how to get Verizon 4G mifi (Samsung sch-lc11) working

[mgmiller]

I recently upgraded myVerizon wireless mifi hotspot card from a Verizon 5 spot 3G unit to the new Samsung SCH-LC11 4G mifi hotspot. The old 3G device was very reliable out of the box. No wifi connection problems at all.

The new 4G device was a constant headache. The wifi would connect and disconnect over and over again. Sometimes it would stay connected for a few minutes, but then the problems would start again. Totally unusable in Ubuntu. I tried both 10.04 and 10.10.

Annoyingly, it worked just fine in Windows XP. The Verizon people were not really helpful. They suggested resetting the device, etc. Things I had already tried. After they consulted with their "tech experts" they concluded that they don't support Linux and gave me the option of returning the device.

Here's what I finally figured out.

First, you need a Windows or mac box to connect to the device via wifi.
Open a browser and go to 192.168.1.1
At the log in page, enter the same password that you used to connect to the device in Windows or Mac. It is also printed on a label above the battery. You can see it after you remove the battery cover.

Click on the "Network" tab at the top of the screen.
Below that where it says LAN WiFi, click the WiFi button
Click the "Manual Configuration" button.
On the "Security" line click the drop down where it says WPA/Personal/PSK (TKIP)
Change this to WPA2/Personal/PSK (AES)
The password field just below it will now be blank. Simply reenter the same password that you used before.
Click "Apply" at the bottom of the page.
It will also warn you that you have not changed the profile name and you should delete the profile from whatever Windows was using to ID the device.
You will probably lose the connection.

Return the Windows/MAC box to the owner and say thank you.

Boot up your Ubuntu box and it should just work.

I posted this how to using the device just now.
It's pretty fast, speedtest.net tells me i am getting 18.75Mb down x 4.75 Mb up. latency is about 85 ms. Not too shabby.

Since I got my device at a Verizon store, and they set it up for me while I was there, had I known about this, I could have done all the setup at the store and been ready to go as soon as I got home.

Enjoy.

Edit:
I also realized I had changed the hotspots 802.11 settings from b/g/n to just b/g, so I tried turning the "n" part back on to see what happened. Since my notebook is only b/g, it took a little longer for my computer to reacquire the hot spot, and its resulting connection varied from 1Mb to 54Mb. It did not drop the wifi connection though. I set it back to b/g only and the wifi connect is almost instant and stays at 54 Mb. Since I don't own any 802.11 n hardware, I'll just leave it this way for now.

[joshe1313]

Thanks a million - your a lifesaver!

[dArksp0re]

Brilliant post! Thank you!

[ddettore]

Great job - how come verizon and samsung don't know this

Ubuntu Rocks!

[mgmiller]

I posted the same how to on the Samsung site for this device. Why don't they know? As soon as they hear "Linux", their eyes glaze over and they start to drool. Their only responses are, "we don't support Linux, return the device for a refund". I suspect that is what their trouble shooting software tells them to say.

Hopefully as Google Chrome and Android continue to pick up market share, their attitude towards Linux may change.

[hammer13]

Thanks so much this was driving me crazy. If anyone wants to give a technical breakdown why changing that setting would fix the problem I would love to learn

[WindingRoad]

I noticed you are the last to post on this thread. I hope you can help me with a question about something the OP posted. What is a "mac box" and where do I get one. Can you explain what the OP means by hooking it up. I hate this Verizon MiFi thingy and would love to get it working. I'm computer illiterate so can you be very specific on what to do. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much for your time.

WR,,, three commas for Becca


Edited for grammer mistake.

[mgmiller]

A MAC box is simply a computer running apple OS. You can use any computer running apple os or windows. They will need to make the connection to the mifi by wifi. Failing access to one of the above, I suggest you print out the instructions at the beginning of the post and bring them to your Verizon store. They can easily make the change for you. Before I figured out how to resolve this, my Ubuntu laptop did occasionally make a solid connection to the samsung mifi. If yours ever does seem to connect and stay connected, you can do the change at that time.

[WindingRoad]

So if I have a MacBook Pro I can just do from "open your bowser" etc. Remember I'm very computer illiterate. I also looked in App... Utilities... Network Utilities.... The Airport and found I was getting 54mbits/s and then a/g/g/n Thanks for replying. I want to finish a movie. LOL.

PS. When I get to Security I don't find a drop down. It asks for a password and to change the password. HELP............. NO WPA/Personal/PSK (TKIP) etc.


2 hours later. I went back onto the site and saw security down the page. I was clicking on Security at the top of the page beside Network. My MiFi is running faster. Dropped once in the last 2 hours. Better than before. I really do appreciate your tolerance and help... Great info. I outta go over to Verizon and show them how to do their job. LOL 60 year woman showing up geeks. LOL

[mgmiller]

Glad you got it working from your mac Book Pro. Be aware that after you change the settings, the profile for that device in your mac book may stop working. If so, you will need to go back the network utilities area where you saw it before and just delete the samsung device. Your mac book should then see it with the new settings and reconnect without problems.