Monday, May 18, 2009

Installing Huawei EC168c USB Modem (Reliance NetConnect)

Friends,

I've finally got my Reliance NetConnect-3g modem EC168c working on my laptop.

Background -
I had an issue with the USB modem not being "detected" on completion of the installation. I have two laptops, one official and one personal, both running WinXP SP2. My personal laptop detected the USB modem without any problem, but the official laptop detected only the USB storage and doesn't detect my USB-modem after installation.

I suspect some Registry entry changes. I browsed through Google, without any results so far.


Symptoms -
This issue is known to occur when the USB storage devices are disabled in certain laptops due to company policies, or by restrictive software. Even though, they are enabled manually by editing the registry, this issue about not detecting the modem persists!
So, Only the USB storage part of the NetConnect modem is detected; and not as a USB modem.

Solution -
1. Plugin the Reliance NetConnect Modem and allow it to be detected as a USB storage device.
2. Complete the installation with the CD or through the software provided in the USB storage. Ensure that you dont have any other USB storage devices connected. If so, remove them now.
3. Now if the 3G-modem is not detected, then read on...
4. Open DeviceManager (MyComputer-->Properties-->Hardware-->Device Manager)
5. Expand the branch Universal Serial Bus controllers. You will see USB Mass Storage Device.
6. Right-click on the device and choose Uninstall and confirm the message by choosing OK. The device will then be uninstalled.
7. Now click on Menu: Action-->Scan for Hardware changes. The modem and the storage should now be detected!

Verification -
Once completed, you can start the Reliance NetConnect software and then you should see the Signal on the left-bottom corner on the main-screen.




Tested Configuration -
HP Compaq Core2 Laptop running WinXp SP3

Known Issues -
* Once installed - works only on the same USB port that you installed on!
(Can you believe it! Anyway, it works consistently on the same port, hence, no worries)

Still face issues? Comment on my blog.

Let me know if this sorted out your issue, so that this can be useful for other folks.

10 comments:

Burzin said...

Thanks Prakash,

I was tearing my hair out try to get it to work.

Your solution worked great on my Win2K PC !

Thanks !!

Burzin said...

Two questions :

(1) Any idea why modem works on one USB port and not on the other two of my laptop?
(2) How do I prevent my Browser from connecting to Netconnect website everytime it connects ?

Thanks in advance.

Prakash Raman said...

You're spot on Derek, it does work only on the USB-port that it was installed originally. Tried out various options, still seems jinxed... well I stopped bothering when it "consistently" works on the port.

On the initial navigation to the Netconnect website, well, that seems something hardcoded into the dialler software that comes with it! I figured out a different way to do it. If you're using IE, you can simply use the Tools-->Internet Options-->Connections(tab); Edit the Reliance connection properties. Fill in the Dial-in number and the login details (the phone number itself) and you're done.

The next time that you insert your device, just open the browser and set the option to 'Dial when no connection is available' and just try to navigate to any site. IE's dialler would be used; as expected - there wouldn't be any startup connection to the netconnect website. Hope this helps.

Burzin said...

Thanks again.

Prakash Raman said...

Better still, once you setup the Reliance connection on IE, you can directly connect from the Windows desktop: Start--> Connect To--> Reliance.

Naveen said...

I have a Reliance USB Netconnect Modem Huawei Model no EC1260. I have the same problem.
The device works perfectly on my personal laptop on Windows Vista.
But the signal does not show up on my office laptop.
The office laptop is Dell Latitude running Windows XP with SP3.
I have tried the work around suggested by you but the signal does not get detected.
I checked in the laptop device manager. The stick is getting detected as a CDROM drive and not as a modem.

The reliance folks were clueless about the issue. They suggested me to check with Huawei Service Centre.

Any idea why the device is not getting detected as a modem? I have installed all the drivers i could get!

KVB Reddy said...

Thanks Prakash.

My netconnect was working till y'day and i saw the problem exactly which is mentioned here. I did try the options you have provided and it did not help.

Any help ??

Bharat Shetty said...

Thank you Prakash. It works great !!

Kishore said...

Pls help me out , i get this dialogue " there was a problem installin this hardware- huawei Mobile connect-modem , the parameter is Incorrect "

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