The TP-Link TL-MR3220 and the ZTE MF627

I've had an unlocked ZTE MF627 around for a couple of years, ever since the "3" offer of a "dongle for free" (plus £4.95 p&p) was around. I unlocked it at the time (google ZTE MF627 unlock for free and I'm sure you will find out how) but I've not made much use of it.

I had a bit of a hankering for an unlocked "mifi" type device but £60 was a bit much to spend for something that was very much a "holiday use" item.

While looking for something else I came across the TP-Link TL-MR3220. This is one of the modern routers which can take a WAN connection (say cable broadband) and back it up with a 3G dongle connection.

There is no operator lock on the device (although there could be on the dongle) and any APN can be entered. Finally it was about £25 from Amazon. How could I resist.

I got it out, connected it to a PC via a cable (it does 4 cable ethernet ports as well as WiFi) and started the set up process.

Sadly, it wouldn't recognise my dongle even after a firmware update. It was starting to look like a return to Amazon and a snotty review was required as the ZTE MF627 was supposed to be a supported device.

In desperation I borrowed a different dongle (a T-Mobile USB stick 120 which is also known as a ZTE MF626) and it was recognised.

I e-mailed the support address [ support.uk@tp-link.com ] but heard nothing back. I then found a UK telephone number(0)845 147 0017 and gave it a ring.

To my great surprise an extremely helpful person answered the phone and after listening to the problem e-mailed a set of instructions.

The problem seemed to be that the ZTE MF627 3G modem was in an autorun mode (so it can start the manager software) not a modem mode when plugged in.

The following sequence of instructions fixed this for me.

Step 1: Plug the 3G modem directly to your computer. Run the manager software (in my case "Globe Visibility Connection Manager") and from control panel find out what COM port the ZTE modem was on.

Step 2: (On Windows XP) click Start->go to All programs->Accessories->Communications->Hyper Terminal->choose the corresponding COM port for the 3G modem

Set the HyperTerminal connection parameters to:

Bits per Second: 115200

Data bits: 8

Parity: None

Stop bits: 1

Flow Control: None

Then, once connected, type the following command (this was "blind" as there was no echo) AT+ZCDRUN=8 then press "enter".

The modem responded

Close autorun state result(0:FAIL 1:SUCCESS):1

and I closed Hyper Terminal.

When I then connected the 3G modem to the router and restarted the router, the modem was recognised (as a MF626 which I think was a result of unlocking).

Using the "3" sim from my phone in the dongle works fine now in the TL-MR3220 and the connection can be shared around a few devices.

The ping (latency) is high (perhaps 200ms) and the data rate is perhaps 200kb/s download and less up but as a way of using WiFi and ethernet devices when away from home it's not bad for the money.

I'll try other SIMS as required but it all looks promising now.

Fantastic technical support TP-Link. It will now be a glowing review at Amazon !