CF-18MK4 T-Mobile connection failure

OK, last (best) hope for a solution….

I have a CF-18MK4 (Digitizer, internal GPS, 512 MB ram, 60GB HDD, factory WIFI) running XP Tablet.


It came with a EU870D WWAN modem.
I got an activated SIM from T-Mobile.
The computer/OS sees and controls the modem.
The modem sees and correctly identifies the cell network.

When I attempt to connect (via Novatel connection manager) I get the error "connection reset by remote computer before connection could be completed"

I have spent hours on tech support with T-Mobile and Novatel (modem manufacturer) with no resolution.

I even changed out the modem.

Any thoughts on a possible solution to this problem?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Brian

 

Oooh, these are really finicky things. I've been busy for a week or two with a Gobi modem to get it to work. End result? it works with a real network provider, but not with a virtual network provider.

Just a few questions first:
The EU870D Novatel is an OEM device from Panasonic?
If so did you get original XP drivers from Panasonic?
Thirdly, what did you discuss with the techsup, did you get a note with all the requiered settings from T-mobile?
What network do you want to connect to, HSDPA+ CMDA, is 2G enough or do you like 3G a lot

Lastly and not unimportant, what country are you from?

 

Yes on the original hardware.
Original drivers from Novatel, and auto drivers from windoze (just found them first time around)
Everything and every setting from 5 years ago to current…
I don't care what network, just need it for email, and text website.
I am in the USA…

Brian

 

I guess you're saying that you have an original Novatel, but is it Panasonic branded? These toughbooks can be really picky about that kind of things.
oke, using Novatel drivers on a Panasonic laptop wouldn't be my first choice, I would try to find panasonic drivers if they ever used the EU870D at all.

But a bigger problem seems to be this:
Did you talk with the tech support about the frequencies of your card and the ones that T-mobile uses?

A EU870D card that uses the frequencies Tri-band HSDPA/UMTS - 850/1900/2100 MHz but I can't find the specific bands.

T-mobile has some thing that they want you to use 1700 AND 2100 to get access to their data. If you only have 2100 or 1700 you will not get access. As your card has 1900/2100 it seems to get no access. That is what I understood.
The 850 band doesn't seem to be in use any more by T-mobile.

And to make matters even worse, even if your card would support 1700MHz, you would need to check if it supports the right bands. to get an idea, look at this apple support page, it shows which model numbers support which LTE bands in which country. Apple - iPhone 5 - View countries with supported LTE networks.

 

Being a two way radio tech/rf transmitter engineer, the frequency issue was one of my concerns.

T-Mobile tech support, as helpful as they are, have NO clue as to that specific issue.

I have to believe that it is compatible, as the modem sees the network (both EDGE and UMTS) and reports it as T-Mobile i the connection manager.

This is not an RF issue, it is a ?protocol? issue, maybe, maybe a network issue?

The modem does not say "Panasonic" on it, only a model number, an FCC-ID and an IMEI number.

I can not find a list of specific model numbers for the cellular modems (GPRS modem is all it says) used in the CF-18, and am not sure I want to load the wrong drivers, as I do not have the recovery discs for XP Tablet (needed for the Digitizer)…

Brian

 

One other thing, tech support checked the network logs, and they are seeing the modem logged into the network, just not making a data connection.

Brian

 

OK, great news for a Monday morning.

Found an obscure reference about SIM cards standards being changed/finalized a few years ago, and someone having issues conneting shortly after.

The person ended up doing a firmware upgrade on a different brand of cell modem, which fixed the issue.

So, after searching around for a couple hours, I found a firmware upgrade for my modem, flashed it, and, after searching for a signal for a while, it just connected to the T-Mobile network, and I was able to connect to my CAD system.

Thank you for the assistance.

Brian

 

Incase anyone else has this problem do you mind putting up your modem info, and a link or proper file name of the flash you used. I will then add a link to this thread to the CF-18 thread.

 

Be happy too!

The modem is a Novatel Wireless Expidite EU870D or U870D.

The file name is : 20417934_MUU_EU870D_103_7_EMEA_open_sim_v1a.zip

I will try to paste a link, YMMV : http://www.dc-files.com/files/novat...are_update/20417934_MUU_EU870D_103_7_EMEA.zip

Let me know what else I can do to help.

Brian

 

Thanks, you are added at the bottom of that thread.

 

Cool!

Thank you.

Brian

 

Not a problem. I haven't personally needed use of the wwan on the CF-18 toughbook, but incase anyone does now they have the answer because of your work. I just try to keep the list updated. So thank you for your work and contribution.