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(Telstra) Wireless Broadband USB Modem under Linux?



 
 
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  #21  
Old October 5th, 2008, 11:40 AM posted to aus.comms.mobile,rec.travel.australia+nz
Will Kemp
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6
Default (Telstra) Wireless Broadband USB Modem under Linux?

Frank Slootweg wrote:

BTW, there should also be a 3[.5]G version of the Acer Aspire One in
the future. The general spec sheet already mentions the specs, and for a
layman like me, it looks like it will do everything, i.e. all the
frequencies, both for GSM and UMTS [1]:

Acer

WWAN: UMTS/HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) at 850/1900/2100 MHz and
quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), upgradeable to 7.2 Mb/s
HSDPA and 2 Mb/s HSUPA (for 3G models)
Supports receiver diversity and equalizes at 2100 MHz

/Acer


Not quite everything - no 900MHz UMTS, so it won't get full coverage on
Optus's 3G network. It looks interesting though.

OH and BTW I saw a "news" item the other day where a young bloke had used
his mobile as a modem. In two months his bill had risen to some $40,000.
Better check the fine print.


In our newspaper it was Euro 40,000, about 1.7 times as much. So it
looks like a little bit of urban legend with 40,000 in any currency.
There must be *some* currency where 40,000 isn't too much! :-)


There is - and it's an ex Dutch colony. 40,000 Indonesian rupiahs is
about $5.50 or €3.
  #22  
Old October 5th, 2008, 01:54 PM posted to aus.comms.mobile,rec.travel.australia+nz,aus.computers.linux
Frank Slootweg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 275
Default (Telstra) Wireless Broadband USB Modem under Linux?

Will Kemp wrote:
[...]

[About configuring/using a Bluetooth USB-'stick' and mobile phone under
Linux:]

I think so, if you get the right one. However, that depends on whether
or not there's decent bluetooth support in the distro you're using (if
it's what comes pre-installed on the computer, and the computer hasn't
got bluetooth, it may not have it. You'll need to ask about that in a
forum that's specific to that distro.

Last time i did it was about a year ago and i was using fedora 8. It was
reasonably easy, although it took me a little while to work it out. Of
course, i intended to write it up at the time, but i didn't - and now i
can't remember clearly what it involved.

Basically, the phone acts as a modem - which is a standard bluetooth
service. You have to pair the computer and the mobile, using hciattach
(with the help of hcitool to find the phone's bluetooth address). This
creates a pty (pseudo tty). Then you use something like wvdial to
connect to the modem/phone via the pty and dial. The principle's simple
really, but it's not necessarily easy to work it out.

The above is my recollection from a year ago - i'd recommend googling
connect internet bluetooth linux 'mobile phone" or something along

those lines. You'll need to find the code to "dial" for an internet
connection over telstra NextG (although i think that's standard and not
provider or network dependent). I got it off the web somewhere, when i
did it. I'm sure i documented it somewhere, but i can't find it now!


Thanks for your explanation and help! In the meantime I have
re-searched the "Acer Aspire User Forums" [1]. The information is all
over the place (Software - Linux, Networking / Communications /
Internet, How to Guides and Drivers / Downloads), but some of the
bluetooth stuff and "wvdial" you mention looks familiar, so it's looks
like everything I need is there somewhere, I 'just' have to find the
needles in the haystacks! :-) Your help enabled me to realize *which*
needles I'm looking for, so thanks again.

However there's also 'bad' news: I thought I checked the costs per MB
for the USB-'stick' NextG modem, versus using a NextG phone as the
modem, but apparently I made a big error. The costs for the latter are
*much* higher than for the former:

USB-'stick' NextG modem (Telstra "Pre-Paid Wireless Broadband"):
----------------------------------------------------------------
Recharge Amount: $20/150Mb, $30/225MB, $40/300MB, $50/625MB, $60, 750MB,
$80/3.5GB, $100/6GB, i.e. 13.3/13.3/13.3/8/2.25/1.65 *cent*/MB.

NextG phone as the modem (Telstra "Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband"):
---------------------------------------------------------------
Browse Plus Packs: $5/5MB, $10/20MB, $29/80MB, $59/200MB, $89/1000MB
i.e. 1/0.50/0.36/0.30/0.09 *dollar* per MB.

I.e. on the low end, the USB-'stick' NextG modem costs more or less
*start* (13.3c), where the NextG phone as the modem costs *end* (9c).

So I guess I'll have to prepare (at home) for both using a NextG phone
as a modem and using a USB-'stick' NextG modem. When I get to Oz, I can
first buy the phone (which, as I said, I probably need anyway for rural
coverage) and try that, and when I can't get it to work or the data
costs are too high, I can buy and try the USB-'stick' NextG modem. Don't
ask what will happen if I can't get neither to work! :-)

Responding to your other post:

Frank Slootweg wrote:

N.B. An added complication is that I have to prepare, configure, etc.
this stuff at home in The Netherlands, *without* the phone, NextG
network, etc., because I can only buy the phone on arrival in Oz. And
once I am in Oz, I have no (other) Internet access, so I can't lookup
things on the web before the mobile Internet connection works, Catch-22.


Has your current phone got bluetooth? If not, can you borrow a bluetooth
phone? If so, you can try getting it to work using that phone. Even
without 3G connection, the principle's the same for GPRS. The dial
string might be different with Telstra's network, but at least you'll be
able to find out if you can get it to work.


Great minds think alike! I was thinking the same thing. No, my phone
has neither Bluetooth nor GPRS et al. My wife's phone doesn't fit the
bill either, so I'll have to be very nice to my son or/and son-in-law
and hope they have something which I can borrow.

Thanks again for all your help and that of the other respondents. I
think I have all the information I need, but feel free to continue the
discussion, afterall this is Usenet, isn't it!? :-)

[1] http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/index.php
  #23  
Old October 10th, 2008, 12:58 PM posted to aus.comms.mobile,rec.travel.australia+nz
Michael[_14_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default (Telstra) Wireless Broadband USB Modem under Linux?

OH and BTW I saw a "news" item the other day where a young bloke had used
his mobile as a modem. In two months his bill had risen to some $40,000.


Is that all? seen double that in less than a month

From posts on this newsgroup, i believe Telstra do a "bolt on" 5GB data
pack for $89 per month. Whatever your data allowance, you really don't


Correct.

And 9gb for about $119



  #24  
Old August 13th, 2009, 08:52 PM posted to aus.comms.mobile,rec.travel.australia+nz
Frank Slootweg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 275
Default (Telstra) Wireless Broadband USB Modem under Linux?

On Oct 5, Gerrit wrote:
Let us know how you went after you return to the Netherlands. I
have been thinking about one of them too, but then one with a hard
drive so that I can take photos to my heart's content.


In the end, I was fed up with the lack of 'support', HOWTO's, etc.,
for/in Linux, that I changed to a Windows XP version of the (Acer Aspire
One) mini-notebook, one *with* a (160GB) hard-disk.

I also only used a (Telstra/ZTE T6, pre-paid) NextG mobile phone, both
for normal (voice and SMS) use and as a modem on the mini-notebook. That
setup has worked fine! My experience has been that if there's mobile
phone coverage at all, i.e. any technology (GSM/UMTS), any frequency and
any provider, there's NextG coverage from Telstra. The data costs had
come down a lot since October and I just used one 100MB PlusPack at
AU$10 per month, and used only half of that each month. That was mostly
e-mail use and little but some web use. So all in all, I only spent AU$
129 on the phone and AU$ 30 on data, for three months. Not bad, not bad
at all.

As mentioned in another (old) thread, we also used the phone to look
at the weather and news (all free of charge (BigPond's Free to Browse))
and to watch weather and news 'TV' on the phone (at a modest monthly
charge), so that was an additional advantage.

On using a hard-disk: We travelled thousands and thousands of K's on
many, many unsealed roads, including some very rough ones, but we had no
problems with the hard-disk. However, I did have backup on SD memory
cards of all my important stuff, so I could 'lose' the hard-disk without
*too* much hardship. You (Gerrit) might want to consider such a setup as
well. The hard-disks in these mini-notebooks are not *that* big and SD
memory cards come in quite high capacities and are not *that* expensive.

Well that's about all for now. If anyone has any questions, remarks,
etc., feel free to respond.

[Full posting for reference:]
On Oct 5, I wrote:
Gerrit wrote:

"Gerrit" wrote in message
...

"Frank Slootweg" wrote in message
b.home.nl...

Thanks for your concern/warning.

I understand - also from looking at (Telstra's) coverage charts - that
3G/NextG/UMTS/whatever coverage in rural/outback areas is much, much
better than GSM coverage. GSM (i.e. GPRS) coverage would indeed be
rather useless.

We will be going basically 'everywhere', especially unsealed roads/
tracks in rural/outback areas in (SA,) NSW, QLD, NT and WA.

We have no real 'need' to be connected, but I'd like to try what's
it's like to have a laptop/mini-notebook with us. I always stayed
cleared from much technology on our trips, only GPS, EPIRB and GSM
mobile. But with these sexy mini-notebooks, I could no longer control
myself. I'm only human, you know! :-)

Frank

Let us know how you went after you return to the Netherlands. I
have been thinking about one of them too, but then one with a hard
drive so that I can take photos to my heart's content.


If you're not a gravel road addict like me, a hard drive is probably
wise. However if the storage is only for photos, you might want to buy a
seperate 2.5 inch 'travel' drive, because the drive consumes a lot of
power, so short battery life. As to battery, there will be a bigger
battery for the Acer Aspire One, so try to get that.

If you get an internal hard drive, then get the (MS-)Windows version,
normally XP. (Hopefully the aus.computers.linux group isn't watching!)
While, as is shown in this thread, things can probably be made to work
on Linux, it's most of the time anything but straight-forward, while
most consumer products have Windows support in and out-of the box. Some,
like the Telstra NextG USB Modem even have Windows (and Mac) software
*in* the device, i.e. like a memory stick.

BTW, there should also be a 3[.5]G version of the Acer Aspire One in
the future. The general spec sheet already mentions the specs, and for a
layman like me, it looks like it will do everything, i.e. all the
frequencies, both for GSM and UMTS [1]:

Acer

WWAN: UMTS/HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) at 850/1900/2100 MHz and
quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), upgradeable to 7.2 Mb/s
HSDPA and 2 Mb/s HSUPA (for 3G models)
Supports receiver diversity and equalizes at 2100 MHz

/Acer

OR - Maybe you can write a travelogue as you go, and post the instalments
here, to prove it works! :-)


Nah, I'm planning use the computer as little as possible, I'd rather
watch the scenery! :-) It's main 'use' will be to use the web to find
out travel information as we go along. Of course we will also prepare at
home, but it's impossible to do/know everything in advance.

OH and BTW I saw a "news" item the other day where a young bloke had used
his mobile as a modem. In two months his bill had risen to some $40,000.
Better check the fine print.


In our newspaper it was Euro 40,000, about 1.7 times as much. So it
looks like a little bit of urban legend with 40,000 in any currency.
There must be *some* currency where 40,000 isn't too much! :-)

But seriously, mobile Internet, especially web, can indeed be very,
very expensive. Because I can't have a three-month contract anyway, and
probably can not have any contract, being one of them furinners, I'll
have to go pre-paid anyway, so unless I'm totally stupid ("Shut up,
Tineke!" :-)), I can't lose that much money.

[1]
http://www.acer.nl/public/page9.do?sp=page4&dau34.oid=40808&UserCtxParam=0&G roupCtxParam=0&dctx1=3&CountryISOCtxParam=NL&Langu ageISOCtxParam=nl&ctx3=-1&ctx4=Nederland&crc=1127473288

  #25  
Old August 20th, 2009, 05:04 AM posted to aus.comms.mobile,rec.travel.australia+nz
Gerrit
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 89
Default (Telstra) Wireless Broadband USB Modem under Linux?


"Frank Slootweg" wrote in message
...
On Oct 5, Gerrit wrote:
Let us know how you went after you return to the Netherlands. I
have been thinking about one of them too, but then one with a hard
drive so that I can take photos to my heart's content.


In the end, I was fed up with the lack of 'support', HOWTO's, etc.,
for/in Linux, that I changed to a Windows XP version of the (Acer Aspire
One) mini-notebook, one *with* a (160GB) hard-disk.

I also only used a (Telstra/ZTE T6, pre-paid) NextG mobile phone, both
for normal (voice and SMS) use and as a modem on the mini-notebook. That
setup has worked fine! My experience has been that if there's mobile
phone coverage at all, i.e. any technology (GSM/UMTS), any frequency and
any provider, there's NextG coverage from Telstra. The data costs had
come down a lot since October and I just used one 100MB PlusPack at
AU$10 per month, and used only half of that each month. That was mostly
e-mail use and little but some web use. So all in all, I only spent AU$
129 on the phone and AU$ 30 on data, for three months. Not bad, not bad
at all.

As mentioned in another (old) thread, we also used the phone to look
at the weather and news (all free of charge (BigPond's Free to Browse))
and to watch weather and news 'TV' on the phone (at a modest monthly
charge), so that was an additional advantage.

On using a hard-disk: We travelled thousands and thousands of K's on
many, many unsealed roads, including some very rough ones, but we had no
problems with the hard-disk. However, I did have backup on SD memory
cards of all my important stuff, so I could 'lose' the hard-disk without
*too* much hardship. You (Gerrit) might want to consider such a setup as
well. The hard-disks in these mini-notebooks are not *that* big and SD
memory cards come in quite high capacities and are not *that* expensive.

Well that's about all for now. If anyone has any questions, remarks,
etc., feel free to respond.


Frank

Thanks for that.

I have purchased an Aspire 1 with the 160Gb hard drive and use a usb hard
drive as back up. This latter actually has a card reader built in as well so
it is very handy. I won't wipe the SD cards until I have downloaded twice
(once to the Aspire and also to the backup drive).

Your experience with the modem is interesting I will contemplate that for my
next long trip, although I may see how the WiFi on the Aspire performs on
"free" connections.

Are you posting a trip report anywhere?

Gerrit - Oz


  #26  
Old August 20th, 2009, 04:39 PM posted to rec.travel.australia+nz
Frank Slootweg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 275
Default (Telstra) Wireless Broadband USB Modem under Linux?

[aus.comms.mobile removed.]

Gerrit wrote:
Frank

[...]
Are you posting a trip report anywhere?


Probably not anytime soon. We had a great time, but when we came home,
things were not great at all. So we will first have to work through that
and try to find some solutions which are somewhat acceptable to us.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get some pleasure of reading and
posting to some groups. It's hard, but I hope we get there.
 




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