Nov 23
Virgin Mobile 3G modem with Ubuntu
I have a Nokia 6233. It’s a 3G phone and is on Virgin Mobile UK. With the help of a USB<->Nokia cable (£3 from eBay), I’ve just used it to connect my Ubuntu laptop to the internet.
Following two threads on the Ubuntu Forums I managed to get connected with minimal fuss.
Here’s my /etc/wvdial.conf:
[Dialer nokia]
Init2 = ATZ
Init3 = ATE0V1&D2&C1S0=0+IFC=2,2
Init5 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","goto.virginmobile.uk";
Modem Type = USB Modem
ISDN = 0
Phone = *99***1#
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Username = user
Dial Command = ATDT
Password = wap
Baud = 460800
After disabling networking via the Gnome network-manager applet, I opened a terminal and typed wvdial nokia. After some blurb, it reported my primary and secondary DNS servers and I was online.
I don’t recommend you use Virgin Mobile for data, though. At £5.12 per MB you’ll pretty soon be remortgaging. However, it has proven that I can get online with a phone as a modem using Ubuntu, so I’m now off to find a provider with a decent data tariff. 3 and T-Mobile look favourite so far, although everyone I speak to at 3 seems to have very little knowledge of using a phone as a modem.
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
From what I gather, 3 don’t consider modem use to be ‘reasonable’ under thie usable tarrifs.
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Hi Matt,
Has anyone managed to get the new 3 or T-Mobile USB 3G broadband dongles working under Linux yet? They’re an attractive option, but are only officially supported under Windows or OS X:
http://three.co.uk/personal/products_services_/mobile_broadband_/index.omp
Tim
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Someone got it working in Ireland:
http://www.linux.ie/articles/tutorials/threeirelandUSBmodem.php
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:33 pm
The “3″ people are the very definition of tech-hostile. Just say no. T-Mobile’s 7.50GBP/month all-you-can-eat data rate seems pretty great to me…
November 23rd, 2007 at 5:07 pm
The new 3 Broadband data add-ons are not too bad and designed specifically for modem use. It’s a while since they had their ridiculous walled garden.
A few people have got the Huawei (sp?) USB modem working with Ubuntu using 3, from what I can see. The Ubuntu Forums have some posts from people using it in South Africa with Vodafone. Apparently, Vodafone offer a Linux GUI app to get the USB modem working and some people have used that for the 3 USB modem in the UK.
November 23rd, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Stuart: the £7.50 per month Web n Walk with T-Mobile has 1 GB Fair Use limit. Basically, if you break it three times they reduce the speed of your connection.