Ubuntu 12.04 Broadband connect problem

**Hawkeye25** · May 20th, 2012

I have an AT&T Sierra Wireless USBConnect Momentum 313 4G modem and a brand new install of Ubuntu 12.04 on it's own HD. System is AMD 64 and works fine on Windows 7 on it's own HD. Cannot get Ubuntu to 'see', 'find', 'recognise', whatever, the Sierra modem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've had high hopes this version would finally free me from Windows, but to find such difficulty in what should be an almost automatic function, once again shakes my confidence in the integrity of this OS. I don't want to be a programmer - just a user. It should be simpler than this.

**celldweller1591** · May 20th, 2012

i think you should go through this link first - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InternetHowto

**Hawkeye25** · May 22nd, 2012

I live on a boat and travel around, trying not to stay in marinas. The ethernet modems I've found so far are for cable or DSL, landline broadband. I will keep looking, but really just want to find out how to alert Ubuntu 12.04 to the perfectly fine modem in the USB port.

**Hawkeye25** · May 23rd, 2012

I keep watching and searching the discussion forums and have yet to see much of anything about this, except that it is difficult. The thing is, I can't see why it should be. USB is a standard system on all motherboards. Mice, keyboards, external hard drives, cameras, microphones, and on and on. Windows does it without so much as a hiccup, as does Mac. Why should it be increasingly difficult for Linux? It worked quickly and easily on my older Ubuntu. It's completely counterintuitive to accept it should be so difficult now as to be dismissed as unavailable.

**servant74** · July 4th, 2012

Bump

**msammels** · July 4th, 2012

I'm not too familiar with mobile broadband dongles, but don't they need some software to connect to the internet? As far as I'm aware, this software logs them in with a username and password? Saying that... I could be wrong.

**Hawkeye25** · July 4th, 2012

The same modem does require a specific connection manager in Windows, but a typical malfunction in that system is the modem connecting on boot without the CM being initialized. It turns out the CM is essential for tracking and a degree of control, but not for connection, and it does not require a password or any of the security issues typical in the Linux CM.

In Ubuntu 10.04, all I ever had to do was complete the initial setup and the connection was always ready and quick to connect, plus a great deal faster and more stable than in Windows. I was sooooooo hopeful 12.04 was about to free me from Windows forever. What a disappointment. This is like a HUGE slide backwards and the promise of an effective alternative to Windows - most noteably in the highly mobile spectrum - has been somehow deliberately flushed away by the Ubuntu developers.

WiFi is too short a leash to be considered 'Mobile'. It is like being a train on tracks - you can NEVER step too far away from the narrow path where it is available. Cellular is infinitely more desirable for someone living on a boat, or motorhome, or traveling on a motorcycle, etc, etc. At this point, Ubuntu is removed from my system and I presently consider it unusable. It has to perform the functions I require or it is less than useless. All I'm asking is what EVERY other OS does quickly and easily - connect to the internet in what is now the fastest growing method available.

Ubuntu is now like having a Ferrari that MUST remain is your living room. You can sit in it and rev the engine, but never take it out for a drive.

**haresear** · July 4th, 2012

I have a Pantech 3G broadband modem which is recognized by Ubuntu 12.04 same as earlier versions -- don't know why your 4G modem isn't recognized. Is your USB modem listed when you issue the 'lsusb' command in a terminal window? One thing I've noticed that is different in 12.04 is that I have to reenable 'mobile broadband' every time I reboot before my 3G modem connection is listed in the network manager.

**Hawkeye25** · July 4th, 2012

I've tried everything (two weeks worth of patient efforts, online research, forum searches, etc) and the system never 'saw' the modem. I went through the standard ADD procedure again and again, exhausting every possible combination of variables, without getting even the slightest glimmer of hope. I scoured the manufacturers websight for help with Linux connections and came up empty.

I began building my boat in 1986. Through thick and thin, severe illness and almost dying, hurricanes and financial devestation, I never gave up and it is almost completely finished. Through it all, I have been trying one version of Linux after another. I don't give up. I really don't, but for me to remove it from the system means something serious: I've tried everything ..... everything, and this one doesn't work.

People have concluded the problem lies in the USB connection and how Ubuntu manages them. Honestly, I don't know enough about THAT level of OS code construction to begin to understand why the physical method of plugging the device in should be a problem. I've been told to use an Ethernet connected modem or a LAN service. I've investigated both possibilities and found that another computer next to the one I'm working on is more accessory than I'm willing to build for an internet connection. And I simply can't find an Ethernet connected Cellular internet modem for under $500, so that option vaporized.

Thank you for your help. One day something will happen to change this situation and I'm hoping it will be in Ubuntu 13.04.