Huawei EC228 Router Compatibility

[DMK]

Hello All,

Does anyone know if the Huawei EC228 is compatible with any router out there? So far i have been unable to find anything. Thanks

[noneya]

Huawe1 EC228 router compatibility

You are in luck, there is one router out there that claims to support this Aircard. It's the TopGlobal MB6800. Click here for the product page for the router.

If you would like to check the online compatibility list that we have click here.

Hello All,

Does anyone know if the Huawei EC228 is compatible with any router out there? So far i have been unable to find anything. Thanks

[whodart]

Alltel aircard and routers

You are in luck, there is one router out there that claims to support this Aircard. It's the TopGlobal MB6800. Click here for the product page for the router.

If you would like to check the online compatibility list that we have click here.

Hi. I have Alltel phone service and am trying to get away from Hughes satellite internet due to lack of service and lack of support. I went to Alltel and they wanted to sell me the Huawei EC228 modem and a cyfre 3G Wi-Fi router. My problem with this is that I have 4 computers hooked up in the house presently on Linksys WRT54G router utilizing 3 eithernet ports and Cat 5 cables, and one of them hooked up on the WUSB54G wireless adapter. This all works fine. ALltel wants to sell me the cyfre router which is completely wireless. What I am looking for is a router that is compatible and has USB input and a mix of wired and wireless outputs. Can you help? I looked at the
TOPGLOBAL 6800 and couldn't tell about the inputs and outputs. Thanks

[Jer7Rob]

I actually bought the MB6800 because it says that it supports the EC228 but I am unable to get it to work as of yet. It is a nice router, it does have 4 wired LAN outputs so you would be able to hard wire your computers. The only problem I am having is getting it to connect to the internet through my Huawei EC228 from Alltel. It recognizes it and even knows what kind of card it is but will not connect through it. Any help would be much appreciated!!!

Thanks!

[thuor]

I don't think we have personally ever tested the MB6800 with the Alltel EC228. In the past unfortunately we have found cards that Topglobal claimed were supported but weren't. We have had success with the CradlePoint MBR1000 and the Alltel EC228 though should you need to change it. If you got the MB6800 from us and still can't get it to work we will change it out for you. When we get a chance next week and if we have EC228 demos we will test this out and let you know.

[Jer7Rob]

I appreciate the offer but I actually bought it used. I thought that maybe I just needed to activate the card with the router. It asks for SPC/MSL , MDN, and MIN but when I called Alltel they told me that all I needed and all that they could give me was MDN, MIN, and SID. Does anybody know what the SPC/MSL is for Alltel or if it is different for each air card? I am very new to this.

Thanks!

[thuor]

The SPC Code (Service Programming Code) or MSL code (Master Subsidy Lock) is different for each mobile device (phone or datacard). This is similar to the SIM Unlock code for GSM mobile devices. However you normally only need the SPC code if you had an EC228 that was not Alltel branded. If it is Alltel branded then all you would need is the MDN and MIN. If you bought the EC228 internationally then it normally would not be locked anyway in which case you wouldnt need the SPC either.

Default SPC is usually 000000. If it turns out that you really do need it then you will have a very hard time to get it and you may very well be SOL. Normally the manufacturer has this and some carriers can get it for you albeit rarely. There are some 3rd party programmes online that can generate the SPC/MSL code for a specific mobile device (typically called flashing).

So yes we need to get the datacard working on a laptop first before we attempt to use it in a cellular router.

[Jer7Rob]

It is an Alltel branded EC228 and it works fine if I connect using my laptop or even my desktop. I had read on another forum that the SPC/MSL is normally 000000 so I tried that with my MDN and MIN and the activation through the MB6800 failed and the router restarted and took a good while to come back up. Do you normally have to activate the card with the router to get it to work after you have already activated it with your laptop? I'm thinking now that you don't and that it should already be activated. I just can't get the EC228 to connect through the router. Any ideas?

Thanks Much!

[thuor]

If the card works fine on a laptop/desktop then you don't need any special activation to get it to work on the MB6800. You don't need SPC/MSL or anything like that. All you would have to do is to connect it to the router and you should be immediately able to go online. Normally only configuration needed for the router is to set up LAN stuff like security etc.

If the MB6800 is recognizing the card however you have to debug to make sure that it's not an issue with your LAN. The most typical problem that we see is related to firewall settings on your client computer. Also for now we recommend workign with the LAN using a LAN cable and not the WLAN until you get it working (rules out any wireless issues such as interference).

When you connect a computer to the MB6800 and do "ipconfig" on a cmd prompt what do you get? Are you able to ping an external server that you know is alive and get a response back? What are the status lights on the MB6800?

[Jer7Rob]

The LAN seems to be working fine and even the WLAN is working. When I type ipconfig I see the IP for the router 172.16.0.1 but I am not able to ping a web address. It just times out. The Power light stays green, the WLAN is a blinking green or maybe orange(can't remember I'm at work), the 3g light is red all the time, and the LAN port I have plugged in is Blinking Green. When I first start it up the 3G light is just off but it eventually just turns red.

Thanks Again!