Aircard From Overseas Can It Work With Cat Cdma?

[buckhumyai]

I brought my Aircard from Australia it is a Merlin X870 and is not locked.. CAT sell the Merlin X720 which is only slightly lower Spec than the one I own so in theory it should work no problem. I installed the Mobilink software that CAT have on their website ( It is identical to the Mobilink software I use back home) and was given two SIMs to try in the shop but it kept saying Insert SIM. It just would not recognise the SIM Cards. The shop assistant made a phone call and was told that aircards from Overseas will not work with CAT. I find this very strange because they are the same brand from the same manufacturer. Has anyone had success making a non-CAT Merlin aircard work?

Thanks in advance

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

The Merlin X870 is a 3G (UMTS)/GSM device where as CAT is using CDMA. The two standards are different and SIM cards from one inserted into a device for the other will not be recognized (in CDMA they are correctly called "R-UIM" instead of "SIM").

You need to get a CDMA aircard, supporting either CDMA 2000-1x or EV-DO, such as the X720 which is EV-DO. You can use your X870 with AIS, D-TAC and True Move (EDGE) or TOT 3G (in Bangkok only).

Best regards......

Thanh

[buckhumyai]

Thanks for clearing up why it wouldnt work with the CDMA. I also bought an AIS sim in Jomtien and after 2 hours with technical support it still would not work and they just dont know why. I showed several people in Pantip Plaza and there reply was that it will not work in Thailand. They said they have people all the time trying to make them work but they just dont. Everyone I spoke to said I would need to buy a new aircard . Confused.

The sim works perfectly in my iphone but not with the aircard.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

According to Novatel, these are the specs:

Key Features

* Wireless data at speeds up to 3.6 Mbps on HSDPA networks and 7.2 Mbps, with software upgrade

* Supports HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE, and GPRS

* Backwards compatible to UMTS (WCDMA) 850/1900/2100 MHz, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz EDGE/GPRS networks

* 2 Antennas

- Flip-up

- Built-in 5 bands

* Supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista; Mac; Linux

* External Antenna Connector

* Offers the latest in I/O interconnect technology

* Service State LED – 5 color

* Field firmware upgradeable

So if that does not work with AIS it is locked. The "does not work in Thailand" is bullshit however a frequently used excuse when they can't explain the actual problem and/or want to get you to buy one from them.

What does happen when you put the SIM into the device, will it accept the SIM but not go online? Will it reject the SIM? I need some info before i can try to help..... but so much for sure, if it does not accept the SIM in first place then it is locked (despite you saying it's not), if it takes the SIM but won't make a connection you may need to fiddle with the connection settings (dialup number, APN etc which may still be pre-set to some Australian carrier).

AIS customer service (pretty much all telco customer service here) is pretty useless in those regards, all they are trained to do is point at a product on the shelf and tell you the price. Or, for over-the-phone service, if a question involves anything other than a price quote all they do is tell you "technician will call you back" which, of course, will never happen because they couldn't care less for your issue.

Novatel themselves offer no assistance either, stating on their site that first-level-support is provided by the carrier that sold the device. So you might need to get in touch with whatever telco sold you the device in Australia, however it is likely that they won't be willing to help you either....

Best regards.......

Thanh

[buckhumyai]

Thanks Thanh-BKK for trying to help. It was originally locked as I found out when I tried to use it with another carrier in Oz about a year ago. I called my original provider and they told me to insert a sim from a different company and then gave me the unlock code and I was able to use the card with the new carrier. That proves to me that it isnt locked. With the AIS SIM it went from flashing red to a solid red which I believe means SIM error, unlike with Cat CDMA which continued to flash red as if no sim had been inserted. I believe and correct me if I am wrong that real 3g is new to Bangkok so what the salespeople were saying to me might have been true until recently? You may be right about the card having some setting which is peculiar to Australia, but every card in Oz is locked to a particular network until your contract is finished and then you can ask for the unlocking code It will then work with other carriers in Oz which takes me back to my main question. Is there something different about cards sold in Thailand?

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

I want to help you but it seems that there is no information whatsoever on these devices....... hence here what i *think* is the case with those red LED signals:

Red flashing: No SIM inserted/not detected

Red solid: Sim rejected

Green: Working

GSM devices can be locked in a number of ways, i know this from phones - these are the locks that i am aware of:

1) SIM lock - device will work only with one particular SIM card

2) Provider lock - device will work with any SIM from that particular provider

3) Country lock - device will work with any SIM from any provider in that particular country

So it is possible that your device was maybe unlocked from, say, Telstra but is still restricted to Australia. It does principally work with the inserted SIM but not with the network, if it were a phone it would display "invalid SIM".

if i had a manual for the device i could probably find out what exactly the solid red LED means, however this would require me to know which provider the device came from initially because Novatel does not even offer manuals for download.

About the 3G, yes it is quite new, launched late last year. Coverage, frankly spoken, sucks - i have one of their SIM cards and i have "no network" in more places that i actually HAVE network. However where it works the speeds are supposedly great - which i can't verify because i use it in a phone However it is proper 3G with HSDPA and advertised with 7.2 Mbps. Your aircard would support it if it weren't locked, but even on normal GSM networks you are supposed to be able to use it as it is backwards compatible with EDGE and GPRS.

However my feeling is that your device is still locked and hence won't work. Give it a test - insert some other SIM cards, such as D-TAC and True Move - you can get them at any 7-11 and they cost peanuts, you can still simply run down the credit in a phone and throw them out afterwards. if your device will not work with any of them (both networks have GPRS/EDGE too!) it is definitely locked, probably with the country lock.

If that is the case you need to find someone able to unlock it - or sell it on E-Bay to someone in Australia and indeed get a new one here.

Kind regards.....

Thanh

[buckhumyai]

Thanks Thanh-bkk It just sounds easier to buy a new one. I still find it hard to understand why my mobile phone works here(it was locked originally - same service provider) and my aircard wont. Anyway thanks for your time and trouble.