If, like me and many others out there, you’ve had problems setting up your O2 E169 mobile broadband stick on a Mac you’ll know how incredibly frustrating it can be. O2 say that the mobile broadband stick works out of the box with the software supplied, which is pure fiction. I wasted hours getting it set up on Mac OS Leopard and then again when I bought a new Mac with Snow Leopard. Talking to O2 support is like kicking yourself in the testicles so I’m posting how I got it to work here in the hope it saves others precious time that could be better spent not kicking yourself in the testicles.
- First of all, and this is important, plug in your O2 mobile broadband USB stick.
- On your Mac, go to System Preferences > Network.
- Click the + (Create a new service) symbol.
- Select HUAWEI mobile from the drop down.
- Enter *99# in the Telephone Number field, leaving Account Name and Password empty.
- Click Advanced then choose Generic for the Vendor and GPRS (GSM/3G) for the Model. In the APN field enter mobile.o2.co.uk.
- Click OK.
- Select Show modem status in menu bar if you’d like to be able to connect easily from the top Mac menu (I find this useful).
- Lastly, remember to click Apply before leaving the System Preferences screen.
Happy mobile browsing.
Thanks for the brilliant advice, I was dreading having to ring the foreign support team at o2 and having to go through the motions of hours of being told I need to make sure my computer is on, plugged in, is the broadband modem plugged in …….. and all that tosh you have to go through to get any help these days.
Your version worked first time and has brought the biggest smile this week, so once again thank you! : )
Peter, you need to plug in the USB stick before the HUAWEI interface will appear. Let me know if that works.
tried to follow you instructions… clickes + and a drop down menu appeared clcked the drop down menu labeled interface but no HUAWEI appeared… any thought?