Hacking the Huawei E220

Flashing E220's internal memory to load Huawei's original software

DO NOT FLASH YOUR DEVICE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO RISK DAMAGING YOUR HARDWARE, VOIDING ITS WARRANTY, AND RUINING YOUR CONTRACT WITH YOUR SUPPLIER.

Before flashing your device, you need to know that doing so in a Huawei E220 purchased by a network operator may void its warranty and/or ruin your contract with your ISP.

Chances are that you got a Huawei E220 modem loaded with non-Huawei software.

It is possible to restore the default Huawei software for Microsoft Windows. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to http://www.huawei.com/mobileweb/en/doc/list.do?type=-1&id=736
2. Download the latest file named UTPS, eg E220-UTPSB002D03SP16C03 (Normal). This contains the Huawei Mobile Partner software for MS Windows. The MACHOST files have Macintosh software, and the HOST files have the older Huawei Mobile Connect software for Windows (Mobile Partner is much better than Mobile Connect).
3. Decompress the file using 7-Zip or other utility.
4. Connect your E220 modem and exit any other application using it.
5. Execute the exe file found within the decompressed archive.
6. Wait for the flashing process to complete. Don't be tempted to shut down your machine, and never disconnect the device unless you are told by the software that the process has finished.
7. At some point, Mobile Partner setup process will start. This will install the software on your machine.
8. Finish the software installation process and configure it with the right APN and DNS settings by creating a profile. See List of APNs.
9. Test that the hardware works. If it doesn't, try flashing it with a previous version of Huawei's software, or buy a new replacement device if the flashing has voided your warranty and/or your ISP contract.

Be warned that the Mobile Partner and Mobile Connect software versions found in other download pages of the Huawei website (eg for the E620 data card) do not seem to work with E220.

Note that you have no reason to flash E220 if you only use the device from non-Microsoft and non-Apple operating systems.