So frustrated... Vista is the problem? Do you have Vista?

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

I just can't understand.

I have been tethering with a Samsung Hue for over a month now. It worked for the first three weeks or so on both my XP desktop and my Vista laptop with little or no problems. Then on the 14th I started having problems with my connection dying on the laptop. The mobilelink software and the phone would both still say "connected" but I couldn't go anywhere and if I tried to diagnos the problem it said "the remote computer did not respond".

I have made numerous calls and spoken to various levels of tech support. First I was told they were "turning towers on and off". I was made to set up a DUN and by-pass their software. I had to check various settings, etc. Finally I did get a trouble ticket issued but I still haven't heard from that, other than it is still open.

Today I called again and spoke to someone (NOT an advanced tech) and she blamed Vista. I suspect that Vista might be part of the problem, too, but she was convinced it is the whole problem. She said they really don't have anything that works with Vista. Now I know I cannot be the ONLY person with a Vista computer who uses Alltel.

Do you have Vista and if so, how do you connect and STAY connected? I am about to pull my hair out. I couldn't believe that she didn't offer to sell me a data card or SOMETHING. She just made it sound like I was SOL as long as I was using Vista.

I should mention that I used the Vista laptop all weekend long and had no issues whatsoever... I was connected for HOURS at a time with no problems. That's why I am not convinced that it's ONLY a Vista issue. If it is just Vista, why did it work this weekend? Vista knew I really wanted to use the computer? Geeze.

Thank you if you got to the end of this rant!

crystalterrie · EVDO User Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

When I initially tried to tether my daughter's phone to her Vista laptop, the software wouldn't even load. I called Alltel and the advanced tech support guy said there were only 4 phones that were compatible with the tethering..he said it wasn't so much a vista issue as it was making sure that the right phone was tethered to vista. I do not have the names of the phones anymore, and I have no idea why it worked and then didn't work, sorry.

I do know that once I gave up on tethering and got the UM150 card in a cradlepoint router, both my windows XP desktop and my daughters vista have worked great.

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

Thanks. I had called back (again!) and got an advanced tech guy who listened to all my complaints but he couldn't really give me any solid answers. He did suggest I try setting the phone to where the backlight never turns off, and leaving the phone open instead of closed as I had been doing. He also said that MS is supposd to roll out a Vista service pack sometime this year so hopefully that will help with some of the driver issues it seems to have.

I asked him about a data card and his suggestion was to switch to XP if I was concerned a data card wouldn't work.

I also asked if I plugged the phone into a router, would the conflict with Vista still be there but he didn't know.

I'm still pretty clueless. LOL

liljester · EVDO Newbie Joined: 24 Jan 2008 Posts: 5

Will any traffic pass over the interface? Can you ping an external IP addres?

The reason I as is because Ive had issues with the IE7 phishing filter blocking all web traffic.. it was odd.

Anywho, if you use IE try turning off the anti-phishing filter. Its a longshot, but its better than no shot Smile

Capt.Dan · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:23 pm Post subject:

Any of the cards will work inn a router with Vista but there are a lot of cards that will not work in the computer with vista. In Alltels stable is the KPC-680 Express card and I do have first hand experience with the UM 150 al!! I'm on line now with it and no problems so far! Its been almost a month and all I can say is Fast and Holy Cow!!! Laughing

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

liljester--I tried pinging when the connection "died" and it didn't work. As long as the connection was active it worked fine. I did try turning off the anti-phishing filter but I couldn't see that it made a difference but THANK YOU for trying to help me, I really appreciate it! Very Happy

Capt. Dan--So the KPC-680 or the UM-150 will work IN the laptop without a router?

Does anyone know if the Hue will work with the router? That would be the next thing I'd like to try, probably.

Today is a pretty good day. Only a few "dead" sessions so far, I am able to be on for quite a long time before it "dies". I am noticing that when I am online, the phone does go dormant quite a bit. Most times when I click on a new page or whatever, it "wakes up". It's just that there are those times that it doesn't, and those are FRUSTRATING when they happen over and over. A few a day, I could live with.

crystalterrie · EVDO User Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

That whole going dormant issue is why I gave up on phone tethering at all. I spent a week on and off the phone with Alltel tech support trying to solve it, and got a bit of a runaround while doing so. The UM150 can plug directly into a USB port on your computer or laptop...OR you can plug the UM150 directly into the Cradlepoint router to share one connection to all the computers in your home. Yhis works for me with a desktop running windows XP and a laptop running Vista..no compatibility issues and both of us on same connection at the same time. So with that set up, your phone compatibility isn't even an issue. The downside is you pay $59/month rather than the $25 you pay for the phone tethering. I compensated for it by ditching my land line and dial up service completely...ended up actually $3 cheaper a month for me.

mudpuppy93 · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:15 pm Post subject:

I have vista on my laptop and I tether. I USED to have a Hue but I had nothing but problems with the phone turning off while I was tethering it. It didn't go dormant, it would physically turn off (like I hit the power button) and then I would have to turn it back on. It was completely random- sometimes it would do it 2 times in half an hour or sometimes it would work fine for a week. The first tech guy I talked to at Alltel said that it was a phone issue and said that I should just keep getting a new phone until its solved. Well, 4 phones later I was still having a problem. I called Samsung (horrible tech support) and I kept getting transferred to advanced tech support to just get put on hold for 45 minutes and then I would hang up. Finally on the third attempt I got through after about 30 minutes and the lady on the other end of the phone said, "we do not support using our phones as a modem" Sad

Then I asked her why there are two antenna jacks on the back of the phone and her response is that they are for servicing the phone and that they don't support using a external antenna with the phone. So I hung up and got a hold of Smith Micro (the makers of the quicklink software). I talked to a knowledgeable guy there who basically said that all the quicklink software does is use the windows dialer with a custom skin and some extra logging software and that its most likely a phone software problem. OK so I basically went in a circle at that point. I called Alltel later at night to get a different set of techs and this time I got put through to a very knowledgeable tech 2 guy who was genuinely interested in my problem. His first question out of his mouth was what OS am I using? This was the first time ANYONE was interested in what I was using this phone with. The answer I got from him, as well as from another tech guy he was chatting to on his computer- I am guessing a supervisor?? was that the Hue is compatible with Vista but not supported and recommended to use with it. He said that the best phones to tether with and are supported with Visa are any of the Motorola phones or any of the Blackberry devices. He recommended the Razor 2 or the Rockr for me. So thats what i did- I took my phone back and exchanged it for a Razr 2. Its expensive but I have been using it since November with out one single problem or disconnect. It really has been a great phone. He also looked at the different towers in the area and told me where they were located and if they were EV capable and how they were rated for data support. I wish I could remember his name to tell you but I don't. Anyway to sum it all up I just gave up on my Hue and went with the Razr and I have not had a single regret. Good luck!

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

crystalterrie--Thanks for the info! Do you know if a phone will plug into the router? I want to save money if I can, since I am locked into a contract with this phone. (I wish I done my research first!)

mudpuppy--Thanks! I have had problems with the phone just shutting off, but not that often. I think I could actually live with that if only it wouldn't go dormant on me. My son actually has a Razr but I doubt he will trade phones with me. LOL I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask him but he's 18 and you know how they love their toys.

The good news is yesterday I had longer and longer sessions without the phone going dormant. I left it connected overnight and it was still connected this morning (although it did disconnect a few minutes after I got online, but this time it "knew" it disconnected and automatically reconnected)! So, I still just can't quite understand why it works perfectly sometimes and then royally screws up other. And what makes even less sense is that it seems to work better early in the morning, late at night, and on the weekends, but seems to mess up on weekdays during the day when you'd think it would be possible they're working on towers, or something.

The last thing on my trouble ticket was a note that said someone was going out to the tower. Maybe they did.

Capt Ron · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:53 am Post subject:

I don't think going dormant is the problem. Mine does it all of the time, but wakes up if something needs to upload or download. It has done this since day one. I consider this as part of the normal operation.

I hardly ever get disconnected. But if I do the CTR 350 reconnects it in about 30 seconds.

crystalterrie · EVDO User Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

I guess I should have been clearer..my dormacy issue was that it would go dormant but would not immediately wake back up when needed. Every time I stopped to read a page it would go domant, then I would have to click a new page 2-3 times to even get it to try and load a new page. It would just sit there, saying it was connected, but dormant. After a bit of that, it would lose connection, redial in, and let me view another page, then repeat the whole process again. Sorry to say, but Alltel tech support told me so many different stories about why that was happening, I have no idea what to believe. They even sent me a replacement phone to try, but that didn't solve the problems either, and I found myself reverting to my incredibly awful dial up connection just because it was less frustrating.
Also, keep in mind, that was happening when the phone was directly tethered, with no router. Does adding the router into that set up solve that isuue? I've no clue.

Reb123, I am FAR from an expert on what is exactly compatible with the routers, having been doing this for just about 1 month now. I do know that the people at the 3G store here have been nothing but patient and kind when I have barraged them with what appears to be some very "noobity" questions. I'd give them a call and just ask what might work best for you. When I've called, I've never felt any sales pressure to get me to buy anything more than what I really need, and everything they've sold me has worked just as they promised.

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

Capt Ron--The phone going dormant isn't the issue. It's that it doesn't wake up every time it needs to. Since the tech suggested I leave the phone open I can see that it does indeed go dormant and wake up all the time. But there are those times that it doesn't wake up, and those times suck. Once or twice, it has realized that it needs to "redial" in and it will redial without me having to do anything (meaning I get a box on my screen saying it's redialing but I didn't have to do anything for that to happen), but most times neither the phone nor the "connection" on the computer realize there is a problem, and I have to manually kill the connection and reconnect.

crystalterrie--Thanks again for all the info! What you are describing is very similar to what has been happening to me! It doesn't happen to me everytime (and hasn't happend AT ALL today) but it has happened enough times that I have been getting super frustrated. It's still just so weird the days/times of day it does happen. I really find I have little to no problems on the weekends and I have mentioned that to the techs several times but none of them seem to think it means anything but I do!

I am hoping adding a router will solve the problem plus let me connect both computers and various other things (XBOX 360, PSP). I will call 3G when I get enough money saved up for the router (assuming it works with the phone). Smile

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

Update: I spoke too soon. Have been having nothing but problems since 3PM CST. Ugh!

reb123 · EVDO User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 28

Just thought I'd update.

I don't know what's happened but I am having NO issues with my connection forgetting to "wake up". It has been working properly since yesterday morning. I did download StayAlive Pro on Saturday but I don't think that by itself did the trick as I was still having problems after I installed it, but something "fixed" and I am enjoying my EVDO again! Surprised

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