I have found an old Huawei E173 USB 3G modem and I tried to see if it still works. It should, of course. I have tried using it on my Chromebook and on my Windows 10 PC, but all I got out of it was a blinking green light. I thought it has something to do with the probably outdated SIM card, but I wasn’t sure. And there was no manual near, and I also couldn’t find it on the web.

I was able to find the meaning of the lights, however.

• Green (blinking twice every 3s): The USB Stick is powered on
• Green ( blinking once every 3s): The USB Stick is registering with a 2G network.
• Blue (blinking once every 3s): The USB Stick is registering with a 3G/3G+ network.
• Green (solid): The USB Stick is connected to a 2G network
• Blue (solid): The USB Stick is connected to a 3G network
• Cyan (solid): The USB Stick is connected to a 3G+ network
• Off: The USB Stick is removed

It helped me troubleshoot that my suspicion was correct – the modem can’t connect to 2G network. Probably didn’t even try with 3G. So I should find a working 3G SIM card and try again.

Next:

1. Try to see if Huawei E173 works with Windows 10
2. Try to test if Huawei E173 works with a Lenovo Chromebook
3. Try to see if Huawei E173 can work without a computer, just plugging it in a USB wall plug

Please let me know in the comments if you have tried any of those options and what were your results. Option 1 should obviously work, I read on the forums that option 2 also works, and I haven’t been able to read anything on option 3. Let me say that even with the option 3 the green light blinks, so plugging the modem in the USB just might work, too.