How to use Huawei E169 HSDPA 3G modem on Ubuntu

Submitted by TBarregren
on Sat, 2009-01-03 01:48

This mini-HOWTO explains how to make Huawei’s 3G modem E169 for 7.2 Mbps High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), known as Turbo 3G in Sweden, to work on Ubuntu.

When I signed up for the telephone operator Tele2’s HSDPA/HSUPA service called Mobile Broadband Maxi I got a Huawei E169 modem.1 After I tested it on Windows XP (I must confess, I keep one installation of Windows for all eventualities), I naturally wanted to get it working on my laptop running Ubuntu. Based on an earlier experience of installing a CDMA modem on Ubuntu, I expected some trouble before geting it to work. To my surprise it was quite easy, thanks to Liam Green-Hughes’ blog Huawei E169G - the easy way. This is what I did:

Huawei E169 — the easy way

How to install Huawei E169 on Ubuntu:

  1. Download and run the .deb package e169g-switch_0.3_all.deb.
  2. Copy the provided wvdial configuration file to your home directory: cp /usr/share/doc/e169-switch/gnome-ppp-wvdial-example.conf ~/.wvdial.conf
  3. On line 9 in the newly copied ~/.wvdial.conf, replace YOUR APN HERE with the Access Point Name (APN) of your operator, e.g. mobileinternet.tele2.se.
  4. Install Gnome PPP: apt-get install gnome-ppp.

You can now use Gnome PPP to connect to internet.

Remarks

Before I followed the procedure above, I tested Huawei E169 on Windows. Comments on the internet indicates that this is a necessary prerequisite. I also removed the PIN-code protection of the SIM card.

Further reading

For those who want more details, I recommend following reading:

  1. Actually, I got the wrong modem, since Huawei E169 doesn’t support High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). Tele2 will therefore replace it with its successor Huawei E170. So I will likely comeback with another log post about using E170 on Ubuntu. :-) ↩

Tags: 
howto linux ubuntu

Comments

I am using Kubuntu 8.04 with

Mon, 2010-07-26 09:41 — ray (not verified)

I am using Kubuntu 8.04 with kde 3.5, dual boot with win xp pro sp3,
while when using xp pro I have my mobile broadband stick connected at 7.2mbps,
but would like my Kubuntu to be the same as at the moment I have an external
modem that runs at 115kbps using terminal window with sudo wvdial,
I read this site details but not sure of the correct things to do as I am a newbie,
my system is dual boot xp pro sp3 dive c 80gb hdd and Kubuntu 8.04 dive d 40gb hd,
so they are seperate drives, can you help?

ray

Since I upgraded Ubuntu the

Mon, 2010-07-26 09:43 — TBarregren

Since I upgraded Ubuntu the modem has worked out of the box, and I haven't thought anything more about it. I am sorry that I can't be at any help.

Hi. I like your blog. well

Mon, 2010-07-26 22:05 — suplementy (not verified)

Hi. I like your blog. well done!

I downloaded the switch ,

Mon, 2010-07-26 22:07 — ray30 (not verified)

I downloaded the switch , save to the desktop and followed the instructions, but not sure about replace apn of your operator is and where on line 9 as see attached, I think I have it wrong, as is it the address "xxxx@dodo.com.au or the in number of the e169 (335d1)

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
ISDN = off
Modem Type = Analog Modem
Baud = 460800
Init = ATZ
Init2 = ATZ
Init3 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Init4 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","rayburke30@dodo.com.au"
Init5 =
Init6 =
Init7 =
Init8 =
Init9 =
Phone = *99#
Phone1 =
Phone2 =
Phone3 =
Phone4 =
Dial Prefix =
Dial Attempts = 1
Dial Command = ATM1L3DT
Ask Password = off
Password = guest
Username = guest
Auto Reconnect = on
Abort on Busy = off
Carrier Check = off
Check Def Route = on
Abort on No Dialtone = on
Stupid Mode = on
Idle Seconds = 0
Auto DNS = on
;Minimize = on
;Dock = on
;Do NOT edit this file by hand!

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