Hi everyone,

I'm in Indonesia and thought I'd do something smart: trade up from my 5kb/sec GPRS internet where I used my old Black Macbook to talk through my Motorola V3 to get reasonably stable, but SLOW internet access.

Just this last month or two, Telkomsel (Indo's equivalent of Telstra) has released 3G modems (promising 300+kb/sec) which I thought I'd try with my shiny new Macbook Air. I bought the modem from Telkomsel and the helpful lady said they could help me set up my laptop. When I pulled mine out, she said in horror, "Oh, no, sorry sir. We no can do Apple. Go to PC-Mac". So I went to PC-Mac, a tumble-down shed full of ancient and not-so-ancient Mac gear in the backblocks of Denpasar. After the 10 staff had spent half an hour ooh-ing and aah-ing over the Macbook Air, they got to work.

I ended up with a piece of software installed called Mobile Connect, which negotiates the connection to the modem. I'm guessing this is a native Indonesian app, judging by the language used: when you connect, it tells you, "Success to Connect!" It worked in the shop; it even worked back home that night, and even the following morning. Then the time it stayed connected got shorter and shorter, until now, it won't even connect. I get this message: "Could not negotiate a connection with the remote PPP server. Please verify your settings and try again"

I've re-installed the Mobile Connect program; I've even installed it on my old Black Macbook (which still runs Tiger). Same results. My Indonesian isn't good enough to read their on-line help, but I can't see any references to Mac OS-X. I'd like to save the one hour trip to Denpasar (and the waiting time involved!) so if anyone here has any bright ideas, I'd be very grateful! For example, is there another driver for the modem?

Here are the some of the techie aspects of this:
Modem is: Huawei Mobile Connect 3G Modem.
The T-Sel network has system mode: WCDMA and service domains PS and CS.
I'm running 10.5.2.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Andrew (sunning himself in Bali when he can't get online!)

Is you Huawei modem this model?

Huawei Terminal

Because Optus & Vodaphone use versions of this modem in Australia. And people use them under linux and on macs.

Have a look at the Vodafone modem here and you'll see they are the same.

Vodafone Direct Deals - Mobile Broadband

You may be able to download the drivers from the vodaphone australia or optus web sites and just alter the connection details to suit your particular carrier.

pm me your email and I can send it to you. THe three ones should work.

I have a guide for Optus users here, however the drivers I have for download will work with any E220.

Regards,
Shane.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've tried everything:
1. Choy's download. Same Mobile Connect program that I've already got. Therefore, same result.
2. Shane's very clear website. Followed all instructions. Still same result when I connect through System Preferences, rather than through Mobile Connect.
3. Tried Vodaphone's site - couldn't get to the download page.
4. Also have tried this. However, the .dmg file won't unpacakage. Is it worth persevering with this product? Does anyone know it?

Sigh. Dunno what else to do here on a rainy Thursday afternoon . . .

Cheers, Andrew

have u tried calling the ISP? Maybe go back and ask for a replacement or for them to check your account.

Also, with my fathers vodafone 3g one, i didn't use a program just settings under network preferences. Have you tried doing it that way (haven't bothered to look at the different guides there)

Andrew,

I posted a response on my site, but thought it best to post it here too.

I found some settings for Telkomsel... I recommend installing the Mobile Connect software from my site (if you haven't already) - it's the 3rd "optional" install.

When installed, you'll have a "Mobileconnect" app with a plain application icon in your Applications folder. In this program you can setup the APN and username/password. Try these (one at a time):

APN: telkomsel
Username: wap
Password: wap123
Proxy serv. Address : 10.1.89.130
Proxy port number : 8000

Also try using *99***1# as the dial string.

Regards,
Shane.

Thanks Shane -

I'm in a public wi-fi zone in bustling downtown Ubud right now, but as soon as I'm bck in my village amongst the palms and ricefields, I'll try out your suggestions, one at a time. I'll keep you posted!

Andrew

Hi Shane,

No luck. This is what I've tried, following your instructions:
1. Installed Mobile Connect from your site. The version you have looks slightly different to the one I'd already installed. For example, it gives you cumulative download stats.
2. Put in the APN Telkomsel. No connection.
3. Put in the username WAP and password WAP123. No connection.
4. Tried the dialling code *99***1#. No connection.
5. Couldn't find anywhere to input the Proxy Server Address or Proxy Port Number.
6. I found a post online which said to use APN flash for Telkomsel. Tried this and managed to connect for 1 minute or so. Then disconnect. Then a 30 sec connection. Then nothing at all. Hmmmm.

I've tried inputting the proxy server address into the fields within a program called flash2net which purports to connect any modem to any ISP in the world. Again, the same sort of results.

Where did you get those Telkomsel settings from? Is there any way I can find out more?

Cheers, Andrew

Andrew,

I pulled some of the info from their handset support section here.

Specifically the Nokia N95 section.

Alot of the time you can get the info you need from these kinds of resources. BTW - did you use APN Telkomsel or telkomsel ? They are case sensitive.

Worst case try and call them via their call center. You never know, you might gets someone that knows what they're talking about.

Regards,
Shane.