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Hardware Issues

USB modems in Linux?

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#1 of 15 Posted Nov-1 9:13 AM

From Frank B. (Forum Janitor) Posts 4683 Last Nov-21
To All [Msg # 129662.1 ]

Anyone have any experience using USB modems in Linux?

In poking around on the Internet, I came across this app which runs on my Treo 650 and which will turn it into a USB modem. I will have to stick with my Treo for a few months yet, and the price of data plans have come down. Therefore I'm interested in experimenting with this.

Frank.

-----------------------
Single booting Linux all day, every day, at home and at work.

#2 of 15 Posted Nov-1 12:56 PM

From TerryXela Posts 1983 Last Nov-21
To Frank B. (Forum Janitor) [Msg # 129662.2 129662.1 ]

>Anyone have any experience using USB modems in Linux?

Yes I have been using usbmodem for few years in both treos 700p and 755p. It works great and it is one of the reason I hold on to the old treo. My carrier is Verizon.
I do a cable connection which are faster and probably safer than bluetooth.
The connection is very stable except in the few cases when I accidentally disconnect the cable ;-)
It allows 'multitasking' so you can answer a call and do not get disconnected (this is a limitation of the hardware of course) so you can do only one thing at the time but you do not have to reconnect.
To establish the connection you load the script as root and in less than 5s you on.
Speed is pretty impressive. It my backup for the desktop when the dsl line goes down. If it not were for the professional needs I could eliminate the dsl line and use the usbmodem as my solo net connection.
It runs under linux.
The other alternative is the pdanet but it is a windoze only.

Before that, I tethered using some tips from "Wireless Hacks" ISBN-10: 0596101449 but it was a more involved process, usbm modem make it very fast and easy.

-=terry=-

#3 of 15 Posted Nov-1 1:57 PM

From Frank B. (Forum Janitor) Posts 4683 Last Nov-21
To TerryXela [Msg # 129662.3 129662.2 ]

TERRY! I thought you'd died. :)

>Yes I have been using usbmodem for few years in both treos 700p and 755p. It works great and it is one of the reason I hold on to the old treo. My carrier is Verizon.<

I may get back to you on this, then. If I have someone who has been through this that could help me, then I'd be willing to change to a data plan on my Treo right now so as to get a feel for how it works. I'm afraid that I'm pretty ignorant in this area.

>It allows 'multitasking' so you can answer a call and do not get disconnected (this is a limitation of the hardware of course) so you can do only one thing at the time but you do not have to reconnect.<

That is good to know.

>To establish the connection you load the script as root and in less than 5s you on.<

I wondered about that. So, this script sets everything up on the Linux box so that it will use the USB port as an Internet connection?

I've seen posts about wvdial, but have not followed up on what that is. It apparently sets some communications paramaters, but all the examples I saw showed 9600 baud as the connection speed. I'm thinking that maybe I don't understand the difference between using a cell phone as a modem and tethering. Tethering allows higher speeds as it is digital rather than analog? I need some help here understanding.

>Speed is pretty impressive.<

Sounding better all the time. :)

>It runs under linux.<

Meaning that I can tether my Treo to my Linux laptop, I assume. How about connecting the Treo to a wireless router? Is this possible? That would make my Internet connection available to more than one device.

>The other alternative is the pdanet but it is a windoze only.<

I wondered. I have an email into their tech support asking exactly that question.

So, please get back to me on these questions. I'm eager to try this out.

Frank.

-----------------------
Single booting Linux all day, every day, at home and at work.

#4 of 15 Posted Nov-1 5:31 PM

From TerryXela Posts 1983 Last Nov-21
To Frank B. (Forum Janitor) [Msg # 129662.4 129662.3 ]

>TERRY! I thought you'd died. :)

I wake up after Halloween ;-)

>I'd be willing to change to a data plan on my Treo right now so as to get a feel for how it works.

usbmodem can be run for free as trial so if you have a limited data plan it will work.

>So, this script sets everything up on the Linux box

Yes, usbmodem come with different scripts. With Verizon I did not have to do any changes.

> but all the examples I saw showed 9600 baud as the connection speed

You get about 2 MB/s download and >0.5 MB/s upload iirc of course is depends on how good is the signal.

>Meaning that I can tether my Treo to my Linux laptop

Yes or any computer that has a usb port

>How about connecting the Treo to a wireless router?

I have no experience, in part it will depend of the router I know some of the linksys run under linux and can be programed. They also sell router for this purpose craddle point or something like that was mentioned in one thread. And of course you can use a computer as a router. I use it mainly with the laptop.

-=terry=-

 .-.                           _\)  .-="=-.//  
     (o,o)                            \,//==\=== 
      (e)

 .-.                           _\)  .-="=-.//  
     (o,o)                            \,//==\=== 
      (e)

#5 of 15 Posted Nov-1 6:00 PM

From Frank B. (Forum Janitor) Posts 4683 Last Nov-21
To TerryXela [Msg # 129662.5 129662.4 ]

Terry:

>I wake up after Halloween ;-)<

Well, regardless, I've missed you, and I'm very glad to see you back again.

Is "usbmodem" a piece of software, or a general description of a device?

Is there a difference between using a cell phone as a USB modem (as in analog) or using it as an Internet access point like one would use a digital service like cable or DSL? I think that I'm missing something here. One would not need a dialer for a digital data connection, would one? (as in wvdial?) I don't fully grasp this. Current cell phones are essentially digital devices. Are they not 'always on' more or less, in the sense that they are in constant communication with whatever cell tower is in the area any time they are turned on?

Thanks for mentioning Cradlepoint. I looked it up, and it appears to be what I am looking for. On the page linked above it says: The CTR500 is a portable cellular router compatible with many HSPA and EVDO 3G devices.

The EVDO devices linked are all 'aircards' of various types, NOT cell phones. I don't know if this will make a difference or not. I just don't understand enough of this yet.

This gets more interesting by the minute. I'll be adding a data plan to my Treo this week. I tried today, but Bell customer support is closed.

Can you fill me in on how 2G and 3G devices work as data access points?

Thanks very much.

Frank.
-----------------------
Single booting Linux all day, every day, at home and at work.

#6 of 15 Posted Nov-2 8:56 AM

From TerryXela Posts 1983 Last Nov-21
To Frank B. (Forum Janitor) [Msg # 129662.6 129662.5 ]

Frank,

A modem modulate the signal at the transmit end of a data communication circutit and demodulate the signal at the receiving end. To modulate is to adapt a signal so it can be transmitted over the type of transmission media in use. In other words, the basic function of a modem is to convert electrical signals such as + and - voltage of electricity, to modulate signals that can be transmitted over communication circuits.

In not very accurate terms but easy to understand is to think what differentiate one modem from the the other (like "analog" or voiceband modem , dsl modem, fiberoptic modem) is how the signal is transmitted between the modulated and demodulated segment of the communication. For example in voice band modem the stream of 0 and 1 are represent by changing the frequencies or cycles per second (hertz) within th evoice range. You can heard the changes in the pitch of the tone. Because of the frequency used they can be transmitted over regular phone lines without any modifications. DSL and cable modems transmit the signal using a very high frequency spectrum microwave (that of course is not used when you produce the sound with your vocal cords). Optical modems transmit the 1 and 0 using light and therefore only fiber-optic bundles can do it, telephone lines will not.

How do you enter or how do you connect to any of these circuits it all depends. Using a "dialer" and punching number allows you to use a voice phone, given an user ID and a password and having an IP will allow you to enter a DSl or cable modem system etc
In summary the understanding of how we send information is not important or necessary, how to connect is ;-)

USBmodem is the name of the software that facilitate the use of treo as a modem. The name is confusing and has nothing to do with a modem, they could have called it Tethering1 or anything.

To make things more complicated, carriers have force manufacturers to hide DUN (Dial-up networking) etc etc. So my initial attempts with the 650 to connect, I had to use a patch (iirc shadowmite) to unhide DUN. It worked OK. Since I got usbmodem everything is done and also allows me to use USB cable.
Going back to connection, for example Verizon uses:

username: phonenumber@vzw3g.com
password: vzw
phone number #777

So, supposed you are using bluethoot and you have paired both devices (phone and laptop) then you can treated like a serial device
bind to rfcomm
do the dialup networking AT command etc

Well all these steps are done by usbmodem.
USB modem has 2 parts
(1) a prc file that you installed in your treo like any treo application
(2) and script that you run under linux
There is a manual that comes with the usbmodem.

So
(1) plug the usb cable between the two device
(2) load the usbmodem palm application. Be sure is setup as USB and not as Bluetooth. Enable it.
(3) open a terminal in the laptop and as root run the script. It will tell you when you are connected.

In summary get and install the usbmodem, get a limited data plan. If it works OK for your, disconnect it immediately and change to unlimited data plan.

-=terry=-

#7 of 15 Posted Nov-2 9:50 AM

From Frank B. (Forum Janitor) Posts 4683 Last Nov-21
To TerryXela [Msg # 129662.7 129662.6 ]

Terry:

I was aware of how a voice modem works. I do find that using the same terminology to apply to a network bridge (cable modem) is confusing.

>In summary the understanding of how we send information is not important or necessary, how to connect is ;-)<

Well put. I was just confused over the difference between dialing a phone number and using a modem, or just plugging an ethernet cable into a cable modem. NOT the same procedure.

>To make things more complicated, carriers have force manufacturers to hide DUN (Dial-up networking) etc etc. So my initial attempts with the 650 to connect, I had to use a patch (iirc shadowmite) to unhide DUN.<

I don't think that patch works anymore. Palm changed the internals of the Treo to block it. At the request of the carriers, no doubt.

>Well all these steps are done by usbmodem.
USB modem has 2 parts
(1) a prc file that you installed in your treo like any treo application
(2) and script that you run under linux
There is a manual that comes with the usbmodem.<

OK, that is what I needed to know. As you say, knowing how to connect is the important thing. What you are saying is that I don't need wvdial as I am not making an analog connection. This was NOT clear in various threads I looked at in the Ubuntu forum that discussed connecting through a USB modem. Those threads, I see now, did refer to 9600 baud analog modem connections, NOT the digital connection that USBmodem is going to give me. It is clear now. It was not clear yesterday. :)

>In summary get and install the usbmodem, get a limited data plan. If it works OK for your, disconnect it immediately and change to unlimited data plan.<

I'll order a data plan today.

Frank.

-----------------------
Single booting Linux all day, every day, at home and at work.

Messages 129662.8 through 129662.14 were moved to 129666.1

#15 of 15 Posted Nov-3 12:19 AM

From HM Murdock Posts 174 Last Nov-10
To Frank B. (Forum Janitor) [Msg # 129662.15 129662.1 ]

The latest mobo's are comming without serial ports.

I used a serial to usb adapter to connect my serial modem.

it gets assigned (use dmesg after plugging it in)

ttyUSB0

Use that instead of the usual ttyS0 in your ppp application (like kppp).

Works without a problem on Slackware 13.0.

HM
TANSTAAFL

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Hardware Issues

USB modems in Linux?

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