Hmm, my Mobile Connect Card (bought from eBay above) isn't a Huawei at all, but a ZTE. It's a Vodafone K3565-Z. The only unlocking options I've seen so far (from perusing the usual web forums) cost money, and AFAIK the available software (Dashboard) isn't as good as for Huawei. Got any advice?

That's kind of annoying, as the descriptions of the eBay auctions linked above state the sticks to support only 3.6 MBit/s, which only applies for the K3565-H (from Huawei). The K3565-Z, which you received, actually supports 7.2 MBit/s. So leave a negative feedback for that seller!

Anyway, mwconn, a free dashboard compatible with a lot of data devices, should work for your ZTE stick. Don't forget to install the Vodafone Dashboard anyway, as mwconn does still need it's integrated drivers.

By the way Mediamarkt currently sells the Vodafone K3565 for € 27 and according to several postings it's the Huawei version.

It looks like the solution is to ignore the Vodafone software and use generic ZTE Dashboard or mwconn. Can't flash the stick, though. I think this is going to be my wife's stick, and I'll buy a Huawei at MM all for myself.

Maybe we'll find a way to flash ZTE sticks sometime in the future, but for now I don't know how. Giving it to your wife is a good solution meanwhile. ;-)
Before you buy a Huawei K3565 at Mediamarkt, have you checked if there's a The Phone House shop near you, where they sell one of the better sticks (K3520, E172, K3715) for € 30? Details at Der UMTS-Stick und -Datenkarten Schnäppchen Thread - Telefon-Treff

In the end I didn't have time to go to MediaMarkt or the Phone House, but I did go to the local Vodafone shop to get a second stick (a Huawei-made K3565-H for 29.90). I played dumb, but insisted on a Huawei stick, claiming to have read on the Internet that they had fewer problems.

It looked at first like it was simlocked (aargh!) and the firmware updater linked to above didn't work (but a look with the DC Lock client showed it wasn't), but I went to the Huawei website (http://www.huawei.com/mobileweb/en/d...ype=-1&id=5840) and found the E160G updater. Seems to be working so far.

The cheapest offer ever for an unlocked Huawei E160E (aka Vodafone K3565-H): € 23,67 incl. shipping at pauldirekt.de (promotion valid until 24.07.2009 at 23:59 h only).

Now there's an English guide to USB modem offers in Germany: Germany - 3G modem wiki

Feel free to add further countries to the shopping guide section!

Inquisitor so far I could not find anywhere what type of Huawei E160 is offered by Aldi.

Do you happen to know the version?
Are there major differences between the different letters versions?

Did you ever try if an external antenna e.g. 10 dBi improves the reception, of if the transmission line loss in the cheap thin cable compensate the antenna gain to 0

I agree that a E160 can be obtained cheaper then 59€, however Aldi is much more willing to take it back then others, if you have checked with the local manager before you buy it. So it comes down to the money for the starter package if it doesn't work rather then the additional cost for the stick,

I believe it's a E160, but no one confirmed that so far. You could revive the following thread, which I had opened for that purpose Bitte an Besitzer folgender Sticks: O2, Fonic, Vodafone K3565, MedionMobile S4011 - Telefon-Treff, maybe some owner of the Aldi stick will reply.

The differences are the supported 3G frequency bands, as you can see at Huawei E160 (E160G, E160E, E160X, K3565) - 3G modem wiki

No, I have no experience with antennas on 3G devices, but a good source for cheap antennas of high quality is UMTS-, WLAN- und DECT-Informationen, Tipps und Tricks sowie Web-Shop. They use high quality cable and when ordering you can chose the connector type and cable length of your antenna so you can reduce signal attenuation by a short one. I've bought WiFi antennas from them before.

GM tnx 4 fast reply,

quality does mean imho not low loss ( e.g. if they would use RG-174) just that the manufactering process is of good quality.

I've searching a bit and found a Huawei the Q&A Huawei Technical Forum: Which is my HSDPA stick E160 or E169 or ... that
which contradicts some listings made on in the web.

PS.:
While it's good to have an antenna connector inside, I wonder if any of the matching female connector have been designed, similar to that used in Notebooks for WLAN, for more then just a a few disconnects. If I made up my mind and found a Stick I will have to buy/built an adapter-cable (e.g. SMA on the other side) and fix it permanently to the stick.

At a question for external use I found this info :rolleyes: Huawei Technical Forum: E160X (model K3565) usb stick- aerial ...