Weird 3 Dongle behaviour

[asphyx]

Hi there,
I use my 3 mobile broadband dongle to do my stuff on multiple accounts on ebay/paypal (it's a Huawei E160). I also invested on a 3G router like the one here:
Netgear MBR624GU 3G Mobile Broadband Wireless Router | eBay UK

The broadband connection and paypal/ebay behaves differently depending on whether I am connected to the router via wireless or I use the dongle plugged straight into the computer (dial-up).

1) When I use the dongle plugged straight into the computer:
- I can log into ebay
- I can log into paypal
- I CANNOT make payments in paypal (it hangs forever on "waiting for paypalobjects"), before I couldn't log in at all but I could access the paypal account jumping through a "view paypal transaction" via ebay bypassing the start page. After that I could go everywhere within paypal except the Summary page (quite annoying as I couldn't check my balance and pending balance).
- it gives me a pool of IP addresses all starting with 188 then normally the last figures are .28 or .29 but it normally comes up with a different IP every time so no problem so far.

2) When the 3G dongle is plugged into the router:
- I can log into ebay
- I can log into paypal
- I CAN make payment in paypal and everything else
- most of the times it gives me the SAME IP ADDRESS ! ! ! It doesn't matter how long I have it off or how many times I restart it I get the same IP. What surprises me is that when I check my IP in ipchicken it gives a different IP from the one reported in www.whatismyip for example. If I jump to several IP-check sites I get alternatively TWO IP address for example xx.xx.xxx.230 and xx.xx.xxx.231 and I always thought this is not possible.

I bought another 3 simcard and... I keep getting the same IP addresses as the other one, it seems to me that it doesn't matter which one I use... like having two clones... no variation or wider array of IP addresses (they are probably assigned locally).

What it makes me curious is:
1) the different behaviour the same dongle has when connected to the router and when plugged straight in to the computer.
2) the same IP I have been getting for 4 weeks, it looks like the 3 Network is working as a giant proxy! Almost everybody in my area must have the same IP address...?

By the way I am using a number of virtual machines VMWare, one per ebay account but this doesn't matter as I always check the IP from the host computer.

[ShadyOne]

I think your problem is connection related, such PayPal and eBay scripts grab a lot of data over quite a lond/delayed time, so their is a chance that a lot of the important data is missing.

I couldn't give the most explanation but you get what I am saying! I can't think of the correct terms atm.

Your router obviously has better connection than your 3g dongle.

What surprises me is that when I check my IP in ipchicken it gives a different IP from the one reported in anonym.to - free dereferer service for example. If I jump to several IP-check sites I get alternatively TWO IP address for example xx.xx.xxx.230 and xx.xx.xxx.231 and I always thought this is not possible.

This is a bit but it may be a connection problem again. If the dongle goes off or loses connection, it may get another IP.

Anybody else had this issue?

[asphyx]

Hi and thank you for your input.
I am not sure it's about speed, I'd say the connection is faster when the dongle is plugged straight into the computer not the other way round.

When do IP discovery via websites (myipaddress or ipchicken etc..) if I am on the dongle it shows me "dial-up" and when I am on the router it shows "broadband". I am not an expert so I can't say but I am under the impression that it is something to do with "secure connection" while accessing some parts of Paypal website.
I found mention of this on another forum but none of the others have a 3G router to try the dongle with so I can't really compare.

...anyway I am in the process of acquiring another (faster) dongle and see if the problem presists.

regarding the "double-ip" mistery: if I quickly check with several IP checker website within a few seconds it jumps from xx.xx.xxx.230 to xx.xx.xxx.231 or xx.xx.xxx.231 to xx.xx.xxx.232. It shows one IP first then the other, jumping between two IP only.
I tried clearing the cache, cookies, different browsers.. same result... really strange...
and, yes, the connection is steady.

[ShadyOne]

...anyway I am in the process of acquiring another (faster) dongle and see if the problem presists.

Please let me know how you get on with that.

The IP mystery is really strange, shouldn't happen really.

[rosinamccairn]

Exactly the same problem here, can't pay on paypal on Three network, but if I connect via any other network it works fine.

[ShadyOne]

^^^ I would say it is connection problems with wireless technology.

You figured out your own problem to be honest.

[asphyx]

Hi there, i got some more info regarding this issue.

I use a number of virtual machines to manage my ebbay accounts, some are XP Pro, a couple are XP Home, some Ubuntu, one Win7 , one Xubuntu, one Vista Ultimate and a couple XP Pro with snapshot for temporary acc or just to experiment what works what doesn't.

After posting the opening post I noticed that on the VM (virtual machine) I use for buying I CANNOT PAY since I use mobile broadband with the dongle plugged into the computer. It's a XP Pro with Firefox with all the possible add-ons in order to block tracking as I switch pp quite often (the same e_bay acc but diff pp acc every now and then so I don't want cookies, beacons etc).

On another VM (Vista this time, with Firefox) I sell and I CAN PAY my fees with payppal no problem. on another selling VM same problem, I cannot pay, If I switch to dongle+router it goes through no problem. It's the "paypalobjects" bit that hangs.

I went back to the first VM (the one I use for buying) and used Internet Explorer 7 for the 1st time and with no add-ons to buy something and... voila'... I could pay no problem via PPal.

I think the problem is the browser or the browser's add-ons. Further experiments reported that it's not about Internet Explorer or Firefox or Chrome. It is about (I think) the version and the add-ons installed.

.. but not 100% sure, I will keep you posted if I see through it.

@ShadyOne: the connection with the dongle plugged straight into the computer is faster than if it was via router. I don't think it is about speed.

[ShadyOne]

It has still got to be a wireless connection problem. How can it not be.

If it is browser related, clear out your cookies and browser history for once.

[asphyx]

Originally Posted by ShadyOne

It has still got to be a wireless connection problem. How can it not be.

If it is browser related, clear out your cookies and browser history for once.

I am always in Private Browsing (I don't share the belief of keeping cookies), no history or cookies. All fresh and new, sometimes even flushDNS just to be on the safe side.

[ShadyOne]

^^^ Ok, you seem to be getting close to the answer anyway, I will wait for it to be posted here sometime in the near future

[kabatzas]

2) When the 3G dongle is plugged into the router:
- I can log into ebay
- I can log into paypal
- I CAN make payment in paypal and everything else
- most of the times it gives me the SAME IP ADDRESS ! ! ! It doesn't matter how long I have it off or how many times I restart it I get the same IP. What surprises me is that when I check my IP in ipchicken it gives a different IP from the one reported in www.whatismyip for example. If I jump to several IP-check sites I get alternatively TWO IP address for example xx.xx.xxx.230 and xx.xx.xxx.231 and I always thought this is not possible.

I bought another 3 simcard and... I keep getting the same IP addresses as the other one, it seems to me that it doesn't matter which one I use... like having two clones... no variation or wider array of IP addresses (they are probably assigned locally).

What it makes me curious is:
1) the different behaviour the same dongle has when connected to the router and when plugged straight in to the computer.
2) the same IP I have been getting for 4 weeks, it looks like the 3 Network is working as a giant proxy! Almost everybody in my area must have the same IP address...?

OK I had similar experience with giffgaff simcard the IP range is very narrow and the IP will vary within seconds and from site to site. It is a big proxy basically. and I think everyone in the UK will have the same few IPs because it always show London as location...although I'm 200miles away.

I was using a VPN a few months ago, and I had some problems with paypal logins, but they were sorted once I cleared history cookies and flash, and changed the VPN IP.

I use 3 dongle and no problems at all in my area. So it is connection related!!
The signal might look constant, but it can have a half second gap witch can cause problems. Try using the dongle with a laptop a couple of miles away and see if it works better. If it does then you will know it is the problem is the signal in your area.

[ShadyOne]

^^^ Your IP is based in London because that is where you ISP servers are.