3G Mobile Broadband Internet

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Supported Devices

  • A600, A605 (cricket)
  • EC1705 (cricket)
  • UTStarcom UM100C (cricket)
  • UM185C (cricket)
  • U300 (Sprint)
  • USBConnect Lightnight/Sierra Wireless (AT&T)
  • Cricket Series S/ Sierra Aircard 250U
  • T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0
  • Sierra Wireless Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot (Sprint, Cricket?): This is our recommended model as it works out of the box with Linux and provides a wireless connection for other computers.

Easy way (10.04)

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data
  • Remove the wireless adapter then reboot

Unsupported Devices

  • Clear

Basic Setup

In Ubuntu 9.10 some cards will work automatically after running the mobile broadband wizard in the network manager. This option only shows up when ubuntu detects a mobile broadband card, some devices will need additional setup, in which case you should check if there are specific instructions for your card.

Notes

  • Before some cards will work, they need to be activated on a Windows on Mac system. If a card is detected in ubuntu but wont connect, it probably hasnt been activated yet.
  • If a card is not specifically listed here, then we dont know if it works.

Installing Cricket Series S/ Sierra Aircard 250U

The Cricket Series S is a 3G/4G device combining a Sierra 3G usb device and a Beceem 4G device. ATM the 4G device doesn't have any Linux drivers but the 3G device works. The device is switched correctly after installing usb-modeswitch and usb-modeswitch-data but the driver for the 3G device still isn't loaded correctly. There probably a better way to do this but this is the only solution I have found. 

sudo nano /etc/modules
option

sudo nano /etc/rc.local
echo "1199 0301" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id

Easy Method for Installing A60X

10.04 (Lucid Lynx)

Install usb_modeswitch In the Ubuntu Software Center search for modeswitch and install both packages (usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data).

Alternatively in the termnial type 

 sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data

Next restart your computer.

Enable Mobile Broadband by right clicking on the network icon on the top panel. Chose add a new mobile connection and follow the instructions.


N.B. You will still need to initialize the modem form a Windows or Mac box. Tech Support can do this for you.

8.04 (Hardy Heron)

Step 1: Download the .deb file & install it: http://freegeek.errtech.com/cricket/cricket_flip_i386.deb

Step 2: Download flipflop.sh: http://freegeek.errtech.com/cricket/flipflop.sh

Now right click on the file and select "properties". Click over to the "permissions" tab, and check the box "allow executing file as a program". Now double click it and select "Run", enter your password. Wait a few moments and poof! Your 3g modem should now be appearing in your network manager.

  • You will need to run the .sh file every time you connect your modem.

Installing from Source for automatic switching (A600 Only)

Building the newest version of usb_modeswitch (1.1.0) is slightly more involved but should enable your A600 modem to be automatically switched using udev instead of having to run the flipflop.sh script every time you plug the device in.


Step 1:

Download the source archive (http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/usb-modeswitch-1.1.2.tar.bz2) and extract the contents to your preferred directory.

Open up terminal and use cd to change into the directory of the extracted files. 

cd usb-modeswitch-1.*

Step 2:

Install the dependencies required to make usb_modeswitch. 

sudo apt-get install build-essential libusb-dev

Step 3:

Install usb_modeswitch. 

sudo make install

Step 4:

Download the data archive (http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/usb-modeswitch-data-20100418.tar.bz2) and extract the contents to your preferred directory.

Open up terminal and use cd to change into the directory of the extracted files. 

cd usb_modeswitch-data*

Step 5:

Install usb_modeswitch-data 

sudo make install

Step 6:

Plug in your Cricket A600 to an open USB port, wait a moment for it to be detected and for usb-modeswitch to do it's magic. Your device should now show up in network-manager. You may need to restart your computer for it to work.

Trouble Shooting

If at this point your device is not appearing in network-manager you should: 

sudo make uninstall

and use the instructions under 3G Mobile Broadband Internet#Easy Method for Installing A600

Before this guide will work for you, you do need to load the device on a Windows/Mac system and install the software for the device and activate it. (I have a Windows VM for just such occasions, it worked fine)

If this guide does not work for you try first opening up the flipflop.sh and increasing the sleep time from 10 seconds to 20 - some systems require a longer delay.

If the card establishes a connection to cricket, but is not able to ping (or do anything else), it may require an update. The quickest way to do this is using a Mac system (which already has the software installed).

Easy Method for Installing UM185C

Step 1: Download the .deb file & install it: http://freegeek.errtech.com/cricket/cricket_flip_i386.deb

Step 2: Download cricketum185c.sh http://freegeek.errtech.com/cricket/cricketum185c.sh

Now we just need to execute the cricketum185c.sh, it is in the directory of files you extracted, by running the following: Code: 

chmod +x cricketum185c.sh
sudo ./cricketum185c.sh


T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0

This T-Mobile unit can be initialized and set up directly from Linux

The T-Mobile usb device comes with a variety of chipsets. These instructions have only been tested with the "ONDA Communication S.p.A." unit. To determine the chipset on the device run lsusb 

don@freegeek:~$ lsusb
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 19d2:1201 ONDA Communication S.p.A.
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Install usb_modeswitch 

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data

Create a file /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/19d2:1201 with this content 

# t-mobile ZTE MF691  Rocket 2

DefaultVendor=  0x19d2
DefaultProduct= 0x1201

TargetVendor=   0x19d2
TargetProduct=  0x1203

MessageContent="5553424392020000000000000000061B000000020000000000000000000000"

Add the following line to /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules: 

# t-mobile ZTE MF691  Rocket 2
ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1201", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b/%k'"

Remove the device and reboot.

Insert the usb modem. a T-Mobile icon will appear on the desktop.

After a moment the wireless indicator will search for a network and connect to T-Mobile.

Troubleshooting

If the usb device doesn't connect automatically:

Left-click on the wireless indicator. If the wireless indicator does not offer connect to "mobile broadband" as a choice then the usb-modeswitch has not functioned correctly. In this case right-click on the T-Mobile icon and select "eject" The wireless indicator should search for a network and connect to T-mobile.

NetworkManager does not support this device very well yet. Occasionally the device will be recognized but NM will turn off "mobile broadband" instead of turning it on. Right click on the wireless indicator and check "enable mobile broadband"

All of the above troubleshooting steps may need to be performed several times to get it right. Several reboots and connections are recommended before releasing the unit from tech support.

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