Vodafone 4G not working with ASUS 4G-AC68U Modem/Router

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Vodafone 4G not working with ASUS 4G-AC68U Modem/Router

YellowRabbit

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#280553 22-Dec-2020 15:56

Hi All,

I have Vodafone 4G Wireless internet for which Vodafone supplied a Huawei B818 4G Modem. The Wi-Fi on this unit is average at best, so as I have previously used ASUS equipment (DSL-AC68U and RT-AC68U units) I decided to buy a 4G-AC68U Modem/Router.

However, after unboxing it and installing the SIM card from the B818, it will not connect to Vodafone 4G.

I called Vodafone to see if I could obtain the correct APN Profile settings but they were of little help. After that, I tried calling ASUS Support in case there was a special settings somewhere that needed to be enabled or disabled and they simply referred me back to Vodafone. I tried Vodafone again (a couple of times in case I got an actual expert) but nada.

I have tried all manner of APN Profile settings (obtained mostly by frantic searching on the interwebs) but still a no go.

Has anyone else got this same set up and have it working? If so, can you supply me the APN Profile settings you have used?

Thanks in advance,

snnet

1410 posts

Uber Geek

#2625539 22-Dec-2020 16:03

Depending on your service plan, the service you receive may be locked to the IMEI range of the Huawei modem making it impossible to use another modem/router. A simple way to test this is to pop in a standard SIM card into the ASUS router (not the one provided with the Huawei) and see if you can connect.

YellowRabbit

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2625557 22-Dec-2020 16:21

Thanks for the quick response. This isn't something I even considered! I'll test this when I am home.

I have also posted about the IMEI locking on the Vodafone Community Board in case there is someone there that can provide an answer as well.

snnet

1410 posts

Uber Geek

#2625563 22-Dec-2020 16:32

It appears to be fairly common practice - the reason for it I'm not really sure on to be honest, but it seems providers want us to use the supplied hardware. Maybe other hardware has some kind of way of bypassing something, but I have no idea.. It seems common across all networks for "fixed wireless" broadband.

Perhaps it's to discourage us popping a SIM into something like a LTE enabled iPad/laptop and roaming all over the place with it

coffeebaron

6231 posts

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#2625574 22-Dec-2020 16:56

SIM card will be TAC locked. If you're happy to drop Vodafone, I may be able get you setup with another provider on your choice of hardware. PM or email me if interested.

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sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#2625686 23-Dec-2020 07:17

As pointed out Vodafone sell all their fixed wireless offerings as a fully managed end to end solution that is hardware locked to their network, and SIM cards that are SIM locked to their hardware.

If you want to use a 3rd party router you'll need to move to a Vodafone reseller (some of whom allow the use of 3rd party hardware) or stick with a regular Vodafone data plan rather than a FWA offering.