Trying to get ZTE MF710 dongle operational....[SOLVED-ish]

[Mike Walsh]

Yo, starhawk, m'man.

Well, I'm posting this through the M7350 right this minute, via the WN725N wifi adapter. It really is a doddle to set-up. As in, there's nothing to, like. 'set-up'!

After the battery's fully charged (which should provide 10 hrs continuous use, apparently, but I'll reserve judgement on that one for a while yet), and you've put your SIM card in, of course! simply switch 'er on. Wait for the initialization screen to do its thing.....and hey presto; it's connected, and providing a good signal.

Having installed the driver for the wifi adapter (Bill's provided me with modules for Slacko 570 (so rg66's X-Slacko 2.3.2 works as well) and Precise 571 (meaning ETP's 'Chromebook' Pup, based on Precise with Openbox, is also fully functional!).....and the fact that PhilB's included the module in Tahrpup by default...yay!, gives me a good selection of Pups to play with), you just go into Menu>Setup>Internet Connection Wizard, choose 'Wired or wireless LAN', and make your choice. I prefer Dougal's, 'cos it gives me far better control over what's happening.

Choose 'wlan0', then 'Scan'. Select the hotspot's SSID, then enter the default password (both of which I changed like an hour ago). Save, then 'Use this profile'. Then it connects, and 'Auto DHCP' gives you an IP address. And that's it.

I've been using this for at least an hour now, and it's literally as cool as a cucumber. It's not much bigger than a box of Swan Vesta matches....seriously! I'll keep an eye on things, but I don't really foresee any problems with it. After it's been idle for 5 mins, it automatically drops into low-power mode, to maximise battery life.

I've been using TP-Link stuff for a while now. It's a bit more expensive than most mainstream equivalents, but the build-quality is absolutely exquisite.....and, more importantly, 100% of the time it just 'works'. I've had no complaints yet.

I paid around US$90 for it this morning. Christ, I didn't realise the exchange rate had dropped that low, this fast! 'Brexit' really has sent shockwaves around the globe, ain't it? Sheesh....

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Of course, the beauty of this setup is that it's completely platform-agnostic. It doesn't matter what you're running; Windows, Mac, Linux.....all that's involved is a wireless signal. If these things take off (like, really take off!), I can see stuff like PGPRS, etc., becoming pretty much redundant. Which is not to say I'm decrying the efforts put in by the people who developed these things; they've done amazing work. But the march of progress is not to be denied.....

I won't hesitate to recommend one of these to anybody who's struggling with a traditional 'dongle'.


Mike.

[rcrsn51]

I told you so.

[Mike Walsh]

Hiya, Bill.

Touché, mon ami. (Thanks for the confirmation last night, by the way.)

And to think I've spent the last 2-3 years messing about with dongles. This way is so much easier.....


Mike.

[rcrsn51]

How does the firewall business factor into this? Is it running? Does it affect the wireless interface?

[Mike Walsh]

Hallo again, Bill.

How does the firewall business factor into this? Is it running? Does it affect the wireless interface?

Firewall's running in my usual configuration; i.e., exceptions for Samba, CUPS, the ntp time-server, and DHCP. And no; it appears not be affecting it at all. The M7350's signal is being received by the wifi adapter just the same as the one from our main home router.

I'll tell you one thing. My mate's gonna have a faster connection at his place than we have here at home connected to the landline..! The M7350/TL-WN725N combination is quite capable of letting you watch NetFlix, anyroad. I've just tried it.

Our home land-line broadband connection is artificially restricted to around 10 MB/sec d/l, and about 2 MB/sec u/l by TalkTalk, our ISP. The M7350's providing around 23 MB/sec d/l, and about 6-7 MB/sec u/l, from the o2 network. Don's definitely getting the better end of the deal; he just needs me to get it all set up for him, since I'm his 'go-to' guy for this kinda stuff....

I'm really rather impressed by this gadget. It would also do away with the need to avail yourself of the 'public' wifi available in hotels, motels, restaurants, cafe's, etc.....especially given that some of them need you to set things up before you can use their services. I think these things will totally revolutionise the way mobile broadband is accessed, by an increasing number of 'non-geeks'.

It's all good fun.....and useful experience for me, too.


Mike.

[greengeek]

You can also use a smartphone in tethering mode as a wifi hotspot. I guess it just depends on the particular data contract with the 3G/4G provider.

[Mike Walsh]

Hi,greengeek.

Oh yes, I know it's perfectly possible to do so. But it made more sense for me to get dedicated 'hotspot', since I don't have a smartphone, and have no interest in getting one any time soon. For me, a phone is for making calls, and perhaps texting. No more, and no less; I don't want to be 'on-line', everywhere I go. I'll do that at home, in comfortable surroundings, in front of a decent-sized screen, thanks very much!

There is more to life than t'Internet.....

My phone is a 4-5 yr old Nokia Asha 210; the best bit about it (to my mind) is the Blackberry-style keyboard, which makes texting easier. The other thing I liked about it was the fact that it's 'un-locked'; I can change providers simply by swapping SIM cards. And the 'hotspot' is unlocked, too.....


Mike.