3G Mobile Broadband Internet

Supported Devices

• A600 (cricket)
• UTStarcom UM100C (cricket)
• UM185C (cricket)
• U300 (Sprint)

Unsupported Devices

• Not sure yet...

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.

Easy Method for Installing A600

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.

• On Ubuntu 9.04 and earlier. You will need to run the .sh file every time you connect your modem. Starting with 9.10 the networkmanager auto detects when a modem that has already been attached gets connected and it takes care of "flipping" for you after the first time.

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

(Hard Method) Installing from Source (A600 Only)

This has been tested under Ubuntu 8.10 32bit & 64bit as well as Jaunty(9.04) 32bit and 64bit and Karmic 32bit, however I do not see any reason why it should not work under any distro/version of Ubuntu.

Step 1:

Download the source archive (http://freegeek.errtech.com/cricket/Cricket_Mode_Switch.tar.gz) and extract the contents to your preferred directory.

Step 2:

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

32 bit Users - Install usb_modeswitch with the following command: Code:

sudo make install

64 bit Users - We need to recompile modeswitch to work on the 64bit platform. Run the following commands in terminal to do so Code:

sudo apt-get install build-essential libusb-dev rm usb_modeswitch make sudo make install

Step 3:

Plug in your Cricket A600 to an open USB port, wait a moment for it to be detected as a CD drive/the auto play menu to pop up. Now we just need to execute the flipflop.sh, it is in the directory of files you extracted, by running the following: Code:

sudo ./flipflop.sh

(Please note you need to first make this file executable by running Code:

chmod +x flipflop.sh

After running the flipflop.sh you need to wait about 12 seconds (while it works it's magic) and then poof! Your Cricket device should now appear in your network manager as a connection option.

Notes:

You will need to Code:

sudo ./flipflop.sh

each time you attach the device for it to work.

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)

I played around with udev some trying to automate this process when you play the device in, but I could not get it to work properly, if someone smarter/experienced than myself would like to figure that out I'd be more than happy to add it to this guide.

Trouble Shooting

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.