ICS with Huawei 3G dongle with the use of Mobile Partner software

This is the configuration I used:

- Hardware:
	- Acer eMachines E1400 PC
		- Processor: Athlon 2650E @1600Mhz, 1 core
		- Memory: 2 Gb DDR2
		- Harddisk: 1 Tb Western Digital
	- Huawei K3765 modem, which was a white Vodafone branded 3G Dongle originally
	- Draytek Vigor 2820Vn ADSL Router with WAN port (not used for ADSL nor for Mobile connection with 3G dongle)
- Software:
	- OS: Windows Vista Bussiness 64 bit NL
	- Huawei Mobile Partner Software version 23.015.02.00.03
- Internet data plan: Lyca Mobile 5Gb per month (15Gb/3 months in total for 15 euro, so 5 euro per month) 

The computer hardware can be replaced with any computer that is able to run Windows XP or higher with at least one working NIC.
Perphaps it is possible to use even Windows 2000, but this depents on the Huawei software which I havent tried under this OS yet.
Also it is important to use a computer which has the ability to startup automatically daily at a given time. You must check your BIOS if this can be achieved.
I got my computer hardware for free from R.J. Jacobs, the same person who has provided me some of my first computer hardware more that 20 years ago when I started this time consuming hobby ;-).
My choice for this particular hardware is (beside the fact that I got it for free) because of the small size (SFF), the low energy consumption (the AMD processor is about 19 Watt) and the possibility in the BIOS to startup automatically.
The choice for Vista Bussiness 64 bit is random, because I could also have installed (the 32 bits version of) Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, which would do just fine on this low end PC from 2009.
Windows 10, which I also have tried on this hardware resulted in a non responsive system.
The other reason why I choose an old and unsupported OS is because of the absence of automatic updates.
It is simply not possible to update Vista and older MS operating systems throught the Internet since SHA-1 was depricated by MS after July 2020.
In effect this means the 3G connection won't use any data for (automatic) updates, which is an advantage since in most cases the 3G connection is a metered connection.
My Internet data plan has a limit of 5Gb per month, which is more than sufficient for my scenario (I use it primarily for mining on a remote location without broadband Internet).

NAT or ICS?

If Windows 2003 Server is used (which I tried first on another system) it is also possible to use Routing and Remote Access (RRAS) with the NAT protocol to share the internet connection.
However this has been proved to be less reliable than ICS in combination with the Huawei 3G modem, because of the reasons below:

- It is not possible to reconnect automatically with the Huawei software when an NDIS connection is used. You have to click on the Connect button (which can't be automated easily).
- After a given time the Internet connection is dropped by the provider and I suspect this is because they are able to detect NAT, which is not allowed by their terms.

Therefore I have choosen for ICS which is available in both Server as XP/2000/Vista versions of Windows.
I found out that if ICS was enabled in Server 2003 it prevented the use of RRAS (and vice versa).
Therefore I have choosen for a non Server OS version, which is Vista in my case.

Mobile Partner Software RAS vs NDIS

In the Mobile Partner software it is possible to choose between a RAS/Modem connection and a NDIS connection.
I choose the RAS/Modem connection which results in the creation of a Dial Up Network Interface., which can be shared with ICS only.
First I tried to share the modem with NAT, but even changing the Port properties to Modem/Routing did not help.
NDIS results in an extra LAN/High Speed connection, which can also be shared with both ICS and NAT but you will only be able to re-connect manually.
With a RAS/Modem connection you will be able to connect with the command RASDIAL, which is easy to automate with Windows Task Scheduler

After installing the Huawei Mobile Partner sofware these are the step by step instructions (screenshots will follow) to accomplish the task:


-	Start the Mobile Partner software 
-	Go to Options > Profile Management and make a (default) profile. In my case I have named the profile Lyca Mobile.
	You will have to use the APN and other setting for your provider and in my case the settings for Lyca Mobile are shown.
-	Go to Options > General and check RAS/Modem (this will uncheck NDIS)
	This will result in a new Dial Up connection which can be viewed in Network Interfaces.
	In my case the Dial Up connection is called Lyca Mobile (which is the same name as the profile).
-	Now create a Batch file (a tekst file which can be edited with Notepad) with the following content:

	rasdial "Lyca Mobile"

	I your case you will have to replace Lyca Mobile with the name of your profile, but the quotes are required.
	I have called the batchfile itself start3g.bat

-	Schedule a new task in Windows Task Scheduler whichs shuts down the computer at a given tiem, let's say 8:15 AM
-	Go to the BIOS settings of your PC and schedule a daily automatic restart of the computer at 8:20 AM
- 	Schedule a new task in Windows Task Manager which starts the batch file above (start3g.bat) at 8:25 AM
	Creating a batch file is not even necessary when Vista is used, but for the Task Scheduler of XP and Server it is the best solution.

-	Share the Dial Up connection through ICS normally.
	If there is an automatic use of Internet (in my case the mining software wants to connects to the Internet) the option to initiate the Dial Up connection will trigger Rasdial automatically, in which case the command line is not 	even necessary.
-	In my case I wanted to use a different subnet than the default 192.168.0.x subnet, so I had to change some registry keys involved.
	For Windows XP and lower you can use the excellent (and still usable) instructions on http://www.windowsnetworking.com (from Belgian based German Johannes Helmig) and in particular
	http://www.windowsnetworking.com/j_helmig/icsadcnf.htm	
	For Vista I had to change the registry keys called
	ScopeAddress and ScopAddressBackup in 
	\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters

Refinements and extra options for Mobile Partner Software

In my case I also wanted some refinements and this involves the possibility to make an automatic Demand Dial Connection throught VPN.
This can only be achieved with Windows Server (the instructions for it I will put online sometime in the future).
Clearly this is possible by hooking up another machine/server (which will be a DHCP client for the Vista/ICS DHCP Server) for that task/role.
Instead I choose to put Windows 2000 server as a Virtual machine on the Windows Vista Business machine.
This can be achieved with Windows Virtual Server 2005 R2.

The Mobile Partner Software can be refined through the instructions found on 

https://routerunlock.com/enable-disabled-features-of-huawei-mobile-partner-by-modifying-the-xml-file/

In this way Voice will be enabled and with a headset it will be possible to make and receive telephone calls with the simcard which is inside the 3G dongle.
This can also be achieved more easily with a Fritzbox (which I tried before using the solution with the Huawei dongle on this page) but the Fritzbox also suffered disconnections from the Internet and required a manual restart/disconnection from the power in order to re-establish the Internet connection.
An external timer in combination with the Fritzbox would have done the job, but I didn't find one of the timers I have and I found the solution on this page much more exciting! ;-)
Later I will also try to use the 3G modem for a modem to modem dial up connection (the old way in which computers connected to each other and the internet) and I will publish it on this page.