How to access 3G on an Android tablet via external dongle ?
Need help regarding 3G access on your Android tablet? By the end of this tutorial you will be able to access 3G Internet on your Android tablet via an external dongle easily.
3G in Android tablet
While reading the specification of an Android tablet you can notice that "3G connectivity is available via external dongle". Before proceeding further, I would like to talk about the types of dongles that are available in the market. There are two types of dongles - one is without SIM card and the other with SIM card. Dongles like Tata Photon Plus, Reliance NetConnect are without SIM card type and the SIM card dongle are those where you can insert any SIM card into it.
If you don't have an internet dongle yet, you can buy internet dongle at the best price from Amazon India store.Things needed to setup 3G
1. microUSB to USB converter (If your tablet has USB port then you don't need this)
2. 3G SIM card dongle
3. SIM card with 3G facility in your circle
Android tablet won't come with 3G dongle, you need to buy it separately. While purchasing a dongle , do recheck whether you have bought a 3G dongle or a 2G dongle,cause you won't be able to access 3G via a 2G dongle. A 2G dongle is used for GPRS/EDGE and its speed is less than 3G. So one must be careful while you purchasing a 3G dongle. You can use any SIM card like Airtel, Aircel, Docomo, Vodafone etc. But your service provider (Airtel) must have 3G in your city/area. To check this you can either call customer care or check on your service provider official website. Don't forget to recharge 3G data pack, without recharging you can't access internet. Steps to set up 3G via external dongle
1. Connect microUSB to USB converter.
2. Plug in your 3G SIM card dongle.
3. If your tablet automatically detects your SIM then its no problem. Suppose if your SIM card is not detected follow the below steps.
4. Open Settings → Wireless & Networks → More → Mobile Networks.
5. In Mobile network settings you can see "Access Point Names", open this menu.
6. Now you need to add APN in this screen.
7. Required fields are APN, MCC and MNC. Just call customer care and get these details, this varies from state to state.3G APN for Indian networks
Latest tablet will have APN settings by default. Suppose if your tablet doesn't detect your SIM card you need to manually type the APN settings. Use your mobile phone to activate 3G pack. To activate 3G you should send a request SMS. Below I have given details about SMS activation and APN's.
BSNL
gprssouth.cellone.in (South Zone)
gprsnorth.cellone.in (North Zone)
Airtel
To activate send SMS as 3G to 121
APN – airtelgprs.com
Vodafone
To activate send SMS 'ACT 3G' to 111
APN – www
Tata Docomo
To activate 3G SMS ACT3G to 53333
APN – Tata.Docomo.Internet
Reliance
To activate send SMS to 51234.
APN:rcomnet (or) smarinet
Use any one of the APN which I mentioned above.
Aircel
To activate send "START 3G" to 121
APN: aircelgprs
Idea
To activate 3G SMS ACT3G to 12345
APN: internet
MTNL
SMS `ACT 3G` to 444
APN: pps3gAccessing 3G in SIM card tablet
All SIM card tablet doesn't have 3G facility. For example, Aakash tablet have SIM card facility but you can access only 2G internet. To access 3G in such tablet you need to follow the same procedure which I cited above. Suppose your tablet has 3G SIM facility then you should follow the procedure that you do in mobile phones. Let me summarize the steps.
1. Request 3G internet via SMS.
2. Save the settings.
3. Just open your browser and enjoy surfing.
Buy internet dongle from Amazon India.
I was dying to know about dongle and this was the only article I found. Was very clear cut explanation. Thank you.
Keep it up. Good work. Take care