PROBLEMS w/ 3 bband dongle - BLOCKED SIM help pls!

longtimelurker54

Hi,

I hope someone might be able to help.

I've recently bought a 3 bband dongle and preloaded SIM from ebay and all is working fine for me.

My aunt was given an old 3 broadband dongle by a relative and as my aunt isn't au fait with topping it up etc., the relative has been doing this for her each month, by buying a top up of some sort and going online to convert it to data use so it can be used in the 3 dongle. This has been working fine up until now....

Aunt is at her wits end as she had no internet - the dongle is now saying "SIM blocked for use in phone only". This top-up was bought for £15. Relative who arranged this is abroad and non-contactable and Aunt is desperate for the internet. And all we know about the arrangement is what I've explained above.

Pls does anyone know what could have gone wrong with the top-up/SIM?

If 3 have blocked the SIM for some reason, will the dongle still be fine or would they have blocked that also? I was thinking I would just buy her the same 3GB preloaded SIM that I bought for my own dongle and hopefully that should work. Just don't want to buy it if 3 may have blocked the dongle.

Not really sure of the status of the dongle either - whether it was an old contract one or an old PAYG one and not sure if that is the problem - could 3 block the dongle/SIM if it was an old contract which has expired? Sorry really clueless but would be very grateful for any advice.

Thx in advance.

espresso

Although it has been working fine up until now, the error message says it all - the £15 top up is for use only in a mobile handset, not a broadband dongle.

The dongle will not be blocked but a correct 3 broadband data SIM is required, like you have bought for your own dongle.

longtimelurker54

Hi

Many thanks. I bought the same data SIM from ebay and this has worked fine in the dongle, thank goodness. No idea why this has happened all of a sudden as it was okay until now, but at least my aunt has been able to use the other SIM with the £15 on it in a mobile phone so at least that money wasn't lost.

Thanks again for your reply.

PlutoinCapricorn

I have bought many 3 mobile BB prepaid SIMs on eBay as they are much cheaper than topping up, and they say they can't be used in mobile phones! I wonder what is going on.

Mark_In_Hampshire

The 3 terms and conditions say that you can't tether a mobile device to your PC, and additionally that you can't use a phone SIM in a dongle. From what I read, the latter has always been possible, until now - a way has been found to block that. So while it might have worked before, it won't work now.

mcjordi

not the only one whos sim was blocked.. i rang them up and went balistic with them.. the sim i got 2 years ago with the dongle is the one im using now.. and i bought it direct from 3..
they have lost a customer as im now back with talk talk.

essexman77

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

The 3 terms and conditions say that you can't tether a mobile device to your PC, and additionally that you can't use a phone SIM in a dongle. From what I read, the latter has always been possible, until now - a way has been found to block that. So while it might have worked before, it won't work now.

I think you can still tether with your mobile phone e.g with my samsung galaxy S turning on mobile AP turns it into a dongle

Inigo_Montoya

I suspect this is what the 'relative' was buying each month

http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/dealsummary.aspx?offercode=DSL15PP283

I have had the same issue i.e. I bought one that worked fine in a dongle for the complete month the top up was active

However the next sim I bought was blocked after just 2 days saying I had to put the sim back in a phone to use the internet

Why exactly the first one worked & the 2nd one didnt is a bit of mystery

So basically you need to buy another sim set up for mobile broadband that won't be blocked - the dongle itself will be fine

Also to be noted is that the 'one plan' from 3 allows a phone to be tethered to a pc/laptop for internet access i.e. see
http://cow.neondragon.net/index.php/three-offer-all-you-can-eat-data-with-free-tethering-on-the-one-plan

cookiimonstar

Inigo_Montoya wrote: »

I suspect this is what the 'relative' was buying each month



I have had the same issue i.e. I bought one that worked fine in a dongle for the complete month the top up was active

However the next sim I bought was blocked after just 2 days saying I had to put the sim back in a phone to use the internet

Why exactly the first one worked & the 2nd one didnt is a bit of mystery

So basically you need to buy another sim set up for mobile broadband that won't be blocked - the dongle itself will be fine

Also to be noted is that the 'one plan' from 3 allows a phone to be tethered to a pc/laptop for internet access i.e. see

I had the same problem apparently three know you have the sim in a dongle from the IMEI of the dongle so i just used Qualcomm QPST program, and changed the imei number of the dongle to one off an old phone and now it works fine, three think the sim is in a phone from the imei number but its in a Dongle.

Not sure if its strictly legal throw changing the imei but it works.

Inigo_Montoya

thanks for the info will look into it

I found this download link
http://www.x-drivers.com/catalog/flash/mobile_phones/companies/qualcomm/models/qpst/wrong_code/12051.html

whicch talks about the software working with specific chipsets ?

Does that mean it might not be able to flash my particular brand ? (I have both a ZTE and a Huawei dongle)

p.s. I downloaded the software but it isn't clear how to use it - are there any instructions on the net somewhere ?