New Noahlink Wireless 2 from AliExpress - Using old HIMSA driver instead of new Windows driver

[pvc]

I bought a new Noahlink Wireless 2 from AliExpress.
This Noahlink Wireless 2 device uses the same driver as my old Noahlink Wireless? I dunno what's up with that? Others have reported using a driver that is not installed under HIMSA?

 

[Stan]

Well, my NL2 looks the same. Your's mentions that Copenhagen lies in Denmark, where on my device that is not printed.
Mine also does not mention Made in China.
what did you pay for it?

 

[pvc]

I am thinking that my new Noahlink Wireless 2 from AliExpress may be counterfeit!! We have seen counterfeit hearing aid programming devices before (in the past). You can read about them in a DIY School Legacy Hearing Aids (v2.2) PDF File named (Evolution of the Hearing Aid Programming Devices). Here's a clip below;

• Wait/stop: GN ReSound puts an end to Chinese counterfeits! Subsequently, these products have been consistently pulled from EBay, AliExpress, and other retail sales platforms for trademark infringement related to the use of the Hi-Pro name. This work is not easy (nor is it cheap)! Each message must be reported to the platform on which it was posted so that the platform can remove it. If you're quick and make a good bid, then you can list it for sale quickly before the minions can complete the marking process. After a while, they get tired of this "cat and mouse" game and everything goes back to normal (or not), depending on how you look at it

In the case of counterfeit Hi-Pros the hardware was identical and I believe the method was supply-chain extra copies/or leakage.
But in this case, if these Noahlink Wireless 2 devices are in fact counterfeit, then they may NOT BE IDENTICAL. From the clues thus far, perhaps they could be old Noahlink Wireless devices with only the cable interface changed. Otherwise, why am I stuck with using the same Noahlink Wireless driver under HIMSA device, and not the new Noahlink Wireless 2 driver under Universal Serial Bus Devices as "Noahlink Wireless 2" that user @MikiBL has on → this other post?

 

[pvc]

Well, my NL2 looks the same. Your's mentions that Copenhagen lies in Denmark, where on my device that is not printed.
Mine also does not mention Made in China.
what did you pay for it?

@Stan - I paid $142 total (a bargain for NW2-but a scam if it's NW). Could you possibly post an image of the bottom our your Noahlink Wireless 2? Similar to this image below. I may need to use it for a credit card dispute?? Though, not sure Yet,

Also can you use Windows\Control Panel\Device Manager to see whether your Noahlink Wireless 2 device is listed under HIMSA or listed under Universal Serial Bus Devices as "Noahlink Wireless 2"?

 

[pvc]

Oh I almost forgot. @Stan Could you closely inspect the USB port on your Noahlink Wireless 2 to see if it looks the same as mine in the image below. Perhaps it may not be difficult to re-wire an existing Noahlink Wireless device and change the USB port to USB-C?

You wouldn't need all the wires for charging etc, just the wires for connecting.

 

[jeffr]

mine is set up the same way as yours PVC. I also got mine from aliexpress. I am on windows 11. Dont know if that makes a difference? i have recently updated the firmware of the Noahlink wireless 2 to 3.17. there was no issue with that.

 

[pvc]

mine is set up the same way as yours PVC. I also got mine from aliexpress. I am on windows 11. Dont know if that makes a difference? i have recently updated the firmware of the Noahlink wireless 2 to 3.17. there was no issue with that.

And, you bought (Noahlink Wireless 2) and not (Noahlink Wireless), right?

• Perhaps you have updated the firmware on Noahlink Wireless to 3.17
• My firmware is still 3.15
• My OS is Win 11 too
• I think we both have counterfeits– No it’s a driver issue, read more below

 

[pvc]

I took a look at some Noahlink Wireless 2's on EBay. Yikes, the market does not seem trustworthy.

I even saw one listing → titled as Noahlink Wireless 2 but it has a "Noahlink Wireless" pictured. Plus the seller has added some Free fitting software.

Repeat from the past: Never pay for free fitting software.

 

[pvc]

@jeffr Can you post a picture (or say) if the bottom of your (sold-as-Noahlink-Wireless 2) device looks like mine pictured above?

Or if it looks like what @Stan describes below?

Your's mentions that Copenhagen lies in Denmark, where on my device that is not printed.
Mine also does not mention Made in China.

 

[pvc]

I did some more testing using the (Noahlink Wireless Firmware Upgrader) found at → Noahlink Wireless Downloads. It says;

Noahlink Wireless Firmware Upgrader​

The Noahlink Wireless firmware upgrader supports both Noahlink Wireless and Noahlink Wireless 2 (from version 3.1.0.88). The upgrader will detect NLW devices connected and offer the firmware upgrade if a newer firmware is available.
The firmware upgrade instructions cover both Noahlink Wireless and Noahlink Wireless 2

1. When a Noahlink Wireless unit is found, it will be identified in the list by its serial number (S/N), which is also written on the bottom of the unit.
2. The status of each connected Noahlink Wireless unit can be seen in the Status field. If the unit needs to be upgraded, it will show “Ready to Upgrade”. Otherwise it will show “Up to date NLW”.

 

[pvc]

Ah Ha - So we should be able to recognize the difference between (Noahlink Wireless and Noahlink Wireless 2) by the current firmware version;

• Noahlink Wireless latest firmware version = 2.25
• Noahlink Wireless 2 latest firmware version = 3.17

Here's my Noahlink Wireless 2 displayed from NLWUpgrader_3.1.0.92.exe. It matches the expected firmware range for Noahlink Wireless 2 (from version 3.1.0.88) (to the latest version of 3.17). I will update my version from 3.15 to 3.17 later.

 

[pvc]

@jeffr The above testing shows that we do have Noahlink Wireless 2 devices. Why our drivers are the same as the older Noahlink Wireless driver is a mystery to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[pvc]

Upgraded my Noahlink Wireless 2 firmware to 3.17;

 

[jeffr]

good detective work. what you said makes sense. the only other thing i can think of is i downloaded the driver from Himsa website. I was looking at on the driver download page, they state that the fitting software should automatically install the driver and they supply the driver in case you need it. Is the driver bundled in the fitting software different than the driver supplied on the HIMSA website? that is my only other thought. It is reassuring though that the firmware versions correctly match Noahlink Wireless 2. HIMSA does mention the driver on their download page is for both NOAHlink Wireless and NOAHlink wireless 2

 

[JaoMing]

Bought in March from Aliexpress. $150. Work fine with driver from Himsa website.
USB VID_16F0&PID_0003&REV_0315
Counterfeit? What check this?

 

[pvc]

Bought in March from Aliexpress. $150. Work fine with driver from Himsa website.

It was not a question as to whether it works. It was a question as to whether it is the old Noahlink Wireless device instead of the new Noahlink Wireless 2 device. That's a valid reason for concern!

The answer is that it appears to be Noahlink Wireless 2 that uses the same driver as Noahlink Wireless. We don't know why is uses the old driver instead of the new driver??

Counterfeit? What check this?

Are you asking why we might suspect that these could be Counterfeit? Multiple reasons;

1. In the past we have found Counterfeit USB Hi Pros. GN ReSound (a major hearing aid manufacturer) mounted a large effort to have the Counterfeit USB Hi Pro listings removed from EBay and AliExpress platforms. If you need evidence of the Counterfeit USB Hi Pro takedown effort, then please let me know.
2. My Noahlink Wireless 2 is using the same driver as the old Noahlink Wireless instead of using the new Noahlink Wireless 2 driver. Why? We don't know why?

 

[pvc]

And, while we are discussing "abnormalities", there is Malware included on the original Noahlink Wireless USB Drive that is included with your Noahlink Wireless packaging!! Here's a clip from the appendix of a DIY School (v2.2) PDF File named (Noahlink Wireless 2 - DIY User Guide); So you can't blame us for being nervous about why some Noahlink Wireless 2 devices are using the old Noahlink Wireless driver!

Malware issue with User Guide USB Drive for Noahlink Wireless
This is just something to be aware of; The USB drive included with Noahlink Wireless contains malware. See this (archived /requires login) forum-topic. Though, it has not caused any problems, (thus far). The solution is don’t use it. You don’t need it!

 

[pvc]

Okay, I found a way to force Windows to use the (Noahlink Wireless 2 driver under Universal Serial Bus devices) instead of being stuck on the (old Noahlink Wireless driver under HIMSA).

Use Control Panel/Device Manager

• Click the ">" to open HIMSA
• Right-Mouse-Button click (Noahlink Wireless) under HIMSA and select "Disable Device"
• Answer Yes to (Disabling this device will cause it to stop functioning. Do you really want to disable it?)
• Right-Mouse-Button click (Noahlink Wireless) under HIMSA again, and select "Uninstall Device" AND,, also choose the option to remove the driver for this device
• Unplug and Replug-in Noahlink Wireless 2
• Voila, Your Noahlink Wireless 2 driver is now under Universal Serial Bus devices
• The HIMSA device is gone and will no longer appear

Does it matter which driver we use for Noahlink Wireless 2? The old Noahlink Wireless driver under HIMSA, or the new Noahlink Wireless 2 driver under Universal Serial Bus devices? I don't know. I can't say? But I can tell you that I feel much more comfortable now that my new Noahlink Wireless 2 device is using a Noahlink Wireless 2 driver instead of the old Noahlink Wireless driver.

 

[pvc]

As a good test of the new Noahlink Wireless 2 driver under Universal Serial Bus devices, I took (firmware update 1.2.1) for my Oticon Intent 1's. Careful if you do this yourself. DO NOT WEAR THE HEARING AIDS during a firmware update. Why? Because firmware updates take a long time (in this case almost 4 minutes) and if you happen to walk away during the firmware update, the extra distance may cause wireless communication to fail and therefore BRICK your hearing aids beyond repair! That's why!

Firmware updates replace the brain of your device (in this case, the brain of your hearing aids). Any interruption during the update is likely to cause catastrophic damage.

 

[pvc]

they state that the fitting software should automatically install the driver and they supply the driver in case you need it.

Those instructions were to compensate for issues in the past. Now (since the introduction of Noahlink Wireless 2) the missing Noahlink Wireless Driver issue has morphed...

• Yes you may lack a driver for the old Noahlink Wireless if you didn't install the fitting software first
• But for Noahlink Wireless 2, the driver will already exist in Windows. Simply plug in Noahlink Wireless 2
• However, we seem to be stuck in the middle (for a while? years?)