Tough competition on mobile market Russian Federation between the flagships Megafon, MTS and Beeline forces each of them to take measures to strengthen their positions. Today it is difficult to win a client with an interesting tariff alone - it is necessary to offer additional services or equipment that significantly expands access options. One of these devices is a mobile 3G/4G modem, which, depending on the model, allows you to surf the Internet at a flow rate of up to 150 Mbit/s. Its only drawback is the restriction on the use of SIM cards third party operators. In this publication we will talk in detail about how to unlock the modem from Megafon yourself.
Why does the operator need his own modem?
If you look at the official Megafon website in the “Online store” section at http://moscow.shop.megafon.ru/modems.html, you can find several options for access points, each of which has the MegaFon brand logo. This means that this modem (any of them) can be called operator modem. With the same success, the company sells other gadgets - smartphones, tablets.
Meanwhile, the presence of a branded label on board does not at all mean that this device was produced at the operator’s personal industrial facilities. Despite all the prosperity of the market leaders, they are unlikely to spend fabulous sums on the design and commissioning of their own production lines, which will have to be improved. Any modem from the operator and its competitors is actually a product of Chinese corporations (as a rule). For example, in the same online store under the MegaFon M150-2 brand there is a product from Huawei under the number E3372s (h).
This is a rather thoughtful step, because this world-famous corporation has plenty of opportunities to develop and modify equipment to meet the needs of our market. And the price ultimately turns out to be such that none of the parties to the contract loses, except perhaps the user.
Terms of sales
Any operator gadget from Megafon available for sale, including the previously mentioned M150-2, is sold as part of promotions offered by the operator. The subscriber is invited to buy a modem at a low price, and in addition sign up for a certain Internet option. IN in this case the cost of M150-2 will be 2590 rubles. (excluding connected services), and prices for its branded analog Huawei E3372s (h) in the retail network fluctuate around 5,000 rubles.
As part of the promotion, the client also receives a SIM card with the “Megafon Online with 4G+ modem” tariff and a traffic volume of 36 GB absolutely free of charge ( subscription fee absent). Such a “freebie” is valid for exactly the same period as the promotion – 2 weeks. After this, you will have to pay 890 rubles every month. for the opportunity to maintain Internet volumes and speed.
At that moment, when the torment has come to an end, the promotion has ended and the subscriber is left with such a desired gadget, received at half price, it turns out that it is impossible to use it under the SIM card of another operator. The device memory contains a software lock that, when you try to install a third-party card, will ask for an access key with a limit on the number of entries to 10 attempts. This problem can be solved if you reflash or unlock it (from the English “LOCK” - “lock”).
What is firmware?
The Internet today is literally replete with search queries With keywords“firmware”, “how to reflash”, “how to unlock a modem”, etc. By analogy with the software of any personal computer, this process means replacing the existing software, drivers and the kernel that controls them. In fact, this is in some ways the same as reinstalling Windows.
In addition to expanding the functionality of the device and eliminating its dependence on the Megafon operator SIM card, the purpose of this process may be to update the control software, solve serious software gaps and technical problems.
Most often, flashing is done using the original/custom software of the gadget developer (in this case, Huawei) or searching for solutions on the Internet.
Solution
Before you unlock your modem from Megafon, for example, the M150-2 sold today or the no less popular previously E171, you need to understand two things for yourself:
- These actions are not entirely legal. More precisely, you can, of course, contact the official service center. For an additional fee, remove the lock and rest assured that your gadget is safe;
- Given the mentality, the majority will probably prefer to look for cheaper options to solve the problem. But these are actions at your own peril and risk, since no one can guarantee how the software will behave after manipulation.
To independently unlock the Megafon gadget, you can use the Huawei Modem program by downloading current version on the developer's website. You will also first need to make sure whether it supports specific model gadget. If you install and run it, a pop-up window should appear where you must enter the notorious unlock code, which is tied to the IMEI of the device.
To determine it, or more accurately generate it, you will have to use application program Huawei Calculator. In the upper field you will need to enter the IMEI (located on the information plate of the modem itself) and press the “Calc” button. As a result of the calculations below, four different combinations will appear, of which you need to take into account the one in the “NCK” field.
Every year, Huawei changes the operator blocking algorithm for its network devices. In 2015, the blocking algorithm naturally changed and was simply called Algo V4 unlockers. Today we will look at the process of unlocking a modem with such an algorithm - MegaFon M150-2 2015.
Throughout the year, telecom operators quietly released updated modems with a fresh blocking algorithm to replace older devices. But this time, something clicked in the dark depths of the marketers’ skulls and they unanimously decided to keep the old names of modems, but sell completely new devices under them. Thus, they created quite a bit of confusion and now the following models are presented on the modem market:
Megaphone:
- Megaphone M150-2(Huawei E3372 S
- Megaphone M150-2(Huawei E3372 H) - 4G modem, 2015 model. Easy to distinguish from the old model by serial number(S/N): for a new modem it starts with the characters G4P…;
- MTS 827F(Huawei E3372 S) — 4G modem, model 2014;
- MTS 827F(Huawei E3372 H) - 4G modem, 2015 model. It also differs from the old model in the serial number (S/N): for the new modem it begins with the characters G4P…;
Despite the similar names even of the original ones Huawei modems(they differ only in the letters S and H) in fact this is completely different devices with incompatible firmware.
Now, after clarification of all formalities, you can start unlocking.
Unlocking instructions
- Download the archive with the Huawei code reader 2015 program from the link http://unlock-online.net/downloads/HCR2015/HuaweiCodeReader2015.7z and unpack it to a place convenient for you.
- Connect your modem via USB. Usually, when you connect a device to a PC, you have a separate CDROM partition, which contains the device installation program.
- Install the included drivers that came with your device.
- If you are running your modem software to connect to the Internet, disable it before running Huawei code reader 2015.
- Launch Huawei code reader 2015 and click the button "1. Read data" as shown in Figure 1.
- As a result, the drop-down list of COM ports in the program will be filled with devices. You select the COM port manually. If, as a result of performing these steps, no devices appear in the list, then drivers for the modem ( Wi-Fi router) are not installed or installed incorrectly. If you did everything correctly, the following information will appear in the program log window:
Device found:
Model: MegaFon M150-2
IMEI: 866119028147453
S/N: G4PDW15820006031
Dashboard version: MGF_Dashboard_Win2.3.4_Mac2.3.4
Software version: 21.200.07.00.209
Hardware version: CL2E3372HM Ver.A
Software compilation date/time: Jun 10 2015, 19:51:41
SIM Lock: Locked
Remaining attempts to enter NCK: 10
In the example above, we see that our MegaFon M150-2 modem is blocked and the number of remaining attempts to enter the unlock code is 10. For the modem blocking detection function to work correctly, a SIM card from a third-party operator must be inserted into it.If all attempts to enter the unlock code have been exhausted, it is not possible to unlock such a modem with the code. Please note whether your modem still attempts to enter the unlock code.
- After successfully reading information about the modem, if the Hash1 and Hash2 service blocks are filled in, you can begin processing the received information by clicking on the button "2. Calculate Encrypted Block". The data processing process can take from 2 to 20-30 minutes depending on the performance of your computer. If everything worked out successfully, the Encrypted Block field should be filled with symbols, as shown in Figure 3:
- Follow the link http://www.plati.market/asp/pay.asp?idd=1867717 to the unlock code order page.
- Enter the Encrypted Block string in the appropriate field, select a convenient payment method and click the “Buy Now” button (Fig. 4).
- After payment you will be taken to a form for filling out modem data, namely you need to enter modem model in free form and IMEI, which can be copied directly from the Huawei code reader 2015 program window (Fig. 5).
- After entering the data, click the “Submit” button and immediately, in place of the form, the unlock code for your modem will be shown (Fig. 6).
- Open the software for connecting to the Internet (the modem must have a SIM card from a third-party operator), enter the received code in the “Unlock code” field and click the “Enter” button (Fig. 7).
- After this, your modem will be unlocked and will work with SIM cards of any operator.
Fierce competition in the mobile market of the Russian Federation between the flagships Megafon, MTS and Beeline forces each of them to take measures to strengthen their positions. Today it is difficult to win a client with an interesting tariff alone - it is necessary to offer additional services or equipment that significantly expands access options. One of these devices is a mobile 3G/4G modem, which, depending on the model, allows you to surf the Internet at a flow rate of up to 150 Mbit/s. Its only drawback is the restriction on the use of SIM cards from third-party operators. In this publication we will talk in detail about how to unlock the modem from Megafon yourself.
Why does the operator need his own modem?
If you look at the official Megafon website in the “Online store” section at http://moscow.shop.megafon.ru/modems.html, you can find several options for access points, each of which has the MegaFon brand logo. This means that this modem (any of them) can be called operator modem. With the same success, the company sells other gadgets - smartphones, tablets.
Meanwhile, the presence of a branded label on board does not at all mean that this device was produced at the operator’s personal industrial facilities. Despite all the prosperity of the market leaders, they are unlikely to spend fabulous sums on the design and commissioning of their own production lines, which will have to be improved. Any modem from the operator and its competitors is actually a product of Chinese corporations (as a rule). For example, in the same online store under the MegaFon M150-2 brand there is a product from Huawei under the number E3372s (h).
This is a rather thoughtful step, because this world-famous corporation has plenty of opportunities to develop and modify equipment to meet the needs of our market. And the price ultimately turns out to be such that none of the parties to the contract loses, except perhaps the user.
Terms of sales
Any operator gadget from Megafon available for sale, including the previously mentioned M150-2, is sold as part of promotions offered by the operator. The subscriber is invited to buy a modem at a low price, and in addition sign up for a certain Internet option. In this case, the cost of the M150-2 will be 2590 rubles. (excluding connected services), and prices for its branded analog Huawei E3372s (h) in the retail network fluctuate around 5,000 rubles.
As part of the promotion, the client also receives a SIM card with the “Megafon Online with 4G+ modem” tariff and a traffic volume of 36 GB absolutely free of charge (no subscription fee). Such a “freebie” is valid for exactly the same period as the promotion – 2 weeks. After this, you will have to pay 890 rubles every month. for the opportunity to maintain Internet volumes and speed.
At that moment, when the torment has come to an end, the promotion has ended and the subscriber is left with such a desired gadget, received at half price, it turns out that it is impossible to use it under the SIM card of another operator. The device memory contains a software lock that, when you try to install a third-party card, will ask for an access key with a limit on the number of entries to 10 attempts. This problem can be solved if you reflash or unlock it (from the English “LOCK” - “lock”).
What is firmware?
The Internet today is literally replete with search queries with the keywords “firmware”, “how to reflash”, “how to unlock a modem”, etc. By analogy with the software of any personal computer, this process means replacing the existing software, drivers and the core that controls them . In fact, this is in some ways the same as reinstalling Windows.
In addition to expanding the functionality of the device and eliminating its dependence on the Megafon operator SIM card, the purpose of this process may be to update the control software, solve serious software gaps and technical problems.
Most often, flashing is done using the original/custom software of the gadget developer (in this case, Huawei) or searching for solutions on the Internet.
Solution
Before you unlock your modem from Megafon, for example, the M150-2 sold today or the no less popular previously E171, you need to understand two things for yourself:
- These actions are not entirely legal. More precisely, you can, of course, contact the official service center. For an additional fee, remove the lock and rest assured that your gadget is safe;
- Given the mentality, the majority will probably prefer to look for cheaper options to solve the problem. But these are actions at your own peril and risk, since no one can guarantee how the software will behave after manipulation.
To unlock the Megafon gadget yourself, you can use the Huawei Modem program by downloading the current version on the developer’s website. You will also first need to make sure whether it supports a specific gadget model. If you install and run it, a pop-up window should appear where you must enter the notorious unlock code, which is tied to the IMEI of the device.
To determine it, or more accurately generate it, you will have to use the Huawei Calculator application program. In the upper field you will need to enter the IMEI (located on the information plate of the modem itself) and press the “Calc” button. As a result of the calculations below, four different combinations will appear, of which you need to take into account the one in the “NCK” field.
Modems are tied to a specific operator for a reason. They are usually on sale, at a discount, or are much cheaper than regular equipment. However, over time, communication services cease to suit the user, and you can try to connect to another company with what you have on hand.
What does an unlocked modem mean? In short, the device “unlinks” from the operator’s settings, which were compiled by the manufacturer. In theory, any modem can be unlocked. In practice, it is necessary to have a certain software and know how it works. Unfortunately, not all modem models can be untied with equal success, but there is an opinion that removing the firmware even allows the device to work better with the old provider. In addition, it is not necessary to make an unlocked modem yourself from what is available; such devices are sold in abundance in stores and online. What are the advantages of unlocking? Regardless of what is written “on the package,” an unlocked modem will work with SIM cards of any operator at any tariff, in accordance with its capabilities and standards. Naturally, unlocked modems are also very inexpensive.
- Operator "Megafon": AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet";
- Old phone numbers: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.kvk";
- For Beeline and numbers linked to the modem: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","home.beeline.ru";
- For other Beeline numbers AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.beeline.ru";
- For the MTS operator: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.mts.ru".
Be extremely careful when downloading firmware and unlockers from unknown sites. They may damage your equipment, so use any instructions at your own risk.
Often people make impulsive purchases, coveting a free offer, and after the allotted time has passed, they simply throw the device into the far corner, since they, as a rule, are completely dissatisfied with the tariffs, which they will have to switch to on a forced-voluntary basis. Moreover, it is not so important whether the operator really asks for a lot of money for his services - you quickly get used to good (and free) things, but you don’t want to pay an additional amount for, in general, a not very obligatory and not very vital service . It's good if you bought the device from the same operator that you use constantly. But what a nuisance - devices often turn out to be locked, and if you regularly use the services of another company, then even in theory you won’t be able to do anything useful with them. We will deal with the solution to this issue, that is, the unlocking.
This topic was written based on a post from our friend under the nickname malsagoff, (he is in )
But there are cases when the modem does not ask to enter an unlock code, but simply when a “foreign” SIM card is inserted, it displays a message saying that “ I don't care about this topic"and asks to insert" native SIM card"...we'll talk about how to solve this problem...and so off we go! =)
Let's start, perhaps, with unlocking the modem (as an example) Megafon E173.
One of the many services for generating unlock codes will help us with this. For example, for Huawei, ZTE or Alcatel. There are lists of compatible models everywhere, but they are far from complete. For example, they did not have the E173 line. To get the unlock code, which must be entered on any of these sites, you need to find out the IMEI - a set of 15 digits, also known as a unique identifier. In the case of Huawei E173u-1, it was indicated on the modem case under the cover. The numbers must be entered without hyphens, spaces or other separating characters, then enter the captcha code. Click the Calculator/Generate button and get the coveted eight digits of the unlock code (NCK).
Copy them somewhere. Let's move on....
If the modem is still not connected, then it’s time to do it, and at the same time install the Megafon Internet program, since when installing it, all necessary drivers. We will also need the Huawei Modem Code Writer utility, a link to which is available on the Ingush.me website. The program works successfully in Windows 7. Download the archive with the utility, unpack it and run the program. Click Select Com Port, and then Detect and Accept. If the drivers are installed correctly, the connected modem should be recognized normally in the program. All that remains is to press the magic Unlock Modem button and enter the generated eight digits (from our example this is - Unlock: 56788695). An entry should appear in the log: “Send Unlock Command... OK.”
Now you can remove the modem, insert a SIM card from another operator, and Megafon Internet will no longer complain that the wrong SIM was inserted. To connect to the Network, you can use some third-party utility, or you can simply create a new profile in Megafon Internet.
As you can see, everything is very simple.... That's basically all.... Use it...
If you have any questions, write... =)