[aus.computers.linux added.]

Will Kemp wrote:
Frank Slootweg wrote:
[Crossposted to aus.comms.mobile and rec.travel.australia+nz. Somewhat
off-topic for the latter, but this is for travel in Oz. I hope that
aus.comms.mobile is the right group for this kind of question.]

Has anyone any idea whether or not the Telstra Wireless Broadband USB
Modem will work on a Linux system?

See:

http://www.telstra.com.au/telstraprepaidplus/broadband/prepaidwireless.html

The site and Getting Started Guide mention only "PC" (which actually
means (MS-)*Windows*) and Mac. I asked Telstra, but they only said

Telstra Pre-Paid Wireless Broadband USB modem works on a Mac and a PC
only. Linux is currently not included.

which is kind of unspecific. I.e. does it really not *work* or is it
'just' *unsupported*?

I realize that the *Connection Manager* will not work, because it's a
Windows/MAC executable, but I am wondering wether the USB Modem
*itself*, i.e. the hardware, will work with Linux' standard network
or/and USB drivers.

You should try asking on aus.computers.linux too.

Thanks. I took the liberty of crossposting this to
aus.computers.linux, so that audience can see what this is about, and
can hopefully help.

An alternative is to use a mobile phone with bluetooth and connect to
the net via bluetooth on the laptop and the mobile. That will definitely
work with Linux. I've done it without problems on Telstra's "NextG" network.

I would prefer not to buy an UMTS/3G phone and AFAIK my (Acer Aspire
One) mini-notebook doesn't have a bluetooth connection, so that might
lead to a different (for a Bluetooth USB 'stick') driver problem, but
that is probably easier to solve. I'll keep this path in mind as a
possible alternative. Thanks for the suggestion.

You're probably wondering why the heck anyone would want to travel
with a mobile *Linux* system,

No. I've been travelling with Linux notebooks, all over the world, for
13 years now.

but nowadays many 'netbooks'/
mini-notebooks are equipped with Linux, because Linux requires less
resources and can run from a rugged Solid State Disk (SSD) instead of
from a fragile normal hard-disk. (The latter was my main consideration,
because we're going to rattle on many thousands of kms of unsealed roads
in the outback.)

Possibly a reasonable concern, but i just wrap mine in my bedroll and
i've never had any problems.