[Gloucs] 3G USB modem

[David Johnson]

On Monday 08 September 2008 18:59:42 Nick wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> I'm soon to be moving into a place that doesn't have a landline, so
> I think I'll be getting a USB GPRS/3G modem (interestingly branded a
> 'dongle'). I know the GSM signal where I'll be moving isn't great,
> but is perfectly adequate to make a call (no dropping or crackling,
> etc).
>
> So I want to know a few things. Firstly, is there anything to look
> out for with such devices? I want something well & easily supported
> by Linux, so a mainline driver is very preferable if possible.

Presumably you already have a phone, so why not just use that? I have my 
laptop set-up to use my phone to access the Internet over Bluetooth, which 
not only means that I don't have to buy a separate dongle or card, but I can 
also strategically place the phone to get the best signal without being tied 
to the laptop :-)

Not the easiest thing to set-up, but once it's done it's really useful. Almost 
all phones just appear as a modem (either over Bluetooth or USB) using 
standardised Bluetooth or USB serial support and I'd imagine 3G/GPRS dongles 
are the same, so Linux compatibility shouldn't be a problem.

>
> Also do I need some sort of dialing software or similar? Is it the
> same as with an old dial-up modem? I don't use gnome or kde, so
> inbuilt solutions (such as network manager) are no use to me.
> Terminal is king in my world, ideally.
>

Yep, it's just like to bad old days of dial-up :-)
Thinking back a good few years, I seem to remember that 'wvdial' is the 
standard command-line dialer application.

> Should the connection be reasonably stable when the signal isn't
> strong? I don't need speed, but stability is quite important.

Depends on a lot of things, so difficult to say. As long as you get a dongle 
with a decent radio and have reasonable coverage  (i.e. you're not on the 
edge of two cells) you should be OK.

Hope some of this is helpful...

David,

-- 
David Johnson
www.david-web.co.uk