# Need Router: Internet USB Dongle Support. Budget: 2 - 2.5k



## Vyom (May 6, 2014)

Hi friends.

<Story/>
So in an attempt to find myself the best broadband, I have decided to try every conceivable options available in the market. First I had MTNL landline broadband connection. Broadband kya gh*nta.. it used to remain down for hours if not days on a bad day. Then I disconnected it after 3 yrs of connection for Pacenet. But I guess Pacenet is not able to bear heavy load of my usage. Now I have decided to try MTNL's 3G connection. The plan of 1650 with unlimited 3G internet seems luring.

<Problem_Statement/>
So I have a dongle: Huawei E1731. Photo: *i7.minus.com/iAiFCL1Q4DEwP.jpg (airtel 3G written over it).
I have bought an MTNL 3G sim. Now I just need a router with USB support, that I can use to create a wifi hotspot in my house.
House is not big so a mid range router will work.

<Query/>
I was trying to find myself a good router around 2K, but FK is of no help. My preference of brand doesn't include TP-Link since there is no service center in Delhi and to RMA TP-Link product I need to courier it to Mumbai, which I believe is a hassle. (Have a product, that I am unable to RMA).

Please help guys...


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## kARTechnology (May 6, 2014)

Tp link mr3220/3420 is best


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## Vyom (May 6, 2014)

kARTechnology said:


> Tp link mr3220/3420 is best



Thanks, but you straightaway ignored my <Query/> part? I am not preferring TP-Link product.
Any other recommendation please?


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## whitestar_999 (May 6, 2014)

there are many tplink authorized resellers in Delhi,try contacting them to see if they can RMA if you drop & pickup the product at their shop(just tell them your friend got the product from nehru place long time ago & don't remember which shop now).
*www.tp-link.in/where-to-buy/resellers.aspx?p=2


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## Zangetsu (May 6, 2014)

Vyom said:


> I am not preferring TP-Link product.



why? is TP-Link not good?


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## Vyom (May 6, 2014)

Zangetsu said:


> why? is TP-Link not good?



I don't have a good experience with their product, since I use them 24 x 7. 
Current router which I bought of TP-Link is working fine. But sometimes I see drop in connection. I know its Pacenet ISP acting up, but I don't have confidence on the router itself.
That's why I want to try some other product of other brand.

- - - Updated - - -



whitestar_999 said:


> there are many tplink authorized resellers in Delhi,try contacting them to see if they can RMA if you drop & pickup the product at their shop(just tell them your friend got the product from nehru place long time ago & don't remember which shop now).
> *www.tp-link.in/where-to-buy/resellers.aspx?p=2



I can try that if I ever goto nehru place. I have lost the bill of the USB adapter that I bought from TP-Link a while ago. If existing non-usb router gives me problem I might try to RMA it from authorized dealer.
But for now, to purchase a USB Router, I want to try some other (renowed) brand.


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## kARTechnology (May 6, 2014)

I have wdr3600... Uptime 4 months(no shutdown)
Works like a charm...with local fiber cable broadband


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## kARTechnology (May 6, 2014)

I have a dlink 2750u with dwm156 BSNL 3g and I need to reboot every day
Pathetic renowned dlink brand and useless Customer support


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## Vyom (May 7, 2014)

Don't take it the wrong way, but , the way you have posted the three posts on this thread, it seems you are a bit biased towards, TP-Link.
Sorry if I am wrong. 

- - - Updated - - -

So any other suggestions guys?!

- - - Updated - - -

I need to buy today... so any help would be appreciated.


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## kARTechnology (May 7, 2014)

Vyom said:


> Don't take it the wrong way, but , the way you have posted the three posts on this thread, it seems you are a bit biased towards, TP-Link.
> Sorry if I am wrong.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> ...



First I too didn't like tp link but now I know it is a vfm with lots of features

Mr3220 shows signal strength of 3g too
U can install a openwrt firmware called ROOter to send sms and more features

In my place there is no service center too


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## Zangetsu (May 7, 2014)

so dlink & tplink have some complaints....
how about linksys?


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## kARTechnology (May 7, 2014)

Zangetsu said:


> so dlink & tplink have some complaints....
> how about linksys?



Tp link has complaints?
No linksys has USB port in affordable range that too with 3g


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## Vyom (May 7, 2014)

So, TP Link MR 3220/3420 ... huh?

I guess I don't have much choice now.

I would have loved to have some other options, if budget is not taken into consideration.


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## whitestar_999 (May 7, 2014)

i suggest buying from nehru place preferably from tplink authorized reseller.maybe this will solve the RMA issue if you ever need it.


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## Vyom (May 7, 2014)

whitestar_999 said:


> i suggest buying from nehru place preferably from tplink authorized reseller.maybe this will solve the RMA issue if you ever need it.



I might as well do that.
Its kinda hard to believe, no one can suggest any product from any brand other than TP Link which have the support for 3G USB dongle even if budget is not taken into consideration.


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## whitestar_999 (May 7, 2014)

only alternative i prefer to tp-link is asus.they make some good models but availability might be an issue.
*www.flipkart.com/asus-wl-330n3g-6-in-1-wireless-n-mobile-router/p/itmd3u64dprfsvay


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## Vyom (May 7, 2014)

whitestar_999 said:


> only alternative i prefer to tp-link is asus.they make some good models but availability might be an issue.
> *www.flipkart.com/asus-wl-330n3g-6-in-1-wireless-n-mobile-router/p/itmd3u64dprfsvay



That is a very small router!   

*www.asus.com/websites/global/products/O7MOua9hMhFNXeUh/2ccard.jpg

That is cool. No wonder it's out of stock. I will try to find it!


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## Zangetsu (May 8, 2014)

^^looks excellent..how much is the range?


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## Vyom (May 8, 2014)

Zangetsu said:


> ^^looks excellent..how much is the range?



It have one Internal 2.6 dBi antenna. Range is as expected very less for this device. I guess the high cost is due to its portability.
So search still continues.


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## Zangetsu (May 8, 2014)

Vyom said:


> It have one Internal 2.6 dBi antenna. Range is as expected very less for this device. I guess the high cost is due to its portability.
> So search still continues.



Yes..range is very important when using WiFi Devices.


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## kARTechnology (May 8, 2014)

Why not buy the tp link one from flipkart as it has 30 day replacement?


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## Vyom (May 8, 2014)

Or, someone suggested me ASUS RTN10U, that works with the dongle I have: *www.asus.com/Networking/RTN10U_B/specifications/

FK have it out of stock. But ebay have it! 

*www.ebay.in/itm/asus-rt-n10u-b-wir...oadband-/201016000494?pt=lh_defaultdomain_203 
and *www.ebay.in/itm/asus-rt-n10u-b-wir...r-modem-/291130734437?pt=lh_defaultdomain_203

I might buy this now!


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## kARTechnology (May 8, 2014)

Vyom said:


> Or, someone suggested me ASUS RTN10U, that works with the dongle I have: *www.asus.com/Networking/RTN10U_B/specifications/
> 
> FK have it out of stock. But ebay have it!
> 
> ...



I had a better model Asus rt-n13u
Replaced 2 times with FK and refunded my money 
So buying in FK is safe


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## Vyom (May 8, 2014)

kARTechnology said:


> I had a better model Asus rt-n13u
> Replaced 2 times with FK and refunded my money
> So buying in FK is safe



I think purpose of your post was to warn me that buying from ebay might not be the best idea? 
Or that if you can't get it from FK, then better buy the TP-Link one?


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## whitestar_999 (May 9, 2014)

just a note,this one is different from the B version which has 3g/4g support:
www.asus.com/Networking/RTN10U/
so make sure ebay has B version.RT-N13U B1 has been discontinued & its successor N14U is out of your budget.


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## Vyom (May 9, 2014)

Thanks for the concern. 
Both the ebay links I posted is the B version! 

I think I can go for it. I might finalize it tomorrow morning and give an order for it.


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## kARTechnology (May 9, 2014)

Vyom said:


> I think purpose of your post was to warn me that buying from ebay might not be the best idea?
> Or that if you can't get it from FK, then better buy the TP-Link one?



Getting refund from ebay is nearly impossible without lots of communication... That's why FK is hassle free


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## Vyom (May 9, 2014)

kARTechnology said:


> Getting refund from ebay is nearly impossible without lots of communication... That's why FK is hassle free



And that's why my plan is following:

I will try to find RT-N10U B locally. If I am unable to find that, I will have no choice but to find TP Link MR 3220/3420. 
If I am unable to find the TP Link model, then I will buy RT-N10U B from ebay.


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## dashing.sujay (May 10, 2014)

[MENTION=77264]Vyom[/MENTION] - there's an asus exclusive store in noida sector 18, and i saw there many routers, so chances are that you'll get it there.


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## Vyom (May 10, 2014)

dashing.sujay said:


> [MENTION=77264]Vyom[/MENTION] - there's an asus exclusive store in noida sector 18, and i saw there many routers, so chances are that you'll get it there.



Whoa.. thanks for informing man.. 
I will surely keep a tab there.


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## Vyom (May 11, 2014)

So I finally bought TP Link TL-MR3420. Costed me Rs 2150 from offline market.

*i.minus.com/ibdeD4AMfujK11.jpg

The reason why I went with TP Link finally was that I came to know Nehru Place now have a service center. ASUS's RT-N10U B was not available easily anyway. So I thought why not try the router recommended by majority. 

Now, I am waiting for the MTNL Sim to get activated. (Yea, its taking time to activate. Calling 1508 doesn't do anything. Apparently its hard to activate a SIM if you don't try calling the number 24x7). After which I will finalize whether to continue with the MTNL 3G plan of 1650.

Thanks guys for helping me out to decide a router and clearing me out of my doubts. 

- - - Updated - - -

And for posterity, I am quoting the link to another thread which also helped me to decide this router:
*broadbandforum.co/topic/79423-need-router-with-3g-usb-dongle-support-budget-around-2k/


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## Zangetsu (May 12, 2014)

Congrats..
how much is the range?


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## Vyom (May 12, 2014)

Zangetsu said:


> Congrats..
> how much is the range?



Thanks. 
I don't know, I will have to test it. But I will let you know, once I test it.


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## kARTechnology (May 13, 2014)

Vyom said:


> Thanks.
> I don't know, I will have to test it. But I will let you know, once I test it.



If you want to check balance by sms USING ROUTER upgrade to ROOter firmware( search google ofmodemsandmen)

I am also thinking to buy the same router but will try ROOter firmware on my wdr3600 tplink


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## Vyom (May 14, 2014)

So I am having trouble using MTNL 3G dongle.

The dongle works fine with the router. But gives only 22% as signal strength. Doesn't improve even if I keep the router next to window, on 1st floor.
Speed of internet varies around 100 kBps, which is even lower than the 1 Mbps connection I had. Even this speed isn't consistent.

After sometimes dongle seems to get very hot. And connection drops.

I don't think that connection drop happens due to router, since it drops even if I use the dongle directly with PC. It may happen that dongle getting heated is the cause of connection drop, but even then the speed I am getting from MTNL 3G isn't worth the 1650 plan I initially bought the router for.

I am perplexed now. Looks like I will have to continue with pacenet only.

- - - Updated - - -

So I did a little testing of the router using my MTNL SIM and then on Airtel SIM.
It turns out that MTNL SIM was at fault here. The connection dropouts were due to the problem with coverage of MTNL network. Airtel network worked flawlessly.

Even when dongle becomes hot after sometimes, still Airtel 3G is providing virtually no connection dropouts. All in all, the router I bought is working fine.

I still have to test its range. Will do soon.


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## Vyom (May 19, 2014)

kARTechnology said:


> If you want to check balance by sms USING ROUTER upgrade to ROOter firmware( search google ofmodemsandmen)



I went to the site of ofmodemsandmen. Since after trying the 3G dongle, I felt the need to check the remaining balance by SMS.
Closed the site, since there were a lot of spiders on the site. I don't like them.


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## kARTechnology (May 20, 2014)

Vyom said:


> I went to the site of ofmodemsandmen. Since after trying the 3G dongle, I felt the need to check the remaining balance by SMS.
> Closed the site, since there were a lot of spiders on the site. I don't like them.



heyyyyy
close your eyes and download, it is now the most popular firmware in the world
else disable images on that page and continue


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## Vyom (May 20, 2014)

I would be grateful of you if you can provide a direct link to the firmware for TP Link TL-MR3420. Or atleast to the direct page where firmware is available.
Thanks.


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## dashing.sujay (May 20, 2014)

Vyom said:


> I would be grateful of you if you can provide a direct link to the firmware for TP Link TL-MR3420. Or atleast to the direct page where firmware is available.
> Thanks.



*ofmodemsandmen.com/downloads.html

No spiders on that page.

Check if yours is v1 or v2. Plus there are multiple options available so you need to figure out yourself which is the most suitable for you to download.


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## justgothere (May 20, 2014)

I'm not a Technical person. Just would like to know of a good wifi router within 2k through which I may share my photon connection with two three laptops/tabs at home. 
Regards


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## dashing.sujay (May 20, 2014)

[MENTION=77264]Vyom[/MENTION] - You may also try ddwrt for your router.



justgothere said:


> I'm not a Technical person. Just would like to know of a good wifi router within 2k through which I may share my photon connection with two three laptops/tabs at home.
> Regards



You can go for the same Vyom opted for.


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## justgothere (May 20, 2014)

Ok Thanks


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## kARTechnology (May 20, 2014)

dashing.sujay said:


> [MENTION=77264]Vyom[/MENTION] - You may also try ddwrt for your router.
> 
> 
> 
> You can go for the same Vyom opted for.



but does dd-wrt has 3g support out of the box for that router

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dashing.sujay said:


> *ofmodemsandmen.com/downloads.html
> 
> No spiders on that page.
> 
> Check if yours is v1 or v2. Plus there are multiple options available so you need to figure out yourself which is the most suitable for you to download.



there are 3 spiders there too

There are now two versions of Huntsman available, both with the same features. The version under the yellow header uses an older and, hopefully more stable, revision of OpenWRT as it's base. The version under the red header uses the latest revision of OpenWRT available at creation time.

*
TP-Link MR3420v2 does not have USB power control on Yellow version.
so u cannot reset dongle from router page but reboot router completely to do that, so get red version to make the router reset the dongle if internet lost, all this is automatic*

Features of *Huntsman*


    Quality of Service (QOS)
    Client and Repeater Mode
    User Added Support for New Modems
    Keep Connection Alive
    Network Status web page to display signal and cell information
    Ability to execute AT Commands from the web interface
Bandwidth Monitor implemented
Cellular Mode display and selection*
SMS Messaging is supported*
Keep Alive now has user settable options and modem power toggling if supported by the router.


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## dashing.sujay (May 20, 2014)

kARTechnology said:


> but does dd-wrt has 3g support out of the box for that router



Yes, it does. But that modem has to be supported by ddwrt beforehand.



> there are 3 spiders there too



They somehow didn't load for me the first time.

- - - Updated - - -

But opnwrt also supports USB devices which ddwrt doesn't, so openwrt seems to the wiser choice here.


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## Vyom (May 21, 2014)

Vyom said:


> I went to the site of ofmodemsandmen. Since after trying the 3G dongle, I felt the need to check the remaining balance by SMS.
> Closed the site, since there were a lot of spiders on the site. I don't like them.





kARTechnology said:


> heyyyyy
> close your eyes and download, it is now the most popular firmware in the world
> else disable images on that page and continue





dashing.sujay said:


> *ofmodemsandmen.com/downloads.html
> 
> No spiders on that page.





kARTechnology said:


> there are 3 spiders there too





dashing.sujay said:


> They somehow didn't load for me the first time.



And That is what I like about TDF!
I said I don't like Spiders. And despite the fact that I gave a good chance to troll myself, you guys actually acknowledged the fact that I don't like spiders, but rather tried to help me! 

Anyway, so I disabled images using Opera, downloaded the appropriate driver for v2 and upgraded the firmware. I struggled a lot initially to setup APN for example, but Google helped there and when I was just about to give up the dongle worked. And now I am surfing internet through the updated driver.

I have to say, maybe the features are a lot in this firmware, but UI is far more complicated and non noob friendly. But I figured my way to it.

Also, I don't think my purpose solved by upgrading the firmware. I upgraded firmware so that I can send message through the UI to know the remaining 3G balance. But I later realized I know only the USSD code to know the balance. And there doesn't seem to be an option to send USSD code though the UI of router. And I don't seem to find any way to know the balance through SMS of MTNL 3G.

Well, a bummer.


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## kARTechnology (May 21, 2014)

Vyom said:


> And That is what I like about TDF!
> I said I don't like Spiders. And despite the fact that I gave a good chance to troll myself, you guys actually acknowledged the fact that I don't like spiders, but rather tried to help me!
> 
> Anyway, so I disabled images using Opera, downloaded the appropriate driver for v2 and upgraded the firmware. I struggled a lot initially to setup APN for example, but Google helped there and when I was just about to give up the dongle worked. And now I am surfing internet through the updated driver.
> ...



Atleast you get alerts from mtnl when balance is about to become empty/ recharge successful

Don't worry it will be implemented Soon
Remember to subscribe to do not disturb to stop nuisance sms
Send "start 0" to 1909


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## Vyom (Jun 10, 2014)

So, I used MTNL 3G sim on the new router I bought TL-MR3420. I had flashed ROOter which came with OpenWrt (Firmware version: Huntsman 2014-01-25red / LuCI Trunk (svn-r9945) ).

Then I switched  to a new broadband connection: ANI network. The internet is fine except that it is also "Login" based. I configured the router myself and accidently edited the LAN settings. I realized my mistake when router failed to connect through the web interface. I hard reset the router and this time set the WAN settings. And now I can use the Internet. But I still need to login from the Login page of the ANI network through browser.

I was wondering whether we can set this login information of ANI network within the ROOter interface somewhere so that I don't need to login each time the session is expired (its like 15 min). Or, can I make the connection Alive by setting something in Router which for eg, keeps pinging a site in regular intervals. I have seen the option somewhere but not able to find it now. Can you help  [MENTION=138043]kARTechnology[/MENTION]?

- - - Updated - - -

Just found the Continuous Ping option. But that's under Modem tab. So if I use a LAN cable for connection, I can't have the "Continuous Ping" option?  ?


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## dashing.sujay (Jun 10, 2014)

I don't think something within the router can do that. Only a start up script can do that. That is available at least for ddwrt, should also be available for OpenWRT.

Also, you'll self have to figure out how to write the start up script by seeing other examples.


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