Can't Connect This - Huawei Modem E220 and Smart 3G Sim

It's been three weeks with Asus Eee and I've spent more than enough time trying to activate the Smart Buddy sim card to work with the generic Huawei Modem. Even that sentence sounds tiring enough.

Huawei Modem

The Huawei modem is made in china, supposedly you just place any 3G enabled sim card and it should connect to the Internet. According to forums, this is also the brand that Globe uses for its visbility service. And Smart is also using a similar modem for its plan 799.

So first off, I grabbed a Smart Buddy sim card and inserted it into the hardware. It didn't work so I tried activating the 3G sim card by texting and waited 24 hours for activation. Still, the sim card didn't work so I figured to get it to the Smart Wireless Center and the guy there wasn't helpful either. Note: Hardware is working, sim card is not.

He told me that in order for the sim to work, I gotta buy a 3G phone. I said, "what for, that's why I have this modem" and the man said something that the reason they are selling the service is for it to be bundled with a 3G phone. Yet, i told him to find a way to activate it and he did. The man told me it really wouldn't work and today, I was able to talk to a customer rep and confirmed that the Smart Buddy sim card can't be used with the Huawei E220 modem.

Smart Bro 799

Geez. The only option to have a wireless network anywhere is the Smart Bro 799 plan but this one has a two-year contract and would charge you P10 for every 30 minute block in excess of the 40 free hours.

I called Globe too and the rep said they are currently only offering Visibility for corporate accounts.

Asus Eee is lonely without WiFi

I've been carrying my Asus Eee but really, the Eee PC is kind of useless if there's no wifi within the area. We can only hope that in the near future, there are more services to choose from and more gratis wifi internet connection.

5 days with Asus Eee PC- How to Get Full Desktop Mode, Skype Beta 2.0, and run HSPDA modem

Hello! This post is a summary of the common things you would like to do with your new Asus Eee PC. I documented the first 5 days I had with my Eee PC and bunched them together with the codes I used to install primary softwares.

Day 1 – was able to add full desktop mode by tweaking Eee PC via the terminal. To access the terminal, just press ctrl + alt + t.

The name of the programs needed to enable the full desktop mode is KDE and Kicker. Once inside the terminal, type away the following:

1. sudo bash [press enter]
   
2. apt-get update [press enter]
   
3. apt-get install ksmserver [press enter]
   
4. apt-get install kicker [press enter]
   

Then type exit to get out of the MS-Dos like environment. You will now see a full desktop mode choice whenever you press the power button in easy mode.

Day 2 – Realized that the Skype that came in with the Eee PC is not the updated version. You can't use webcam function with that and you need to get the Beta 2.0 version of Skype for Linux, Xandros.

How to install Skype in Eee PC and make the webcam function:

1. Open up your Mozilla browser in Eee PC.
   
2. Visit the Skype website at http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/linux/beta/choose/
   

   and choose Xandros.
   

3. Save the installer in My Documents. When done, right click the file and click on 'install deb file'
   
4. Now that your Skype is updated, you can turn on the web camera manually by going in the terminal again, ctrl + alt + T. Then type:
   

echo 1 > /proc/acpi/asus/camera

You have to do this everytime you want to use the webcam. This saves battery or if you don't care about battery life, there's also a tweak to make the webcam automatically turn on whenever you sign in with Skype.

Day 3 – nothing much.

Day 4 – I bought Eee PC to work for the first time, it was working okay until I had lunch at Shangrila and tried to connect via wi-fi. The Eee PC hanged, touchpad was not working and even if I press the keyboard, nothing was happening. I brought Eee PC to PC Live where I purchased it (Megamall Branch). They just formatted the unit so I had to do everything again.

Then someone gave me a Vodafone HSPDA modem (cool) it is actually Huawei usb modem 220. I just purchased usb cables for 99 pesos in Cyberzone Megamall, and also a Smart SIM card so I can try the 3G.

The unit can detect the Huawei usb modem, light turns blue meaning it works yet whenever I connect it says "Failed". I loaded 50 pesos to the sim card but it's still not working.

Day 5 – Can someone help me activate the sim card of Smart or is it a hardware problem? What do you think? You are my Day 5! Haha J

Will update some more if I find new stuff about the Eee. I will have a dedicated category for the Eee PC here.