My Gadgets: ZTE 3G modem

China Mobile launched their 3G service at the end of last year and I signed up for the 3G service opting only for the modem to replace my old wireless data service using China Unicom's CDMA. The 3G service was reasonably priced at 100 RMB per month for 2 gigabytes of data. On my GSM phone, the same service using EDGE would cost double and is a fraction of the speed. And at the point when I signed on, all I had to do was to pay for the modem (1300 RMB) and the service was free for the year. So it seemed like a good deal. Of course, the TD-SCDMA technology is new and unproven, so teething problems would be expected. And having witnessed the huge initial problems during the launch of 3G in Singapore and Hong Kong, even the supposedly proven providers are not free of fault.

Looking the modem, ZTE appears to have made a winner. The modem is small and compact, and the drivers and dialer software is stored in flash memory on the device and the moment you plug in the device into your computer, it will check to see if you have the drivers and dialer program installed. If you do not, it will automatically start up the installation process. Quite neat and user friendly.



After three months of usage, I am able to sum up my experiences with the ZTE modem and the 3G service as follows:

• The 3G network coverage is decent but quite unstable. Even when I am in a fixed location and not moving, I see the signal strength bar on the dialer moving up and down like the graphics equalizer LED display on a stereo. That is not all. Because the modem is also able to switch to EDGE/2G service when 3G service is not available, I see the dialer program switching to the 2G network after a while. The strange thing is that the 2G implementation for the ZTE modem seems to be very poor as the browser speed on the 2G network is pathetic compared to using my mobile phone to get online. However, this is a common problem in virtually every market where 3G was launched with 2G switching enabled. So I guess the only solution is to grit my teeth and hope China Mobile fixes it soon.
  
• When all is working normally, speed is excellent. No where near broadband speeds but adequate enough for a smooth browsing experience. No complaints here. In fact, I am pretty pleased with this performance and I am also told it will improve dramatically in the coming months when the data service is upgraded to HSDPA. Fingers crossed.
  
• The updated drivers are impossible to get. When you click on the upgrade check on the dialer software, it will tell you that there are updated drivers available. Then you click on the button to get the driver and after a minute, it bounces back to tell you the drivers cannot be gotten. Searching on the internet for the drivers does not work either.
• Dial-up software doesn't work well under Windows Vista but works well on Windows XP. Under Vista, the installation process is triggered when you plug in the modem. Then after the dialer program and USB driver are installed, the dialer then refuses to work. The manual for the ZTE modem clearly states Vista is supported. Unfortunately, there is no help or technical support available anywhere. Frustrating.
• Coverage is limited as the 3G network and service was only launched in a small number of cities in China. Shenzhen is one of them. This also means that the moment I leave Shenzhen, chances are there will not be a 3G network available.
• The 3G network and the existing 2G network is not integrated on the administrative front. To sign up for the service, I had to apply for a brand new 3G account and this new account could not be linked to my existing 2G account for information sharing and billing purposes. What a waste of administrative resources!
  

The experience with the ZTE modem and the 3G data service has been a roller coaster, running from pleasant to downright frustrating. Thankfully, there were more ups than downs but when the service or the modem was down, there was nothing I could do other than to wait till it restores itself magically.