If you bought a pay-as-you-go Mobile Broadband On Demand from Vodafone Greece, that came with a 3G USB modem, model K3565 -Rev 2 (sometimes named K3565-H), by Huawei Technologies, and you are on a Mac (I’m on 10.6.4), you may have troubles making it work.
The following problems and/or solution my be applicable to other 3G modems and/or carriers. Following any advice given in this article may void you warranty, so do this on your own risk, and don’t come here crying in case something goes wrong.
I used the installation application that came with the modem (it works as a storage device the first time you connect it), and the problems that I had were:
- Installation failed to copy one file (I can’t remember which, sorry).
- The application that was just installed had only the ability to activate the modem, every time you needed to connect, and subsequently telling me to go to System Preferences > Network.
- Two (2) new device entries were created in System Preferences > Network, instead of one, as I would expect.
- Trying to connect through System Preferences > Network, failed miserably. There are fields to fill with username and password, that are not mentioned anywhere in the installation or the documentation.
I downloaded the latest version (2.11) of the software from Vodafone Greece, which seemed to be somewhat newer. To fully uninstall the previous version I had to:
- Drag the Vodafone Mobile Connect folder from the Applications to the Trash.
- Remove the two device entries that were registered in System Preferences > Network.
- Restart the Mac.
- Empty the Trash (you need to restart first because a related background service is running).
Installing the new version of the software tackled problems 1 and 3, but the fourth and main problem still existed. No Internet! I decided to call the help desk just in case there was something to fill into these fields, but after 5 minutes on hold, I couldn’t bear it anymore. So I once again uninstalled the software, and decided to install a version I found through another Vodafone’s international portal.
This version marked as 4.01.08.00 had probably the least chances of working correctly if working at all. With nothing to lose, I installed this version, which featured an uninstaller inside the DMG file, as well a more polished installer interface.
And guess what…
It works! Not only it installed and worked flawlessly, it’s also not the crappy version that came bundled with the modem. This one is a beautiful application, which connects with Vodafone almost instantly, and you can define the order of you preferred connection methods. It can send SMS messages too!
Did it work for you?
