BSNL EVDO - have some queries about speed and charges

[Dushie]

As some of you guys are familiar with the configuration of Sierra 598U for BSNL, i would like to know if i get a locked 598U from US, is it easy to unlock with spc 00000 or it has some different procedure. Because the unlocked 598U is hard to find and the cost difference is also another limiting factor.

Yes, it can be unlocked and setup here, there would be certain steps that needs to be followed and is mentioned already in this thread.Buy a locked one, unlocking would not be a challenge.

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I m not getting speed above 512kbps from past 3 days ! is it a capp by BSNL ??

Try using your modem in a different place and area where you earlier used to get good speeds and check what speeds you are getting now, this could give an indication of speeds and if there is any capping. Of course it would be dependent upon the no of users using the service in that area.

 

[satsee]

guys,plz suggest me a wifi router for bsnl evdo ue100 prithvi model

I think BSNL is providing the EVDO router which may be compatible with UE100. Please confirm with bsnl before ordering. Other modems may not be compatible with UE100 as UE100 is not widely used and even bsnl has changed the model now.

 

[cyberjack]

Registering Number in portal

^ Are you from the South region? If yes, do a topup and activate the STV from here -- CDMA Customer Portal: Login

Did you opt for the Unlimited plan when you took the connection?

Hi Guys, i am not able to register the number in the above portal, after i validated the email id, its asking for MDN pin for mobile no , i dont have a dailer/sms facility in ZTE dailer, no idea how to get this MDN pin.

thanks in advance!

 

[varkey]

Hi Guys, i am not able to register the number in the above portal, after i validated the email id, its asking for MDN pin for mobile no , i dont have a dailer/sms facility in ZTE dailer, no idea how to get this MDN pin.

thanks in advance!

You need to have a device which allows incoming SMS to get the PIN, only then the number can be validated. Borrow a CDMA phone from someone.

 

[cyberjack]

You need to have a device which allows incoming SMS to get the PIN, only then the number can be validated. Borrow a CDMA phone from someone.

i tried adding non-bsnl no and send validation to it, dint get any message. I guess, as you said thats the only way. will try to procure one. Thanks for the reply Varkey.


Between, anyway willing to sell 598U ? , please let me know.

 

[satsee]

I received Sierra 598U that i ordered from amazon today. I was able to get it to work with BSNL after 5 hrs of struggle by following the steps that you guys have posted and copying the settings from my existing ZTE AC8700. The speed gain was only around 100kbps over AC8700 due to my weak signal of -95db.After connecting the external antenna i got the gain of around 10db and now i am getting the speed in the range of 0.7 to 1 Mbps with signal strength of -85db. Thanks a lot to kuduku, Varkey, hayabusa_ryu, Dushie and cisco_tech for sharing their knowledge.

I could only connect using the Sierra Warcher, Still i am not able to connect using the Sprint Smart view as it is creating a dialup connection automatically with some username and password combination which i am not able to find anywhere in the modem config. I am getting the error like invalid username. Any idea how to connect using Smart view ?

 

[cisco_tech]

Smartview is meant for sprint users only and watcher is for international users.

 

[Dushie]

Agree with @cisco_tech , better to use Watcher. I never installed smart view. Watcher is better any day for non sprint usage.

 

[satsee]

Agree with @cisco_tech , better to use Watcher. I never installed smart view. Watcher is better any day for non sprint usage.

I thought the smart view installs the drivers for 598U. how did you get the drivers without installing the smart view. When i inserted the data card first time on my win7 pc, it failed to launch the default setup which came with the card, so i downloaded the smartview seperately and installed.

 

[sagar.sdm]

I went through most of this thread today. I recently moved to a new place, and there are no good options for wired broadband connections here. BSNL EVDO seems to be an option worth trying. I shall enquire detials at the local BSNL office, and get a demo at my place soon to check the signal strength and DL/UL speeds. I'm from Bangalore.

If the demo turns out positive, I might consider getting a Sierra 598U modem - given its better reception ability compared to the devices that BSNL has been providing. #hayabusa_ryu, #satsee (more recently) have been able to get the 598Us working with BSNL EVDO. I spent some time searching for an unlocked 598U on ebay.com & amazon.com, but couldn't find any, although locked 598Us are available a plenty.

I know that #haybusa_ryu bought an unlocked 598U. #satsee, did you also buy an unlocked 598U, or did you unlock it yourself? I want to know if there is a way to unlock 598U (change SPC to 000000), configure and get it working on BSNL EVDO. Can the same procedure that is used for 595U be used for 598U?

Finally, #varkey, do you still have the unlocked 598Us with you, that you have mentioned ealier in this thread, for sale? If yes, I would probably be interested.

PS: Thanks #dushie, #cisco_tech, #kuduku, #hayabusa_ryu for the wealth of information provided here! :hail:
PPS: Not sure why can I not get the user tags working here, am I missing anything?

 

[kaneunderground]

Myth busting EVDO & Evdo dongle technology !
I have these many dongles to start off with :
1. Pritvi( by bsnl)
2. Zte AC8700 ( bsnl)
3. MTS ( zte 2746) have unclocked it.
4. Sierra 595u
5 sierra 598 u ( dushie gave it to me for experimenting )
SO I HAVE FOUND OUT WITH ALL THE EXPERIMENTS DO NOT BUY THE FIRST TWO IF YOUR IN LOW SIGNAL AREA !
Would recommend 3,4,5 only. To my surprise MTS works same to same as sierra so dont break your head if you cant get sierra 598u from USA or from where ever.
585u is still recommened since it has battery signals are much better than the dongles with no battery & it sure does makes your online gaming experience better.
All you need is a good signal & pray to god that bsnl will not cap the speed or hope that number of users arent more in your area. My avg speed is day & night over all I would say its around 1 mbps. Things are definitely not like before. But still happy ! Speed test is 1.2mbps download speed i get is 150kbps- 180kbps some times 200 !

 

[satsee]

The Procedure for configuration is same for both 595 and 598. There was a link to the program which will reset the spc to 000000 in the earlier post. You just need to run it after installing the drivers.

 

[satsee]

I got wimax connection yesterday thinking that it can give better speed than EVDO. But the speed never goes above 520kbps. It looks like they have capped the speed in Wimax unlike EVDO. Planning to disconnect Wimax after the minimum hire period is over.

 

[kuduku]

I got wimax connection yesterday thinking that it can give better speed than EVDO. But the speed never goes above 520kbps. It looks like they have capped the speed in Wimax unlike EVDO. Planning to disconnect Wimax after the minimum hire period is over.

I have already said and confirmed that speeds will not go above 520kbps in Wimax . I have both Wimax and EVDO 750 UL plans

 

[sagar.sdm]

Thanks for the info #kaneunderground & #satsee .

BTW, I did enquire at a local BSNL office about EVDO. Largely most do not have any idea about the technicalities involved. And there is no demo device present with them; not even in Jayanagar office which is one of the major ones in the city. They also mentioned that non-BSNL devices cannot be used, and since they do not have stock of EVDO devices I will not be able to get a new connection. Anyway, when I informed them that as long as the device is compatible with BSNL (unlocked) I should be able to get the device access BSNL EVDO network if they can register its ESN, which they did 'nod' to.

So, now I just have to source a unlocked CDMA data card, get a prepaid EVDO connection, and work with them to configure it with their network, before actually checking the signal strength and if it is worth all the effort.

Is there anybody in Bangalore South using BSNL EVDO with a configured device? Is there a possibility that I can borrow it for a short while to check the signal strength and speeds at my place. This will help me avoid a lot of hassles.

Myth busting EVDO & Evdo dongle technology !
I have these many dongles to start off with :
1. Pritvi( by bsnl)
2. Zte AC8700 ( bsnl)
3. MTS ( zte 2746) have unclocked it.
4. Sierra 595u
5 sierra 598 u ( dushie gave it to me for experimenting )
SO I HAVE FOUND OUT WITH ALL THE EXPERIMENTS DO NOT BUY THE FIRST TWO IF YOUR IN LOW SIGNAL AREA !
Would recommend 3,4,5 only. To my surprise MTS works same to same as sierra so dont break your head if you cant get sierra 598u from USA or from where ever.
585u is still recommened since it has battery signals are much better than the dongles with no battery & it sure does makes your online gaming experience better.
All you need is a good signal & pray to god that bsnl will not cap the speed or hope that number of users arent more in your area. My avg speed is day & night over all I would say its around 1 mbps. Things are definitely not like before. But still happy ! Speed test is 1.2mbps download speed i get is 150kbps- 180kbps some times 200 !

#kaneunderground , thanks to you for mentioning that ZTE 2746 performs well, it seems that I am able to source it from one of my friends. Now, I did google to check what is the procedure to unlock it, and am thrown a lot of pages having unlocking procedures. Do you have the procedure (or a link to it) that you followed to unlock your ZTE AC2746? I just thought that it will be wiser to try the same procedure if you have already used one successfully.

Thanks,
Sagar T U

 

[satsee]

I have already said and confirmed that speeds will not go above 520kbps in Wimax . I have both Wimax and EVDO 750 UL plans

I should have asked in the forum before applying for wimax . But at that time i was not sure if i can make the 598U to work with bsnl. Probably i can keep one as a backup connection. Have you guys faced any downtime with EVDO service. I was not able to login to evdo due to some network issue two days ago. And i was able to login after few hours.

 

[kuduku]

I should have asked in the forum before applying for wimax . But at that time i was not sure if i can make the 598U to work with bsnl. Probably i can keep one as a backup connection. Have you guys faced any downtime with EVDO service. I was not able to login to evdo due to some network issue two days ago. And i was able to login after few hours.

EVDO for me has been quite reliable with 6 odd hours offline in a month .

 

[varkey]

@sagar.sdm : Just ask for a normal CDMA Voice SIM/RUIM, will cost you maybe Rs 30-50. No need to tell them about EVDO or anything. Now you can insert that into any unlocked modem which takes a RUIM and try it out.

 

[freefall72]

Is anyone here using BSNL EVDO in and around Park Circus, Kolkata? What is the signal like?

 

[funky_ace]

Anybody in here having a spare Sierra Datacard please contact me. Would be happy to buy. I don't have a credit card so can't buy one myself.

I am thinking of taking EVDO connection soon. I am not interested in those BSNL models.

Edit: Nevermind. Arranged another datacard from elsewhere. Hope guys here would help me in unlocking it to BSNL.