!! Trying to figure out if its actually time that fixes it or something else as all seems ok on the pc etc

I got mine yesterday, was told to wait 24 hours for the sim to activate and to disable any firewalls and anti-virus apps prior to and during installation (particularly if they were Norton applications). I'll be installing tonight - hopefully everything will work out ok!

richie.c

whisht wrote:

Hmmm
So were you getting the same error as reported here? A friend got one last night and he was told last night to allow 24 hours and today told to allow 48 hours!!!!! Trying to figure out if its actually time that fixes it or something else as all seems ok on the pc etc

Well I got it yesterday and I was getting the 619 error, and when I tried today all was rosy. Was a little over 24 hours, but in saying that it was the first time I tried it, it might have been working since this morning.

deadduck

does anyone have the setup file to post somewhere, there's no files on my modem, therefore no wizard. thanks in advance