O2 Internet dongle thingy connectivity issue?

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

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Ok, mate of mine has one of these Pay as you go things.

It has always had a poor signal but he has always been able to connect.

Last week, he bought a new PC and this morning he was unable to connect, I went round and everything seemed to be fine except the software was saying that he had to enable his WIFI

I assumed this is the dongle thingy but its all there in the device manager etc, it was just not showing any networks ( O2-UK )

Anyway, I stuffed it into my LapTop and it worked straight away and got connected.

Cutting a long one short, I then removed and installed his software, I swapped a few USB ports and for a short while it did show up but a really weak signal and then after 7 seconds of trying to connect, it would fail.

I then put in a new USB card ( Clutching at straws I suppose ) andthat then told me that there was a surge in the USB ?

WTF?

Can anyone shed any light on this?

It works great in a laptop but not in the desktop... WHY?

Thanks for helping.
 
After supporting these things for a while now, once they start to play up but work on a different machine then its a Windows reinstall/system recovery job.

Backup any data onto external harddisk/USB Flash drive and perform a Windows reinstall/system recovery.

I could never find an explanation of why it happened and after hours of research inc doing the usual, uninstall/reinstall of software, removing registry keys/files, reinitializing USB ports etc - I never got any further in finding a reliable fix.
 
Ok, its been used on PC1... He bought PC2 and it worked for a couple of days, maybe a week, then it stopped working.

The Laptop was a quick temorary test of the USB ports really.

So, you recon a reinstall of windows will do the trick?
Its already a fresh install less than 2 weeks ago.

Maybe it was an update?

Ok thanks.
 
If it's moaning about a "surge", it sounds like it's drawing too much power and making the USB ports trip out. Try a powered USB hub.
 
I had offered that as an option, but he didnt like the idea of more plugs?

I am also pleading with him to get a lindline.

Ok, powered hub must be the next port of call, and failing that, an F&R then.

Many thanks.

Oh, hang on... I got a Belkin USB & FireWire PCI Card here that takes a Power line... I could try that too?
 
I doubt its getting hot thats the issue in this case.

Like I said, it works fine on the Laptop but not on the Desktop.

But, never the less, its a problem and so, when I go to have another play I will be taking a powered USB hub and the Belkin USB Card, and I will also be trying to coax him into a Landline
 
No no no, you are not listening...

They do get hot. Of course they do, I never said that theuy dont or that my mates does not.

What I am saying is that no matter whether its hot or cold, it works fine in the laptop but it does not work at all in the desktop... The Desktop keeps saying to enable the Wifi

If it somehow does get enabled then the signal is poor ( it always is anyway ) and after trying to connect for 7 to 10 seconds, it fails.

The Laptop however is fine.

---------

Ok, he now tells me that he was trying to downlaod KM Player and it got to about 85% and then stopped working... It was fine up until then.

Could it possibly be overloaded? Nah surely not?
Its about 8 months old... Warranty?

I am only waiting to hear from him.
 
2 things,
1) are you connecting your laptop to the internet in the same place, or is it in a different area of your house.
2) they are going to release a mobile signal booster, not sure if it will work with mobile broad, but it might work.
 
1 - They are right next to each other yes.
2 - I feel that a booster wont help out in this particular case... as I said in the past he is able to connect no matter how good or bad the signal is / was and the Laptop is the same now.... The Desktop just wont play ball.
 
Yes, I have plenty to look at now

1 - Powered HUB
2 - Powered USB Port ( Although this will probably give the same results as the hub )
3 - New Donger
4 - Real internet and not the Donger way.

Yes I have misspelled that wrong
 
Ok, Small update.

I just got a couple of text messages from the guy with this dongle.

Firstly he says that he has asked an IT mate abotu it and that there is no way that it could be a power issue as this just does not happen.

He has also had another dongle and thats doing the same thing.

Now, I have texted back and said that I am still going to try the Powered hub idea and failing that a reinstall.

But, could it be possible that the Motherboard has issues?
I doubt it, but humour me on that...

I have said that I would like to take the PC and the Dongle away to do some tests in my own time but he says no, he wants me to sort it out there for him.

Im pretty annoyed with this guy now.
 
Have you done the system recovery? Back up his data and restore it back to factory default. As he cant get on the internet he's probably not got a lot to backup anyway.

Cant hurt to try and I still reckon it will fix it.
 
Not yet no.

I think you are right on this..

It was working fine, then it stopped working.

That happens sometimes not only with the dongle, but I have seen it on other things too!

Im going there tomorrow evening and see what I can do.
 
Ok, so, an update is in order...

Went over there, still getting the message about enabling the wireless.

I removed everythign abotu the o2 software I could find, and reinstalled the latest I downloaded from O2 and that made no difference, I then did a full update back to 2 days after I installed it ( andwhen it was fully working ) and guess what?

It still didnt work?

Ok, unplug, F&R and gave it another shot...

NOT A SMIDGE OF DIFFEFENCE AT ALL!!!!

Ok, swapped around the USB ports again, we eventually managed to get it to connect after about 3 hours, but its had a whopping 53.6K - DIALUP SPEEDS!!!

It completely fails to connect to the Windows update site and Hotmail although google sort of comes up in a really poor slow way.

It connects for a few minutes in this state with next to no pge being able to fully load up although the page does start to, with place holders for images and some background colours and some odd texts here and there but nothing much more.

This is about as good as we can get it.

The signal is very low , and annoyingly he keep saying that its always been good.

I have now said that maybe he needs to phone O2 or just get off his arse and go with a normal router instead of these crappy things, but alas no.

I told him that the power might be too much for it and He has spoken to an IT Technician who said that this is rubbish, and so I told him that its up to him who he goes with... To be honest I said, I would prefer the IT guy... only so I can be let off this whole pile of crap plan of helping him out!

Anyway. Longer cable and then contact O2 but Im out of it for the next few days it seems cos Im sick of it now.

Thanks for the help guys, and sure, if you have any more thoughts then by all means please help me here.

Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention... A powered hub does not help either.
 
The dialup speeds are because he has a poor signal and the adaptor is using GPRS which is slower than dialup.

Ringing O2 wont make any difference in my opinion, the adaptors are really designed for laptops for getting internet access when out and about, since he's using a desktop machine and with packages so cheap from the likes of Talktalk etc - its a no brainer really getting a static broadband connection.

If he's not prepared to help himself, it dont like to say but I dont think you should invest any more time helping either.
 
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