#“Unlock that old broadband modem from the contract you cancelled”
Recently I cancelled my contract for O2 mobile broadband. I was dishing out 30 per month for a service I maybe using a few days a month. I found that the N95-8GB or HTC G1 as a tethered modem with a 1GB data add-on for my Vodafone phone SIM was more than sufficient for my current needs.
However, it seemed an awful shame to leave the Huawei E270 modem unused since it is bloody good and does 7.2Mbs unlike a lot of the "stick" modems.
Unfortunately it is SIM locked to O2.
FortunatelyDC-unlocker exists. I downloaded their simple free app which identified the modem and said it was locked. Then for a quick payment of 10 via PayPal, it unlocked it for me. All done in about 5 minutes.
The Vodafone SIM works beautifully in it now, even with the O2 software on the laptop! Just setup a new APN for hs.vodafone.ie. I'll test the Three UK SIM when I am in range of a decent 3G data signal.
Now the next time Eircom DSL goes down, I still have a backup plan:
- Re-direct mobile to landline or Three UK mobile
- Put Vodafone SIM in O2 dongle connected to external antenna
- Connect dongle to the 3G port of the Billion Router
- Data for the entire house!
Another recession-busting tip from West Cork!