Vodafone Mobile Connect 9.2 Guide

[MobData]

Vodafone Mobile Connect Dashboard v9.2 guide

Install the software and re-start your computer.
Do not insert your data card or attach your device before you have installed the software. If you have already inserted your data card, please remove it. Similarly, if you had already attached your USB modem, please detach it. Insert the Vodafone Mobile Connect software CD and follow the on-screen installation instructions. When installation is complete, you will be asked to re-start your computer.

Insert or attach your device when prompted.
After you have installed the software, and your computer has re-started, start the Vodafone Mobile Connect software and follow the on-screen instructions to set up your device.
If you need to make any changes to the way your device is set up, e.g. special network settings or similar, you can select the device in the “Manage Devices” view and edit settings later.

Software Overview

The Vodafone Mobile Connect software is designed to let you perform the most common actions by clicking on a single button.



01 Settings - Additional software settings
02 Support - Hotline and internet contact details
03 Connect/Disconnect - Connect via the mobile phone network, or WLAN*
04 Start SMS program - Send, receive and manage SMS text messages
05 WLAN* - View available WLANs, and check their status
06 Status - Check the status of your mobile device and the mobile network.

* WLAN is not supported by all mobile network operators.

Open a Mobile Connection

To browse web pages or collect your email, you need to connect to the Internet. The Vodafone Mobile Connect software provides two buttons to open such a connection. When you have started the program, and have the main window open, you will see one Connect button in the panel entitled “Mobile Connections” and one in the panel entitled “WLAN Connections”.

Mobile Connections



If a mobile network has been found, the Connect button in the “Mobile Connections” panel will be enabled. Click this button to open a connection to the Internet via the mobile phone network.

When connected, the Connect button text changes to “Disconnect”, a green indicator will appear below the button, and the Mobile Connections icon will be animated. Clicking the same button again will then close the connection.

To open a mobile connection, you must be within coverage of a mobile network. As a rule, anywhere you can make a call on your mobile phone, you should be able to open a data connection with the Vodafone Mobile Connect software.

Monitor SMS and Connection Status

Main Window
You do not need to have the main program window open all the time the software is running, as closing it does not exit the program.

Mini-Window
The mini-window is just large enough to give you complete details of the current connection.



Windows Notification Area
The Vodafone Mobile Connect software displays an icon in the Windows Notification area. This program icon shows mobile signal strength and connection status.

Mobile signal strength

Right-clicking on the icon opens a menu containing the main program commands, such as Connect, Disconnect and Exit. You can therefore manage your connections without any windows open at all.

Vodafone SMS Icon
An SMS icon is displayed in the Notification area if one or more SMS text messages have been received. When an SMS is received, a popup window appears with the text of the message. You can click on this popup to respond to the SMS.



The SMS popup window will fade out by itself if ignored. The SMS icon will remain to show that an SMS has been received.

Use SMS Text Messaging

With the Vodafone Mobile Connect software, you can send and receive SMS (Short Message Service) text messages straight from your computer.
The program provides an easy way to view messages you have received, write new messages, and manage contact details for frequently used SMS numbers.



Click “Vodafone SMS” on the navigation bar – on the left-hand side of the main window – to open Vodafone SMS. Click “New” at the left-hand end of the SMS toolbar to create a new SMS text message. After your SMS has been sent, it will be stored in the “Sent” list.



Manage SMS Contacts

On the left-hand side of the Vodafone SMS window is the SMS navigation bar. Click “Contacts” on the SMS navigation bar to open the Contacts list, in which you can manage names and numbers that you use frequently.



Clicking the “New” button on the SMS toolbar will now open a new contact window.



Manual Network Selection

It may be necessary to manually search for a Mobile Network if there is no reception available in your area. This may be due to the country you are roaming in or because the card is not able to lock onto a strong enough Vodafone signal in your area.

To do this, select “View” and click on “Available Mobile Connections”. It will scan and present a list of available connections. Select the appropriate Network and connection speed e.g. 3G or GPRS.



Usage Monitor

Once a connection has been made it can be monitored on the View Usage tab (below is a blown up version of this section of the screen). Here you can check the duration of your current connection and evaluate the volume of data you’re sending and receiving. All figures shown are approximate. Various factors e.g. Compression tools and updates, may cause differences between the amount of data shown as transferred. These differences may sometimes be substantial. Your monthly invoice is the only accurate record of usage



To edit the settings for the Usage Monitor, click on "Settings" then "Usage".
With Vodafone increasing their fair usage data allowances, it would be wise to increase the limit to 3000MB (3GB), 5000MB (5GB) or even removing the warning by unchecking the "Set Warnings" boxes.