PAYG Tesco SIMS

[britcoms]

Does anyone have problems using a Tesco PAYG SIM card in their mobile router, particularly a ZTE MU5001 router? When installed in the router the SIM card is not recognised and warns that a SIM is not present. Seeking advice from Tesco mobile they merely sent me another SIM which also failed to be recognised. I have checked the router with 2 SIMs from other telcos which were recognised so it's not a router problem and the Tesco SIMs work OK in my phone. Is it because Tesco SIMs cannot be used in mobile routers?

 

[r4dent]

May help

Tesco sim in router

Anyone used a Tesco pay monthly sim in a 4G router? I can use my Vodafone but Tesco won’t work

forum.vodafone.co.uk

 

[Bigshug]

I had a problem using a Tesco contract sim in my iPad when touring Europe. It worked fine in the uk, but would not connect when over the channel. After about an hour on the facebook help page they talked me over changing the roaming settings on my ipad, ithas worked fine ever since then

 

[Canalsman]

These are the router settings that need to be changed:

The router will then work when roaming and when in the UK.

 

[britcoms]

These are the router settings that need to be changed:

View attachment 141245

The router will then work when roaming and when in the UK.

I cannot get to the stage of changing the settings as the router fails to even recognise there is a SIM installed, and yes the router is unlocked.

 

[GeoffL]

Probably won't help with the OP's case, but I have a ZTE MF920 that I use with both a Smarty and Tesco Mobile PAYG SIMs (depending on the strength of the Three network vs O2 where we're going -- Smarty (3) offers 100GB for £12 compared with 50GB for £20 with Tesco (O2)). Both SIMs work without issues.

 

[shantrek]

Does anyone have problems using a Tesco PAYG SIM card in their mobile router, particularly a ZTE MU5001 router? When installed in the router the SIM card is not recognised and warns that a SIM is not present. Seeking advice from Tesco mobile they merely sent me another SIM which also failed to be recognised. I have checked the router with 2 SIMs from other telcos which were recognised so it's not a router problem and the Tesco SIMs work OK in my phone. Is it because Tesco SIMs cannot be used in mobile routers?

 

[shantrek]

Tesco say their sims are only for mobile phone use and have no interest in other applications.
I have Tesco sim in a Hauwie router with no problems.

 

[GeoffL]

Tesco say their sims are only for mobile phone use and have no interest in other applications.
I have Tesco sim in a Hauwie router with no problems.

Just had a thought! In order to activate the SIM and/or Rocket Pack, you need to be able to read the 2FA code they send to the number associated with the SIM and enter that online. While this is dead easy with a mobile phone, I found you need a bit of lateral logic to achieve the same thing with a mobile WiFi as one device is needed to connect to Tesco Mobile's website while another is needed to connect to the router and so read the code!

 

[rugbyken]

while over here in portugal i had numerous chat line calls to tesco changed the settings etc sim worked well in i phone not i pad or mifi device eventually got a message saying not suitable for i pad ! my phone sim works perfectly in the i pad and it’s also O2 so definitely a tesco setting causing the conflict , i now have the o2 sim in the i pad mobile data turned off and using the tesco sim in my phone as a hotspot working perfectly lots of data available i have a couple of old i phones at home so in future will bring one along as a back up , but when my O2 contract runs out in july will transfer my no to the tesco sim

 

[Boris7]

I use a Tesco (Ireland) sim in a Nighthawk router while in Ireland, had no issues.

 

[alwaysared]

I cannot get to the stage of changing the settings as the router fails to even recognise there is a SIM installed, and yes the router is unlocked.

I can log into my MU5001 as admin and look at or change settings even if the sim isn't connecting to the provider, what happens when you try to log in?

Regards,
Del

 

[GeoffL]

I can log into my MU5001 as admin and look at or change settings even if the sim isn't connecting to the provider, what happens when you try to log in?

Regards,
Del

FWIW, I can log into my MF920U even if there's no SIM installed. The 'home page' tells me that the "SIM is invalid or no SIM is installed" and I can access all the usual settings other than those specific to the SIM.

 

[Canalsman]

It appears to be a more basic problem. The router doesn't recognise the SIM.

 

[JimKerr]

Is the Router perhaps wanting a 4g sim? My mum had a big Button phone and it was only able to use up to a 4g sim. Wouldn‘t recognise a 5g sim at all.

 

[JimKerr]

Is the Router perhaps wanting a 4g sim? My mum had a big Button phone and it was only able to use up to a 4g sim. Wouldn‘t recognise a 5g sim at all.

Just checked spec and is 5g Router so not that sorry.

 

[britcoms]

I can log into my MU5001 as admin and look at or change settings even if the sim isn't connecting to the provider, what happens when you try to log in?

Regards,
Del

Thanks for your input. Yes, I can connect my phone to the router and then use the ZTELink app to access the router's settings which tells me that the SIM is not present/no service. If I put the errant Tesco SIM in my phone it is recognised and it works perfectly. If I put my Lebara SIM from my phone in the router it is recognised and works perfectly. So the Tesco SIM and the ZTE router work, but not together. I would like to get to the bottom of this so I am taking the router to a mobile phone repairer to see if they can make sense of this.

 

[alwaysared]

Thanks for your input. Yes, I can connect my phone to the router and then use the ZTELink app to access the router's settings which tells me that the SIM is not present/no service. If I put the errant Tesco SIM in my phone it is recognised and it works perfectly. If I put my Lebara SIM from my phone in the router it is recognised and works perfectly. So the Tesco SIM and the ZTE router work, but not together. I would like to get to the bottom of this so I am taking the router to a mobile phone repairer to see if they can make sense of this.

Could you log into it with the Lebara (working sim) and add another APN using the sim card settings for the Tesco sim? Then shut it down and boot it with the
Could you log into it with the Lebara (working sim) and add another APN using the sim card settings for the Tesco sim? Then shut it down and boot it with the Tesco sim in and then choose the Tesco APN from the drop down box in the settings, by default the APN is set to "Auto" but I've always had to add the APN for each of my sims. Just to say I've never used the app as I always log in using the web interface.

Regards,
Del

 

[alwaysared]

Thanks for your input. Yes, I can connect my phone to the router and then use the ZTELink app to access the router's settings which tells me that the SIM is not present/no service. If I put the errant Tesco SIM in my phone it is recognised and it works perfectly. If I put my Lebara SIM from my phone in the router it is recognised and works perfectly. So the Tesco SIM and the ZTE router work, but not together. I would like to get to the bottom of this so I am taking the router to a mobile phone repairer to see if they can make sense of this.

Reading through this again, the key here is the "SIM is not present/no service" bit, this is usually when the sim isn't being recognised so it may not be an APN setting because if the APN settings are wrong it shows the sim as having limited service

Regards,
Del

 

[britcoms]

Could you log into it with the Lebara (working sim) and add another APN using the sim card settings for the Tesco sim? Then shut it down and boot it with the
Could you log into it with the Lebara (working sim) and add another APN using the sim card settings for the Tesco sim? Then shut it down and boot it with the Tesco sim in and then choose the Tesco APN from the drop down box in the settings, by default the APN is set to "Auto" but I've always had to add the APN for each of my sims. Just to say I've never used the app as I always log in using the web interface.




Regards,
Del

Wow, that worked. Thanks very much, Del, for your lateral thinking and thanks too to Canalsman for the router settings and everyone else on this forum who provided suggestions. One question remains - what if I hadn't a SIM that was recognised by the router so that I could change the settings?