Setting up Mobile Broadband

Before setting up mobile broadband on your computer, check that it meets these minimum system requirements. Unfortunately Windows 2000 isn't supported, so you'll need to upgrade to one of the operating systems shown below:

Windows users need:

  • Windows XP Service Pack 3 (32 bit)
  • Vista Service Pack 2 (32 & 64 bit) Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit)
  • Intel Processor 500Mhz and above
  • System Memory: 128MB (XP) or 512MB (Vista)
  • Hard Disk Space: 150MB
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 1 or higher
  • Video: 256 colours and 800x600 resolution

Mac users need:

  • Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
  • Hard Drive Space: 64MB
  • RAM: 1GB

Installation

If you're a Windows user, you can plug the USB modem into any of the USB ports on your computer. The first time you insert the modem, the Connection Manager should launch automatically.

If it doesn't:

  1. Go to Start > My Computer in Windows XP, or Start > Computer in Windows Vista
  2. Your computer will detect the modem and show it as a temporary drive
  3. Go into the temporary drive and double click on the O2 icon
  4. The Connection Manager software will launch

If you're a Mac user won't need the Connection Manager. To install the USB modem on a Mac, just insert it and follow the instructions.

If nothing happens when you plug in the USB modem, double click the temporary drive icon on your desktop to show the installation software.

Problems connecting to the O2 data network

If you've installed Connection Manager and still can't get connected, make sure:

  • Your O2 USB modem has the sim card in place
  • You're using an O2 USB modem. Other devices may not be compatible with Connection Manager
  • The lights on the USB modem are flashing

If no lights are flashing:

  • Unplug the USB modem
  • Go to Tools > Install USB modem
  • Plug the modem in again
  • Wait, then go to Show Available Networks to see if O2 UK is displayed

If you're using the Novatel 930D modem and have a flashing red light, or one of our Huawei modems and see a double green flashing light that keeps flashing for more than 30 seconds, you may have a sim card or coverage issue. Try removing the sim card, then re-inserting it.

It's also possible that the USB modem has frozen in flash drive mode instead of Modem mode. This can happen if the modem is unplugged part way through a connection attempt. To solve this:

  • Go to Start > My Computer in Windows XP, or Start > Computer in Windows Vista
  • Right click on the modem
  • Click Eject
  • Re-insert and try again

If you're still having trouble, contact us and we'll help you out.

Problems connecting to your home wifi router

If you're having problems with your home wifi after loading Connection Manager, you can fix the issue by using Connection Manager to connect to your router:

  • Go to Tools > Help > About and check you're running the latest Connection Manager software. The version number should be 3.4 R1 98

If you've previously used other wifi management software on your computer, you can import your profiles into Connection Manager:

  • Go to Tools > Options and click Import Windows Profiles
  • Click Next and Finish

Connection Manager will import the network names and security keys and store them as profiles.

If you're not sure about any techy terms, check out our jargon buster

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