Wireless 3G with Novatel Merlin U630 on Windows XP

I didn't want to pay the $100-150 that 3G networks were charging for a modem, so the Novatel Merlin U630 was the cheapest 3G wireless modem I could find on eBay. Unfortunately setting things up so I could get connected took a couple of hours of messing around, so I thought I'd post my solution in the hope it helps somebody else out there (please post a comment if this is helpful!).

I've successfully connected to the Virgin network in Australia (they actually resell the Optus network), but I believe these steps should work for any network as long as the following conditions are met:

• The Merlin U630 is unlocked from a specific network (I'm not sure how to correctly determine this, perhaps someone can post a comment about that)
• An active 3G broadband SIM card is inserted into the Merlin in the correct way
• You know the APN required to connect to your network
• You know the username and password required for your connection (for Virgin and probably Optus these are left blank)

Step 1: Installing the Drivers

Novatel no longer appear to offer any support for the Merlin U630. As of May 2009 it was still listed on their website, but the links to the users guide and other documents were broken. I spent an hour messing around with the XP driver available on their site only to find it didn't work at all. Instead I downloaded the Windows 2000 driver and it appeared to work much more smoothly. I've attached the driver at the bottom of this page if Novatel remove it for some reason.

Novatel Drivers Page

...or...

Download Windows 2000 Driver from here v2.00.25 (956kb)

If the drivers are correctly installed, these two items should appear in Device Manager (Windows Control Panel > System > Hardware Tab > Device Manager)

Step 2: Installing the Connection Software (MobiLink)

It may be possible to use other connection software, or even just plain Windows XP dialup networking, but I decided to use the suggested MobiLink software from Novatel. It doesn't appear that you can download it from their site, but I found it on the 3 (three.com.au) website, and have attached it here in case it gets removed. You may be able to find a more recent version by searching Google.

Download MobiLink v2.02.22 (8.5mb)

Now, you may need to start MobiLink BEFORE inserting the card as it appears to do some initialisation which may not occur otherwise.

Step 3: Configuring a Profile for your Wireless Provider

Configuring the APN is the most important step in this process. You may also need a specify a username and password depending on your provider's requirements.

Done!

Once you've configured your profile its time to test the connection.

• Ensure your card is correctly inserted and that the MobiLink screen shows a connection is available.
• Ensure your new profile is selected from the purple drop-down box at the top
• Click CONNECT.

A successful connection should appear like this...

Please post comments below with any extra ideas that may help out others looking to get this working.

Thanks.

Simon East

May 2009