USB 3G modem connectivity in Windows 98/ME

[HardDriv'n]

Hello.

I have a long standing problem, and have asked about it here before. I have as my only means of internet connection a USB 3G modem. Unfortunately, it only comes with drivers for Win2k & up.

Unless someone has written a driver for Windows 98/ME, for my particular model (Starcom UM175), I'm plain outta luck. Well..., recently I've been trying out some Linux distros, and thir kernels have built in support for most of these type of modems. This allows me to even connect this particular old dinosaur, with modern software. But...., the performance compared to Windows is not good.

So after doing some reading on Linux emulation on Windows, I found this thing called 'Cygwin'. Is it possible to use this to connect to the net through something like wvdial + ppp, and would anyone know how to set it up to do that.

I'd like to get Windows 98/ME connected to the net, because I haven't been able to since I abandoned dial-up a few years back.

Edited December 19, 2010 by HardDriv'n

[Mijzelf]

No, that won't work. Cygwin is only a shell, and can't load/support any foreign driver.

You could use a 3G router for connecting your 98 box to the internet, but I'm afraid it will not be cheap.

[jds]

Yeah, a quick web search revealed "MSM6800A Chipset", which means it's a Qualcomm based design (no surprise, they are fairly dominant in the 3G arena, due to their CDMA IP and associated patents).

Unfortunately, I've never found any useful download at Qualcomm's web site, they tend to be very secretive and information tends to be released only by non-disclosure agreement. BTW, same applies with at least one of their competitors.

So, if there is a W9X driver available for this chipset, your only hope is to find it at another OEM's (3G mobile or modem manufacturer) web site. If you do find such, it should be fairly straightforward to adapt the INF file(s) to suit your particular modem.

Joe.

[zuko1]

I recently brought a second hand D100 router for my Hauwaii dongle for £15.00 and it works fantastically well Improved the performance of the dongle and allowed me to connect through my Win 98 box too. i would recommend the D100 router to anyone with an hauwaii dongle although it won't work with the ZTE dongle.

[HardDriv'n]

No, that won't work. Cygwin is only a shell, and can't load/support any foreign driver.

Okay. Is there any other type of emulation software that would allow me to connect to the internet?

You could use a 3G router for connecting your 98 box to the internet, but I'm afraid it will not be cheap.

Not an option. I'm not willing to spend money to get this particular PC connected.

Edited December 18, 2010 by HardDriv'n