On my Dell inspiron I have to use an externally powered hub because Dells laptops have issues with providing adequate power for the remote to be reliably connected.

You also need to allow time for active sync to install just as the MX-3000 installation instructions describe. If you don not follow the installation instructions to the letter it will never work. When it says in the MX-3000 manual to wait and do not do anything until... that is exactly what has to be done.

Hope this helps,
Ken