[ILUG] Three Ireland USB Modem Linux HOWTO v2

[Mikhail Ramendik]

Verson 2. June 4, 2007. Changes:

- Modified redial time to 15 seconds 
- Modified explanation of teething problems to reflect current situation
- Added acknowledgements (forgot about them in v1)
by Mikhail Ramendik , mr at ramendik.ru

Three Ireland has recently unveiled a new HSDPA mobile broadband product. It 
includes 10 gigabytes data transfer (note: received plus transmitted, not 
just received!) for €20 per month. The modem is a Huawei E220, a nice little 
white  USB box that, infortunately, has no external antenna attachment.

The quality is, in my experience, not as good as "conventional" broadband - 
for example, a SIP VoIP service produced a latency of several seconds and 
some disruptions. But it may be the fact that coverage is not perfect here... 
Anyway, for some areas it can be the only real broadband option apart from 
satellite - like where I live. And it's way better than dialup, and way 
cheaper and probably better than satellite! Not to mention it being mobile.

The product will work within Three's 3G coverage only; Three has a map but 
it's not really detailed enough. So the best option is probably to rely on 
their 14 day return policy. Grab it and try it. 

Preferrably, try it with the native Windows driver first - it shows the signal 
strength, and under Linux this is not yet possible. Although you can possibly 
see whether you're in coverage even on the modem itself - when trying to 
connect (and sometimes even before that), it will flash blue if you are in 3G 
coverage, but green if you are not. (But I don't know what it will do if it 
is in Vodafone's 3G coverage but not in Three's!) . By the way, if you are in 
coverage, and do see signal strength, but keep getting "Connection failed" 
messages, see the note at the bottom.

OK, let's say it works in your area, and you want to use it under Linux. The 
instructions here are for Debian; I think they will apply unchanged to Debian 
derivatives including Ubuntu; in other distros file locaton and security may 
vary. I am only using pppd, which should be present on all systems; wvdial is 
not used.

First, we will need to set up DNS addresses. Unfortunately, the DNS servers 
provided in the PPP protocol don't work right; I don't know how Three 
provides correct DNS later but Linux does not catch it - so we'll just make 
DNS static. For this, as root, edit /etc/resolv.conf; it should contain one 
or more "nameserver" entries with DNS addresses. You may have a favourite DNS 
of your own; or to use Three's ones, put the following in /etc/resolv.conf :

nameserver 172.31.140.69
nameserver 172.30.140.69

Next we create the configuration files for pppd.

/etc/ppp/peers/provider :

==
user "user"

connect "/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/chatscripts/pap -T *99#"

# Serial device to which the modem is connected.
/dev/ttyUSB0

# Speed of the serial line.
460800

# Assumes that your IP address is allocated dynamically by the ISP.
noipdefault
# Try to get the name server addresses from the ISP.
#usepeerdns
# Use this connection as the default route.
defaultroute

# Makes pppd "dial again" when the connection is lost.
persist

# Do not ask the remote to authenticate.
noauth

# pppd will detach from controlling terminal when connection is up
updetach

# no compression - ppp is used only until the modem
novj
novjccomp
nopcomp
nodeflate

# put in a default gateway even if one was present before
replacedefaultroute

# if connection has failed, redial in this number of seconds
# don't use too low - 3 seems to drive modem crazy
holdoff 15
==

/etc/chatscripts/pap :

==
ABORT           BUSY
ABORT           VOICE
ABORT           "NO CARRIER"
ABORT           "NO DIALTONE"
ABORT           "NO DIAL TONE"
""              ATZ
OK ATE0V1&D2&C1S0=0+IFC=2,2
OK AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","3ireland.ie"
OK ATDT*99#
CONNECT         ""
==

Now our pppd is ready. 

To connect, we will need to attach the modem, and execute, as root:

modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1003

Note that we will need to do it on every new boot as well - after the modem is 
attached. (Of course we can keep it attached permanently - but still execute 
this command every boot). Also, the modem possibly does not work if unplugged 
and then replugged within the same session (i.e. no reboot between). There 
may be a way to fix this all but I have not yet discovered it; advice would 
be most welcome!

After this, connecting is easy. Either as root, or as a user that is in 
the "dip", execute this command:

pon

And watch the terminal. Once it reports your IP address, you are online! If it 
reports "Timeout" something instead, either you are out of coverage (check 
using the Windows driver) or you have hit APN problems - see note at the 
bottom.

To get offline, either just shut down your system or type:

poff

NOTE AT THE BOTTOM: Three APN issues

For some time in late May - early June 2007, Three apparently had APN (Access 
Point Name) issues. At peak usage times, you try connecting with good 
coverage and it just fails, In Windows, you see "Connection failed"; in 
Linux, it's "Timeout" something.

The issued peaked in a complete lack of service for about 20 hours on June 
2-3. Then apparently repair was carried out and the issues have disappeared. 
I keep the description in case they return. 

The way around this is just to try and try again.Sooner or layer you get in. 
But don't try *very* often; when I tried every 3 seconds the modem stopped 
blikning its blue "coverage available" light.

In Windows, all you can do is click that button over and over again. In Linux, 
pppd just redials automatically; but it's highly advisable to always run pppd 
("pon") in a terminal window, so you can see what's going on in teh 
redialling process.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Thanks go to:

Paul Kelly (Ireland), in whose blog I found the version of Vodafone 
instructions which I could use
Victor Wagner (Russia), who, at my request, has translated the wvdial 
configuration into pppd language

-- 
Yours, Mikhail Ramendik