Connecting the Linksys WRT54G3G to Telia 3G or Tre 3G

Update 2007-07-06 I gave up on Telia's 3G network, it was of terrible quailty and switch to 3 (tre). They had a good offer of 1GB of data for 99SEK/month, or Unlimited for 199SEK/month. I managd to unlock my Telia card (took nearly a week for telia to get the 8 digit unlock code and cost me 300SEK. I only have tried the 3 network for a few days now, first through my phone a Sony Ericsson K810i. I manged to get 384Kbit/s if I used the bluetooth connection, through the USB cable it is limited to 110Kbit/s.

Update 2007-07-19 After unlocking my card I could use the router (much easier). After using it for two weeks,the Tre network works much better than Telia. So far the maximum speed is around 1Mbit, It seems that Turbo 3G started working even tough I am in the middle of nowhere (5 km outside of Ystad). The telia GUI that was shipped with the card did not work with the tre network. I managed to download a new client from Huawei site.

About the router

The linksys WRT54G3G is designed to connect to the vodafone 3G network, with their proprietary/branded cards.

I googled for a long while before I found any information if the Linksys WRT54G3G would work with the Telia HUAWEI E620 3G card.

Well it turnes out that it works without any problems. You just need firmware that supports the Huawei E620 card. The unit came with 1.99 which does not seem to support the E620 card.

  • load the latest firmware (v2.00.22 at the time of writing)
  • APN selection mode to Custom
  • Enter APN Name: online.telia.se
  • Your PIN code

    It will automatacly select the correct network Tele 2 AB, not very obvious, but Telia and Tele 2 have a common 3G network

    To connect to the network just press the connect button on the outside. To disconnect press the button again.

    External Aerial

    The Huawei card works great but you need an external aerial for it, the 3G coverage indoors is very poor. And surfing at 2 1/2G speed is not fun. The Huawei card has a very custom connector. I have managed to find three different external antenas for it.

    A 3db antenna


    It comes with a 3m cable which is good as you can place the antenna where there is good reception. But I assume the loss in the cable is about the same as the gain on the antenna.

    A small external one

    A small one that you can attach to you computer with velcro. Seems to have the same gain as the 3db antenna.

    Converter to FME male

    Which is good if you need a more powerfull external antenna.
    2007-02-23 Tomas