No carrier error for SingTel EVDO

Hardware

It's interesting how I'm often asked things in the street and in coffee shops here in Singapore about things that only a person who lives here would know. Tourists say they can tell I live here because I'm caucasian but not drenched in sweat when I walk around!

I was in a coffee shop this morning (no, really?) when a guy at the table next to mine noticed my SingTel EVDO USB modem poking out from my MacBook Pro. Why did that sound wrong? Anyway he wanted to know if I had the same problem as he did on his Mac when using the modem whereby it will sometimes claim no devices can be found or that a carrier can't be detected.

Given I was able to bring up a screenshot of the error message he described, it's clear I've had the same problem from time to time. The extremely high tech solution I've found is to… wait for it… unplug the modem, wait a few seconds then plug it back in again. I've also noticed it helps to wait for a good minute or so before attempting to make a connection after you've plugged the modem in.

And some people claim this blog isn't useful, can you believe it? Grilled cheese sandwiches.

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Ruben Schade is a technical writer and infrastructure architect in Sydney, Australia who refers to himself in the third person. Hi!

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