That is probably the question that causes most head-scratching for Irish Dovado users, during the initial wizard configuration of the Dovado USB Mobile Broadband Router (UMR).
Your Access Point Name (APN) identifies the access point on your provider’s 3G network your modem will use to connect to the internet. There may be some information provided with your USB modem by the mobile phone company specifying the APN you should use. You can also check the default settings on the software used to configure the USB modem on your computer.
The table below shows the APNs known to be used by the Irish operators and shows if the IP address provided by the APN is public or private.
| Operator | APN | IP address type |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3internet | Public |
| 3 | 3ireland.ie | Private |
| 3 | 3netaccess | (tbc) |
| Eircom1 | broadband.eircombb.ie | Public (tbc) |
| Meteor2 | broadband.mymeteor.ie | Public (tbc) |
| O2 | open.internet | Public |
| O2 | internet | Private |
| Vodafone | hs.vodafone.ie | Public |
| Vodafone | internet | Private |
Note: private IP addresses provide a limited form of internet connection, intended for sharing among very large numbers of 3G phone users, whereas public IP addresses offer the full range of internet functionality, e.g. online gaming, voice over IP (VOIP), port forwarding, similar to what is provided on most DSL and Wireless broadband solutions.
1As of mid-June 2009, Eircom’s mobile broadband packages services are only available in Dublin County, Cork City, Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan, Naas, Waterford, Bray and Newbridge.
2Meteor’s "Broadband To Go" service shares the same 3G network as Eircom and is therefore available in the same locations. Thanks to Jason Roe for the info on Meteor’s APN.
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Just to let you know open.internet on o2 only works on a contract plan and not on PAYG.
Thanks for posting that, Dave. I think that O2 Ireland currently don’t offer dongle-based mobile broadband on a Pay As You Go basis. I imagine that internet access from an iPhone 3G might use the private address “internet” APN.
Another thing that may be of interest. When I use hs.vodafone.ie the IP address that is give is a public address but it is not accessible from the outside world. When I do a trace route the ip first bounces through a 10.x.x.x address which appears to me as if the address is behind a firewall. Has anyone found this to be different? I contacted datasupport and they added the mylan apn but it made no difference.
Meteor APN is broadband.mymeteor.ie .. isp. does not seem to work via the usb modem.
Thanks for that, Jason. Keen to hear now if Meteor are assigning public or private IP addresses.
Looked like public to me. Has your device been tested on meteor yet?
It’s hard to tell, Jason. We’ve sold lots of units in the Cork and Dublin area. The Meteor modem is certainly supported…feedback any Meteor users?
Hi Guys looking to buy one of these baby’s – is it working with 3 contract?
Cheers in advance
Hi Chris
The Dovado will work with all operators – the critical thing is whether it supports the modem. This is one of the reasons Dovado update their firmware so regularly…to keep up with the latest modems. The E160G and E180 are supported.
Thanks Gerry will be in contact soon – heard great things about this
I am using hs.vodafone.ie and want to use port forwarding for a recall service. My equip can be configured to use any port but I can’t seem to find an open port on hs.vodafone.ie To prove I was not doing something wrong I set it all up on O2 open.internet and it works perfect. It would appear that hs.vodafone.ie does not allow port forwarding which is a major problem for me now.
Is hs.vodafone.ie giving you a public IP address? – it is possible that the vodafone service may vary depending on whether you’re classified as a business or home user. Then there’s their Pay As You Use service – as yet we haven’t been able to confirm what APN and IP addressing is used on the Vodafone Pay As You Use setup.
Any feedback from other UMR users with Vodafone Ireland is appreciated to build a more accurate picture.
Hi, well to answer Chris question, the Dovado works perfectly with Three using 3internet as the APN and the E180.
I’ve tried three routers – D100 (from Three), Edimax 6200n (from Car warehouse) and Dovado. There is no comparison, the Dovado bet them all hands down! The tracker connection feature won it over for me. I never had to worry about dropped connections again which I was having serious issues with, with the other routers.
Jim
Hi Gerry or Jim from last post. When setting up the APN settings for 3 do you need to specify a Dial Number ?
No, the APN is all that is required for connecting to the Irish mobile broadband networks – the default settings in the MODEM -> PPP screen of the Dovado UMR configuration can be left as they are.
3 mobile have a third APN which seems to be the default – 3netaccess
If you ring up tech support about slow speeds then they will tell you to change to 3ireland.ie
In my case it made no difference
Thanks for that Peter – I’ll add that to the list on this page in jiffy. I take it you successfully had a working connection with 3netaccess? It’s a new one on me.
I’m curious to know what APN 3 are using with their National Broadband Scheme customers and how if at all the National Broadband Scheme service differs from the “normal” 3 mobile broadband service.
I’m on the 3 NBS and have had plenty of issues with slow/no connectivity. Anyways, on the APN details for NBS – anytime I’m on to their NBS support, if I am on 3ireland.ie (they’ve also asked me to go onto 3ireland – no .ie?) they ask me to go to 3internet and vice versa. There’s usually a performance improvement for @ 15mins
Curiously, I’ve managed to get onto their network (usuing a 3g router) without specifying an APN????
Thanks for that Rob – does “3ireland” actually work?
When I discovered that the UMR could connect in some circumstances without an APN, I was also taken aback, but it turns out that the APN is sometimes stored on the SIM and with a blank APN, the UMR will check this option.
See http://movingwifi.com/no-apn/ for more details.
i have both o2 and 3 modems. been using o2 mostly cos the 3 one was just useless. as it happens the 3 one occasionally worked even with the o2 open.internet apn.
however in the last week neither will work with the router. shows a signal but just doesn’t connect. the o2 one works fine plugged straight into my pc. driving me nuts.
Hi Larry
I’d recommend doing a factory reset on the router and starting the configuration wizard from scratch to see if it resolves the issue.
Just push and hold the reset button for 8 seconds with the power on (but without any modem connected) and then release to initiate a factory reset.
Hi,
try removing UMR from the Host Name in modem settings so that its blank.
The full reset worked. Thanks for that.
All running smoothly again.
On a seperate note – has anyone used the home automation feature on the router?
Wondering if anyone has used extended usb cables to modem and whether there is any performance implications-was told by a fella in maplins that anything over 2-3 metres would have an adverse effect on signal to umr but doesn’t sound right?
also i have an 02 sierra 888 – has anyone tried an antenna with this and what was result/type of antenna?
thanks
Hi Larry, I was given a sample TellStick and socket controllers for demo purposes. I only tried them out recently and have to admit I was slightly skeptical about the appeal of home automation, but I am now more convinced.
For example even if you’re using the UMR in WAN mode, you can use your USB modem to control sockets via SMS; i.e. although the USB port is not being used for the internet connection it can still be active for SMS functionality such as home automation.
Hi MacDara, the fella in Maplins is spot on. In theory the USB specification allows lengths up to 5m, but when connecting USB modems to a router or computer it is vital it is operating with optimum power. I’d recommend not using a USB cable with your modem if it can be avoided – obviously some modems require a cable either because they have a mini-USB port rather than USB connector or require extra current using a double-headed or ‘Y’ USB cable. In those circumstances a short cable (<1m) is recommended.
Just on the usb extension – I use one with mine, 3m I think it is. Seems to work fine. And I need it really cos the 3g signal in the house ain’t great so I have the usb dongle up in the top corner of a window facing the direction of the mast – connected back down to the router which is near ground level in a corner.
Hi, I use Linux and using 3 for broadband access on usb dongle…sometimes 3internet can be unstable at times – but fast and public (like hosting website etc), switch to either 3netaccess or 3ireland.ie DNS is extremely slow in fact websites hang as dns lookups fail…. sigh… I find myself switching between the different APN’s from time to time…in order to reset the connection (if I use 3internet, it works, then sporadically, it disconnects, then I try to reconnect – it fails, so then switch to the private apns, then disconnect for a while, then reconnect back on to 3internet then it works…weird!)
Thanks for that t0mm13b. I reckon all the operators are at this carry-on to deal with contention. i.e. They drop your connection (on a particular APN) and freeze you out (or reduce you to 2G) for a time period. Pretty shoddy, but 3G just doesn’t scale very well.
Hi, I use a 5m USB extension cable connected to my modem which is in the attic and run it directly to the PC and it works perfectly. If I bring the modem down to PC level I get no signal where as get a good signal from attic. I hope to try the same with the UMR router.
Do They all use the same dial up number for example 3ireland use *99#