TP-LINK MR6400 4G - Sim Card Not Detected

CriticalKush

TP-LINK MR6400

Hey... after reading a lot on boards I decided to purchase one of these 4G routers. I live in a rural area with only a satellite connection. I live right beside a Three tower so I get a better connection from 4G than anything else.

After reading a lot of threads about what people are using I was under the impression that a regular sim card pay as you go will work in this modem. I have tried a Three Unlimited Business sim card and a vodafone sim card and neither is detected.

I spoke to the supplier and they said a data sim card will only work. Does anyone have this modem and what are you using?

Orebro

Is the sim PIN number disabled? If not, pop it into the phone and disable it, then try it in the router again.

jimmycrackcorm

Make sure the sim works in a phone first. A data sim is one where the internet works.

As above, make sure it's not locked, turn off the pin required on boot up.

Cork981

CriticalKush wrote: »

TP-LINK MR6400

Hey... after reading a lot on boards I decided to purchase one of these 4G routers. I live in a rural area with only a satellite connection. I live right beside a Three tower so I get a better connection from 4G than anything else.

After reading a lot of threads about what people are using I was under the impression that a regular sim card pay as you go will work in this modem. I have tried a Three Unlimited Business sim card and a vodafone sim card and neither is detected.

I spoke to the supplier and they said a data sim card will only work. Does anyone have this modem and what are you using?

As other said, check the SIM PIN is off.

I’ve the same router as yourself using a 3 PAYG simcard topping up €20 a month.

I find 4G very slow in the evenings but the mobile data settings to 3G only gives me around 30mb consistently as less people are using it.

CriticalKush

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Make sure the sim works in a phone first. A data sim is one where the internet works.

As above, make sure it's not locked, turn off the pin required on boot up.

Both Three and Vodafone sim work in a phone. Sim pin is turned off on both...

CriticalKush

Orebro wrote: »

Is the sim PIN number disabled? If not, pop it into the phone and disable it, then try it in the router again.

Both Three and Vodafone sim work in a phone. Sim pin is turned off on both...

dam099

CriticalKush wrote: »

Both Three and Vodafone sim work in a phone. Sim pin is turned off on both...

Where did you buy it & was it advertised as "unlocked"? Could it be locked to another Network?

CriticalKush

Cork981 wrote: »

As other said, check the SIM PIN is off.

I’ve the same router as yourself using a 3 PAYG simcard topping up €20 a month.

I find 4G very slow in the evenings but the mobile data settings to 3G only gives me around 30mb consistently as less people are using it.

I tried using my business sim card as well as a vodafone pay as you go 20e and both are not detected and sim pin is off.

Kind of funny because when I spoke to the supplier (powercity) they insisted it will only work with a data sim..

When did you get your Three PAYG sim card? Maybe they are blocking the new sims from tethering?

CriticalKush

dam099 wrote: »

Where did you buy it & was it advertised as "unlocked"? Could it be locked to another Network?

I bought it off power city. I don't imagine it would be locked to a specific network. I spoke to their support and they said it has to be a data only sim and did not tell me it's locked, they said to go with whatever network I have better signal with.. but I don't believe it as plenty people use it with pay as you go

ED E

Are you inserting it in the correct orientation?

CriticalKush

ED E wrote: »

Are you inserting it in the correct orientation?

Yeah I dont see any other way it would go in

Ten Pin

You may need to enter the SIM PIN in the modem settings, deactivating PIN in a phone might not be sufficient.

APN might need to be manually entered aswell

Cork981

CriticalKush wrote: »

I tried using my business sim card as well as a vodafone pay as you go 20e and both are not detected and sim pin is off.

Kind of funny because when I spoke to the supplier (powercity) they insisted it will only work with a data sim..

When did you get your Three PAYG sim card? Maybe they are blocking the new sims from tethering?

My SIM card is from August last year, I changed the APN to “3ireland” which seems to work best.

Few different APNs here

https://editorsean.com/articles/irish-mobile-broadband-sim-card-apn-settings/

3ireland.ie (Three phone SIM)
3internet (Three data SIM, public IP address*)
3broadband.ie (Three data SIM, private IP address)
nbs.ie (former NBS data SIM, private IP address)
internet (business phone & former O2 phone SIMs)
open.internet (former O2 data SIMs, private IP address)
open.internet.public (former O2 data SIMs, public IP address*)

smuggler.ie

Usually SIM pull APN settings automatically - you might change as some listed above. In any way, even if it would be restricted for data, it should recognize and connect to network.

Not familiar with TP-LINK MR6400, but check Working Mode setting - it should be on "3G/4G router" rather "Standard ....", refer to manual.

Not detected SIM might indicate you put it wrong way around - chip contacts should be facing down to the bottom of device i think - again, refer to router manual... or router is DOA, especially that you tested with multiple SIM's from different providers.

CriticalKush

smuggler.ie wrote: »

Usually SIM pull APN settings automatically - you might change as some listed above. In any way, even if it would be restricted for data, it should recognize and connect to network.

Not familiar with TP-LINK MR6400, but check Working Mode setting - it should be on "3G/4G router" rather "Standard ....", refer to manual.

Not detected SIM might indicate you put it wrong way around - chip contacts should be facing down to the bottom of device i think - again, refer to router manual... or router is DOA, especially that you tested with multiple SIM's from different providers.

Yeah it's definitely inserted the correct way. The router is also in 3G/4G settings.

The supplier is telling me it has to be a data only sim, it cannot be a normal sim... so I ordered a data only sim so will see if that works.

Ten Pin

The supplier is telling me it has to be a data only sim, it cannot be a normal sim... so I ordered a data only sim so will see if that works.

That would only be correct if there was signal without data...are you getting any signal on modem?

Vodafone PAYG data and phone SIMs are the same regardless of how the shop labels them. If you put a VF PAYG "data" SIM in a phone, you can make calls.

For the network to block a phone SIM requires it to connect initially and show signal and then refuse a data connection based on detecting the device type, it's unlikely that's the issue in a SIM free device....the router has no visibility on the differential between phone and data-only SIMs because both types are data capable and that's all the router needs.

IMO it's either a router setting or router is faulty.

Post by someone else with same router...

A bit of flailing around with PUK/PIN early on, but it works.

https://m.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=112111587&postcount=1259

smuggler.ie

CriticalKush wrote: »

Yeah it's definitely inserted the correct way. The router is also in 3G/4G settings.

The supplier is telling me it has to be a data only sim, it cannot be a normal sim... so I ordered a data only sim so will see if that works.

Supplier tell you what they "officially" support - ISP's don't want you to use phone card for data this way. As pointed - for ISP's , even if there would be any, to apply restrictions, your SIM first need to communicate back to server, hence it would need to be recognized on router. If it works on the phone, but not detected on router - router at fault most likely.

smuggler.ie

Sorry for repeating, but ....
SIM card slot on router is different than on the phone, it has spring mechanism - you have to push SIM deep enough(using finger nail) to "click in", same to remove - push-in for card to pop-out.

nagel

are you able to login to the user interface 192.168.1.1 and look at status should tell to if sim is recognised

phillyflippy

Hi, was this problem every resolved? I have just bought a TP-LINK Archer MR-400 and it is saying it cannot detect the sim card. Could it be a problem with the router itself?

salamiii

ask provider for sim code and put it in to router

CriticalKush

phillyflippy wrote: »

Hi, was this problem every resolved? I have just bought a TP-LINK Archer MR-400 and it is saying it cannot detect the sim card. Could it be a problem with the router itself?

Had to return the router, it was faulty. I bought a Huawei router since and it works perfectly with the same SIM cards I was using in the TP-Link