ZTE MF190? E160 is been there done that ... i want 21mbps on any compatible network :) On Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 11:27 PM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com> wrote:
*Unlock* your *Huawei* E160<http://alaninkenya.org/2010/09/29/unlock-your-huawei-e160>
By Alan <http://alaninkenya.org/author/aorth> on September 29, 2010
[image: Safaricom's Huawei E160 USB modem]I use a Safaricom-branded * Huawei* <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei> E160 USB *modem* to connect to the Internet over 3G from my apartment in Westlands. It works great but Safaricom has locked the device so it only works on their network (an anti-consumer move they probably learned from the likes of AT&T). We have four different mobile providers in Kenya, each one of which sells their own custom-branded *Huawei* modems. The other providers are small fries compared to Safaricom, but they love to play catch up so they’ve locked their modems too. Wanna browse on Zain? Buy a Zain *modem*! Thanks for nothing…
The good thing is that there’s a booming *modem* unlocking industry on the Internet, but you have to be a google ninja to wade through all the garbage results. After some creative googling I got to the bottom of this “ *unlock* your *modem*” stuff; I learned that it’s free and trivial to do, which is why I hate to see so many people getting burned by some shady “entrepreneurs” who are making a lot of money from this “service.” I unlocked my *Huawei* E160 in about five minutes on my *Linux* machine, and within another two I was browsing the net with a Zain SIM card from the Safaricom *modem*.
Note: I did it on *Linux* because I like *Linux*, but there’s nothing about *Linux* which makes it a “magical *modem* unlocker.” It’s true, Windows sucks, but you can do this perfectly well on Windows too (but I don’t know how, so do some creative googling of your own).
Are you ready? All we have to do is generate an *unlock* code based on your modem’s IMEI, then send ONE AT command<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_command_set>to the *modem*. It’s not rocket science… Here we go!
1. Make sure the SIM card in the *modem* is the one from the provider (mine is Safaricom), then plug the *modem* in 2. Generate an *unlock* code, two options: - Web-based generator (put your 15-digit IMEI at the end): http://bb5.at/*huawei*.php?imei=351596037539337 - Another web-based calculator: http://a-zgsm.com/*huawei*.php - Much cooler, a python script: *huawei*-*unlock*.py<http://sites.google.com/site/dogber1/blog/huawei-unlock.py> 3. Send the code to the *modem* over serial. Here’s a quite literal step-by-step guide: 1. Start up minicom: sudo minicom -s 2. Navigate to “Serial port setup” and press *Enter* 3. Press *A* to set the location of your device (mine, on Ubuntu 10.04, was /dev/ttyUSB1) 4. Press *Enter*, then *Enter* again to go back to the main screen 5. Press *Exit* to leave setup and initialize the *modem* 6. Enter AT^CARDLOCK="50122162" (using the *unlock* code you generated earlier) and press *Enter* 7. You should see “OK”, after which point you can quit minicom by pressing *CTRL-A Z Q*. If you don’t see “OK” just hold off for a second and re-read the instructions, because you don’t get an infinite amount of tries for this! After 5 – 10 failed attempts your *modem*may be permanently locked to the provider who sold the *modem* to you…
You’re welcome, now go help out one of your fellow countrymen. Just remember, I didn’t spend all this time writing this just out so you could go rip some poor sucker off.
Also, do yourself a favor and go read Dogbert’s blog<http://dogber1.blogspot.com/>, because he’s the one who wrote the Python *unlock* code generator and there are a lot of great links on his site. Beyond that, I can’t remember what other resources I used… I guess they all got lost in the whirlwind aftermath of my google kung-fu. ------------------------------ Update (November 27, 2011)
For what it’s worth, I’ve tested this procedure on the Swisscom-branded * Huawei* E1762 as well, and it’s still working. On this device you most likely want to use /dev/ttyUSB2, as this is the DIAG port for interacting with the *modem*. Here’s how it worked:
AT^U2DIAG=276 OK
AT^CARDLOCK=55341785 +CME ERROR: 3
OK AT^CARDLOCK? ^CARDLOCK: 2,10,0
The first command (AT^U2DIAG=276) resets the *modem* to factory settings. The last command simply lists the status of the device’s lock, where a “1″ in the first spot would mean it’s locked. Here are a few good references for more information on working with AT commands and serial devices:
- E1762 on the Whirlpool wiki<http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/bc/hardware/?action=h_view&model_id=900> - Unlocking the *Huawei* E172… on *Linux*<http://andym3.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/unlocking-the-huawei-e172-on-linux> - *Huawei* E1550 3G *modem*<https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Huawei_E1550_3G_modem>
Source -> http://alaninkenya.org/2010/09/29/*unlock*-your-*huawei*-e160 (Google Cache, site was down)
-- with Regards:
blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>
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-- GG