O2 USB Mobile broadband dongle

[parcdulas]

I have an O2 mobile USB dongle based on the HUAWEI 160 modem. As the dongle installs connect software for WINDOWS on a windows machine I am at a loss how to get it to work on UBUNTU. My UBUNTU machine does not have any web access until I can get the dongle to work so if any other software is needed I will need to download it on another machine (WINDOWS). UBUNTU does not seem to recognise the dongle except that it recognises that an external disk is available with no space on it (the dongle can have a memory card installed) As an absolute beginner with UBUNTU can anyone help me please?

Martin

[gandaran]

hi
which ubuntu release do you have?
I would recommend to have the latest ubuntu version installed and for the dongle there's no need to install any software, just run the network manager mobile broadband wizard from the panel network icon to choose country and your internet provider and check the box connect automatically in the setup then maybe reboot to start internet connection.
this works for almost any dongle but sometimes new dongle modems are not yet supported so it's recommended to have the newest ubuntu version, alternately there are some third party software to manage mobile connections but try the ubuntu network manager first.

[parcdulas]

Thanks. I have 11.10 I believe although I am away from the machine at present. It seems to be an O2 problem as they are sending me a new SIM card for the modem. With the new SIM I'll try it out on my return in a couple of weeks.

[gandaran]

Thanks. I have 11.10 I believe although I am away from the machine at present. It seems to be an O2 problem as they are sending me a new SIM card for the modem. With the new SIM I'll try it out on my return in a couple of weeks.

well, if the modem works on windows then it should work on ubuntu,
the HUAWEI 160 modem has been around for sometime so I believe its well supported on ubuntu, just be careful choosing the O2 contract or pay and go internet package as it will not work without the right APN, mobile broadband is easy if you can get the right connection settings.

[Roger49]

Hi,
I've just installed 11.10 myself, and run into what may be the same problem. My dongle is with 3, and worked well with 10.04 and 10.10. The problem may be User Privilege settings - it was with me.

Here is a post I have just made to a different thread.
Regards,
Roger49

Hi,
Fixed it.
I checked that the machine had detected the dongle with "lsusb", and it had.
If you right-click on the background, and choose "Applications", "System", "Users and Groups".
Click on "Advanced Settings", and enter your password.
Under the "User Privileges" tab is a list of tick-boxes. Printing and Modem use had not been ticked.
Click on the boxes you might need, save and close.
I now have Internet access.
I thought I would post it here for other users who are scratching their heads.
Regards,
Roger

[Linux_junkie]

I have a T-mobile dongle and I set it up through the network manager app.

Follow the following pics to setup your dongle in Ubuntu. When you get to window in last pic just follow the wizard to set it up for your network.

Any problems just ask.

[parcdulas]

I managed with difficulty to get the device working with a new sim under windows. Ubuntu still ignores it. With the device plugged in to one of the usb sockets i typed sudo lsusb to see if the modem was connected. it came up as:

Bus 001 Device 000: ID 12d1:1003 Huawei Technologies co., Ltd. E220 HSDPA Modem/E230/E270 HSDPA/HSUPA Modem

So it is definitely connected but I cannot get Firefox or Thunderbird to recognise it. When I click on the network icon in the top bar there is no mobile broadband available. If I click on "Edit Connections" that brings up the network connections dialogue box with a "Mobile Broadband" tab that allows me to set up two prepaid Pay-As-You-Go O2 systems but neither seem to work. So what can I try next?

[Lateralis]

I set one of these up on a laptop a couple of years ago. Unless much has changed then it should be fairly straightforward. Open the network manager, the wireless tab and then click to set up a new connection. I can't remember the exact details which need to go in the dialogue box, but have a read through this link, which contains a wealth of information. (The instructions should still work with 11.10/12.04, even though the OP in that link was installing the modem on an Ubuntu 8.10 system.)

[Mark Phelps]

well, if the modem works on windows then it should work on ubuntu...

Sorry ... that generalization is not true in all cases.

I have an LG 4GLTE USB modem which works great in Windows and will not work at all in Linux distros -- because LG (through Verizon) supplies special drivers for this which are not available in Linux.

[Roger49]

Hi again,
Your experiences are very similar to mine.
I found that lsusb would find the dongle.
I also found that in addition to checking the correct boxes in the "Users" section, I also had to become a member of a "Group" in the "Groups" section. One of which had a title like "www-data".
After doing that, my mobile broadband came back.
(Must check again tonight to see that its still there).
Good Luck,
Roger49