Debugging MF626 T-stick connection problems

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Debugging MF626 T-stick connection problems

julianz

118 posts

Master Geek

#78120 27-Feb-2011 21:30

Hi - am trying to sort out connection problems with a prepay MF-626 T-stick on XT, running on a Windows XP laptop. It's been working reasonably well for about a year.

Lately it will connect for a couple of seconds and then disconnect every time. I've tried uninstalling/rebooting/reinstalling/rebooting, but no joy. I've tried calling Telecom, who can see it briefly connecting and disconnecting. They acknowledge that there's something wrong, then put me through to some sort of faults number that nobody answers. And the hold music is bad :)

Also - checked and reseated the SIM card, and we're in a fairly good reception area.

Has anyone else got one of these and solved a similar problem?

Loismustdye

927 posts

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#443957 27-Feb-2011 21:58

I get the same problem with mine continously.
Ive given up on and will buy a vodafone or 2 degrees one when I need to get mobile internet again.

sbiddle

30853 posts

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#443960 27-Feb-2011 22:10

Are you still using the same laptop?

These devices draw a lot of current, and can cause issues with some laptops and routers that support USB based data cards.

nzbnw

2374 posts

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Spark NZ

#443965 27-Feb-2011 22:21

Try un-installing the connection manager, restart then run the ZTE Driver Uninstall Manager (UN-ZIP THIS), restart again and reinstall the software and restart for good measure.

http://zte.co.nz/main/faqs.htm#FAQ4

"How do I remove previously installed device drivers?"

Restarts may not be required, however windows is windows and there is always a quirk or two along the way.

nzbnw

numfarr

329 posts

Ultimate Geek

#443977 27-Feb-2011 23:00

Silly question probably but are you absolutely sure it has some credit on it? Because I went through the same thing and it turned out I had used up all my credit without realising it, and if you have no credit it will connect and then disconnect immediately when you send some data through it.

julianz

118 posts

Master Geek

#443997 28-Feb-2011 07:03

numfarr: Silly question probably but are you absolutely sure it has some credit on it?

That's a good call. I'm 95% sure, it's my father's laptop and card, he applied a $40 topup the other day and it hasn't been working so it shouldn't have run out. There was a received message on the device's inbox saying that the topup was successful so I had assumed that it worked. I'll give Telecom another call and check.

Side note - could Telecom have made it any more difficult to find what the balance is on one of these things? It looks like you can only do it from the device itself using a working connection and visiting yt.telecom.co.nz, which I can't currently do. Does anybody know an easier way?

Thanks,

Julian.

julianz

118 posts

Master Geek

#443998 28-Feb-2011 07:10

sbiddle: Are you still using the same laptop?

Yep, same laptop and it's plugged in directly. The device seems to be otherwise working, e.g. the light seems to change colour between blue and green when it should, it can receive texts and so on.

julianz

118 posts

Master Geek

#444000 28-Feb-2011 07:35

nzbnw: Try un-installing the connection manager, restart then run the ZTE Driver Uninstall Manager (UN-ZIP THIS), restart again and reinstall the software and restart for good measure.

Thanks - I've done this now but no luck. I managed to get to the yt.telecom.co.nz login screen before it kicked me off this time, so it definitely is creating a full connection. Time to investigate further whether the account has credit after all!

Equinox IT

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nzbnw

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Spark NZ

#444001 28-Feb-2011 07:36

You can call the Prepaid helpdesk on 0800323232 and ask customer services to supply your balance.

nzbnw

old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#444011 28-Feb-2011 09:00

julianz:
numfarr: Silly question probably but are you absolutely sure it has some credit on it?

That's a good call. I'm 95% sure, it's my father's laptop and card, he applied a $40 topup the other day and it hasn't been working so it shouldn't have run out. There was a received message on the device's inbox saying that the topup was successful so I had assumed that it worked. I'll give Telecom another call and check.

Side note - could Telecom have made it any more difficult to find what the balance is on one of these things? It looks like you can only do it from the device itself using a working connection and visiting yt.telecom.co.nz, which I can't currently do. Does anybody know an easier way?

Thanks,

Julian.

If you want to check the balance on your T-Stick go here http://www.telecom.co.nz/mbbmeter and setup a login..

Regards,

Old3eyes

sbiddle

30853 posts

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Biddle Corp

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#444012 28-Feb-2011 09:04

julianz: Side note - could Telecom have made it any more difficult to find what the balance is on one of these things? It looks like you can only do it from the device itself using a working connection and visiting yt.telecom.co.nz, which I can't currently do. Does anybody know an easier way?

Thanks,

Julian.

Send a SMS to 333 with the letter B or b in it and you'll get one back with your account balance.

julianz

118 posts

Master Geek

#444039 28-Feb-2011 10:11

sbiddle: Send a SMS to 333 with the letter B or b in it and you'll get one back with your account balance.

Yeah I tried that last night, it doesn't work - I get between 3 and 6 messages back from 113 saying that the account is not activated.

I've also tried the driver removal software mentioned above, and also put the modem on another machine/OS with the same results.

Some progress this morning though, I called 0800 32 32 32 and got the account balance, which is positive, and the faults people did eventually answer and think that the problem is that I have a version 2 SIM card that has failed in an upgrade attempt to v3 (do they do OTA upgrades?), so a replacement SIM should sort it.

Getting there! Thanks for all the tips.

Bold

36 posts

Geek

#444112 28-Feb-2011 13:16

I had a MF626 for a while but found it extremely unreliable, although it did work better than you are describing..

My suggestion is to find a different stick, there's plenty second hand on trademe. The next model MF636 are better, not to mention twice as fast.

The Sierra wireless sticks are better again, I got a Sierra 885 in as new condition for $30

BarTender

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#444189 28-Feb-2011 17:43

Bold: I had a MF626 for a while but found it extremely unreliable, although it did work better than you are describing..

My suggestion is to find a different stick, there's plenty second hand on trademe. The next model MF636 are better, not to mention twice as fast.

The Sierra wireless sticks are better again, I got a Sierra 885 in as new condition for $30

I can also recommend the Sierra sticks rather than the ZTE's. I have a Sierra 880 and 885, and they are both superior devices over the ZTE's.

The main things I always say with the ZTE's is make sure you ALWAYS use the same USB port, since if it gets put in a different one you always have problems. Plus downloading the drivers from www.zte.co.nz and installing those tend to work better.

old3eyes

9119 posts

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#444216 28-Feb-2011 19:29

I remember someone last year posting a fix for having to always use the same USB port issue but I can't seem to find it any longer..

Regards,

Old3eyes