Re: [SLUG] Optus broadband stick

2011-01-28 Thread Steven McDonald
Hybrid USB broadband sticks can generally be used on Linux. Here's how
(instructions for Debian, adjust them to whatever you use):

1. aptitude install usb-modeswitch wvdial

wvdial is optional, but the alternative is Network Manager which some
of us despise. usb-modeswitch is a program to change the mode of the
hybrid device to broadband modem. Once usb-modeswitch is installed, you
should be able to plug the device in and have it "just work" with
Network Manager, or else do the following to make it work with wvdial:

2. Edit your /etc/wvdial.conf to contain the following:
[Dialer Defaults]
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","vfprepaymbb"
Stupid Mode = 1
Modem Type = Analog Modem
ISDN = 0
New PPPD = yes
Phone = *99#
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Username = vfprepaymbb
Password = vfprepaymbb
Baud = 9600

This is for Vodafone, but I assume something similar is required for
Optus.

3. Now you should be able to run (as root) "wvdial &", wait for it to
connect, and then close the terminal window (the & lets you do this
without disconnecting).

It's been a while since I've done this, so I may have inadvertently
omitted something. Let me know if you're having issues, and I can come
on #slug and help you troubleshoot. With regard to data speeds, I think
mine got up to ~200 MB/s at the best of times, but fluctuated a *lot*.

Hope it works out,
Steven McDonald.


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Re: [SLUG] Optus broadband stick

2011-01-28 Thread Dean Hamstead
which model is it? this will dictate 3.6
or 7.2 meg max (dual frequency)

huawei modems typical appear as two usb serial devices. the first for data, the 
second provides a control plane of sorts. both use a classic hayes 'AT' like 
command set, and ppp is used to create an ip connection with the modem.

network-manager since about 18 months ago was perfectly able to fully configure 
and manage usb 3g devices from huawei.

google will show you many chat scripts for various ppp helpers if 
network-manager is not your ice cream flavor.

huawei have been very good at keeping a consistent command set so scripts for 
other huaei models will almost certainly work perfectly if your kernel 
recognises the device properly.

ive found huawei support in linux to be excellent, mostly as a result of using 
a simple interfacing technique and being consistent. 

Dean


On 29/01/2011, at 4:02 PM, Jim Donovan  wrote:

> I have been lent a Huawei mobile HSPA USB stick which is supposed to have 5 
> months' worth of "unlimited" data on it via Optus GSM.
> 
> I had a look; it is a hybrid device which wants you to run its install.exe 
> before first use.
> 
> Can it be used on Linux somehow, please? What sort of data speeds might it 
> get in good areas?
> 
> Jim Donovan
> -- 
> SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/
> Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
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[SLUG] Optus broadband stick

2011-01-28 Thread Jim Donovan
I have been lent a Huawei mobile HSPA USB stick which is supposed to have 5 
months' worth of "unlimited" data on it via Optus GSM.

I had a look; it is a hybrid device which wants you to run its install.exe 
before first use.

Can it be used on Linux somehow, please? What sort of data speeds might it get 
in good areas?

Jim Donovan
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Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html