Here is a method (workaround) to use the Huawei E1550 Mobile Broadband HSDPA 3.6Mbps modem in Ubuntu with the Network Manager. Open a terminal and follow the three steps:
1) Install udev-extras from the standard Ubuntu repositories:
Code:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install udev-extras
2) Add a custom udev rule for the Huawei E1550 by typing this line:
Code:
echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="1446", SYSFS{idVendor}=="12d1", RUN+="/lib/udev/modem-modeswitch --vendor 0x12d1 --product 0x1446 --type option-zerocd"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/45-huawei1550.rules
3) Configure explicitly the Mobile Broadband on Network Manager according to specific instructions from your provider. In my case I just had to fill in the APN. It is convenient to check the box that the connection will be activated automatically and will be available for all users.
OBS: This modem is interesting due to high flexibility, low cost, and quite reasonable performance for mobile broadband. Here in Sweden they are sold for approx 25€ on prepaid (no contract).
This is only a workaround before a definitive solution is created for udev and/or network manager and/or devicekit.
The other solutions that I have seen involved installing from source software that is not yet on the repositories. I personally prefer to strive after standardization and resources available on the repositories. Observe that the modem-switch on udev-extras is not the same as usb_modeswitch! I hope that these tools will soon converge upstream.