Telstra 3G Broadband Problems 3G42WT Modem by Netcom. – by 43AX05 at Barracuda Base.

The ULTIMATE Gateway is NOT!  At least in 2016!

At least at the moment using my new Telstra 3G Prepaid $30 SIM.

I dont want to use it for phone (It has full signal on an old Motorola Flip Phone (Remember the old days? LOL) I want to use the 3Gb Data on the SIM!

It actually did work perfectly for the first day in my other Telstra locked Turbo Gateway with two diversity antennas pulling -50db from the tower which I assume is about 500M away line of sight! If That is the tower I was connecting to at the time. 

Unfortunately I did not check the CELL ID# when it was working fine!

Did not change anything and switched on the computer next morning (and I think I left the modem on all night) and NO Internet! Damn! Not AGAIN!. Bloody 3G!

Checked the TURBO GATEWAY Modem setup on IP 10.0.0.138 in my Google Chrome Browser and what do you know = NO SIGNAL!  Screwed around testing stuff and decided to try the SIM in my Telstra locked ULTIMATE Gateway modem with the internal antenna. THIS modem used to sit on the roof of my house covered by a plastic bucket to keep it dry to get the best possible signal from where ever it could in previous Telstra testing times! The bloody tower is just up on the hill for gods sake!

THATS WHY we went to vodafone and pay them $150 a month for our phones and two Data SIMS! Yes Voda 3g service is crap mostlyon a USB Key but better than Telstra’s here in Portarlington, Victoria a regional town where we can see Melbourne 40Klms across the bay. I belive I was getting into about ten different CELL ID’s with Telstra a few years ago.

HMmm Five Years at $150 a month they lost cause I couldnt get a decent connection!

AND I dont use the phone hardly at all, just to take calls. Just a lousy 10Gb data a Mth.

  

So decided to try the SIM on my Tablet, a Motorola Xoom MC-601

Could not get it to work either so took it into Geelong Telstra Shop in Westfield Plaza and spoke to Craig who was pretty helpful and suggested to set the APN. As i had used a Vodafone SIM in there ok with out setting anything before I did not know how to do this so later on at home I – you guessed it – Googled it!

Telstra 3G on Motorola XOOM Tablet – APN settings required.

Normally you can simply insert a SIM card and you will be able to browse the internet using 3G. I have already done this with my Vodafone SIM card and it worked perfectly.

Sometimes, this must be setup manually however. Before you start, you will need to ask your carrier or telco for your APN settings. OK – I got these from the Whirlpool website for Telstra Broadband use, the APN needs to be : telstra.internet

Once you have those, from your homescreen press Menu – Settings – Wireless and networks – Mobile networks. Then tick Use packet data. Then select Access Point Name (APN).

Then press the menu icon in the top-right corner and select New APN. Then fill in the details your carrier gave you. Then press the menu icon again and press Save.

– See more at: http://www.phonetipsandtricks.com/tips/motorola-xoom-xoom-2-tablet/setting-up-and-access-point-name-apn-for-browsing-with-3g-6/#sthash.P2Lu4EZx.dpuf

So in easy steps:

1. Tap Apps
2. Tap Settings
3. Tap Mobile Networks
4. Tap Access Point Names
5. Tap MENU ICON Top RHS
6. Select New APN and set to telstra.internet
7. Check Proxy is not set
8. Check Port is not set
9. Check Username  is not set
10. Check Password is not set
11. Check Server is not set
12. Check MMSC is not set
13. Check MMS Proxy is not set
14. Check MMS Port is not set
15. Check MCC is set to xxx (number for your carrier)
16. Check MNC is set to xx (number for your carrier)
17. Check Authentication Type is not set or None
18. Check APN Type is set to default,supl
19. Tap the Home icon

 

Of course after this the Telstra SIM started to work at full signal strength in the XOOM on 3g sitting on my desk. The bloody 3g Modems will not get more than one bar lowest strength anywhere from roof to floor level and the tower is about 500m away at most.

I had previously upgraded the firmware as they are old but did not improve the operation after going into Modem settings (admin/admin) and setting APN to telstra.internet.