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Turaiel
join:2010-09-15
Ann Arbor, MI

Turaiel

Member

Sierra 598U keeps resetting

Hey everyone,

I've been using a relative's Sierra 598U 3G modem, and for some reason every day or so, it has these resetting "fits" where it will restart itself every few minutes, causing Sprint SmartView to say "No connectivity hardware was found" until it starts back up.

Anyone have any ideas why this might be happening? Thanks in advance!

Biggles
@spcsdns.net

Biggles

Anon

PRL needs updating, probably. Also, check for software updates. Also check for updated driver if using directly or updated device software if it is mounted in a router or similar.

On the hardware side, check for intermittent connections if you are using an external antenna.
Turaiel
join:2010-09-15
Ann Arbor, MI

1 edit

Turaiel

Member

The PRL is fully up to date, as well as the drivers and software. It's connected to a laptop, and no external antenna.

I'm thinking about getting them to switch to AT&T and get a 4G device while they're at it. $51/GB is a bit ridiculous, and AT&T will be cheaper for more data.

I'm willing to try things to fix this while it's still here though!

Thanks for the help so far.

EDIT: Apparently there was a firmware update available (and possibly a PRL update). I was just looking in the wrong places. I applied the update(s) and it appears to be faster and more stable. I say "appears" because I'm not yet sure whether the issues are caused by the amount of time the device is active. The modem had to be unplugged after the update was applied because it gave a "hardware failure" error otherwise. We'll see how it goes.

emanon722
@spcsdns.net

emanon722 to Turaiel

Anon

to Turaiel
Having same problem when I set for long times 'reading' using my 595U on this end. My PRL was just updated last Thursday to 60799 .. Wonder if they are working on towers.. noticed the tower I have been hooked up to for past 5 years no longer is identified on their website as being a sprint Tower or an AMT tower.. thats is getting me 'nervous' about service in the near future..
Turaiel
join:2010-09-15
Ann Arbor, MI

Turaiel

Member

Looks like the update didn't help. I'm still getting resets every 2-5 minutes, in spurts throughout the day. This is getting ridiculous, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it until May when I can get them switched over to AT&T.
AmericanMan
Premium Member
join:2013-12-28
united state

AmericanMan to Turaiel

Premium Member

to Turaiel
I posted in the topic »PX-500 users... Time to upgrade. which I feel might be related to the OP.

We've recently upgraded to the Merlin S720 and we're seeing similar behavior maybe 2-3 times a day. We're using the older Novatel Connection Manager software because we had problems with Sprint SmartView in the past with our PX-500. Ours will just keep getting caught in disconnect/reconnect loops, or it'll be stuck with 0 bars.

We don't think it's the tower having an issue, because I'll usually spin up our other Sprint device (Internet on the Go Mifi) and it'll have fine signal (4-5 bars of EVDO). It happened just now actually, as I was getting ready to post. The card was a little warm, so I took it downstairs to the basement to cool down some, and thankfully it's working again...

We've had it running 24x7 for a few days now, going to try turning it off overnight, see if that helps any. Tomorrow, I might mess with installing Sprint SmartView on our desktop (which has a PCMCIA PCI card adapter in it) to see if it works any better in there. I hope that using it with Sprint SmartView doesn't make it incompatible with Novatel Connection Manager, which is what used to happen to the PX-500 cards.
TakeaSecond
join:2011-09-26
Ruther Glen, VA

TakeaSecond

Member

Some of us with UNLMTD PLANS grandfathered in CANNOT upgrade per Sprint, this happened if were unfortunate enough NOT to switch esn numbers before Softbank bought Sprint. Now the software won't allow you to switch esn numbers on your own without changing your contract terms back to a 5GB limit. Catch 22. Although last FRIDAY 01/17/2014 noticed a significant change in my ability to get onto service with my 595U CARD AFTER 12pm est . Yet when I used wife's Sprint IPAD on same tower and in same house. No problems were happening. Contacted Sprint customer care and they 'refreshed modem' or something they said. By next day modem was back to working normally.
Initially thought I had been 'throttled' because my online usage said I was at 6.8GB but I do have one of those rare unlimited accounts [as long as I don't hook a router to it and use it for personal use have had no problems with the amount of usage even now.. last month my usage was 11GB. With all the WIN XP SP3 downloads and win 7 upgrades. Wonder how long my modem will last...
AmericanMan
Premium Member
join:2013-12-28
united state

AmericanMan

Premium Member

Hello Takeasecond. I am on unlimited grandfathered plan as well, and I was told that there are 6 cards (3G Only, you cannot use a 3G/4G card, or a 4G only card) that we can upgrade to without jeapordizing our contract:

USB

- Novatel Ovation (he didn't say which model exactly, but since it has to be a 3G only one, maybe the U727?)
- Sierra Wireless 597 (his personal recommendation, I bought one but never plugged it up)
- Sierra Aircard 595U

PCMCIA

- Pantech PX-500 (the "ol' reliable", but lately it seems that this might not be so reliable after all, see »PX-500 users... Time to upgrade. for more information)
- Merlin C777
- Merlin S720 (what we upgraded to after our second PX-500 started giving us issues, this has been working great for us, as long as we don't let the card overheat. We now shut it down for about 4 hours every day, whereas we used to leave the old PX-500s running for weeks on end without any issues)
- Merlin S620 (does not support EVDO Rev A, so you probably don't want to bother with this one)

I was told by a friend that the USB modems are a little "dicier" than the PCMCIA ones, so I've been trying to stick with using those.

You must do an ESN swap through the Sprint Online Chat option. I went to the Sprint Connection Manager "activation" pages and walked through those with the online chat agent. Be very very clear that you do not want to change your plan at all. I just did one a few weeks ago to move to the Merlin S720 and it's been working fine. I am not using Sprint SmartView, I am using the old "Sprint Connection Manager" software instead. I've had problems with SmartView in the past.

However, it is interesting that you should mention the issues you were having on 1/17/2014, because we were seeing some crazy weird stuff that night as well. Hardly any sites would work except for Google and anything under Google's umbrella (like Googlecache). I messed with the settings a bunch trying to tweak and see what was wrong, but eventually I gave up and turned the computer and modem off. Thankfully the next morning it was working fine, and has been working fine since (it's what I'm using right now to make this post).