I have a laptop for work and need to be able to connect to the internet at any time from anywhere.

I was previously using a Motorola MAXX V6 Next G mobile phone with a work SIM card, but the connection would drop out every half an hour or so, and I didn't like the phone.

I figured I'd rather have my laptop connecting to the internet using dedicated hardware, so I went and bought a BigPond Next G card for my laptop.

BigPond Next G card - PC Card version

This is what I had to do to get it working under Ubuntu 8.10 and Network Manager.

1. Put your SIM card in your phone and remove any PIN on the card


2. Put your SIM card in your Next G card


3. Plug in your Next G card and wait until the power light is blue and the 3G light is orange


4. Run dmesg from a terminal window to ensure that Linux has detected it
   
   Apparently the card is a re-branded Sierra AirCard 875, so we're looking for lines matching Sierra



user@host:~$ dmesg | grep Sierra
[ 2719.089254] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for Sierra USB modem
[ 2719.089807] sierra 8-1:1.0: Sierra USB modem converter detected
[ 2719.091428] usb 8-1: Sierra USB modem converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[ 2719.092217] usb 8-1: Sierra USB modem converter now attached to ttyUSB1
[ 2719.092930] usb 8-1: Sierra USB modem converter now attached to ttyUSB2
[ 2719.093678] usbcore: registered new interface driver sierra
[ 2719.093683] sierra: USB Driver for Sierra Wireless USB modems: v.1.3.2



5. Figure out which connection identifier you need
   
   On my modem, there are four connection identifiers that correspond to different phone and data plans. As far as I understand it, they are as follows.
   
   

   Connection Id	Access Point Name	Plan Type
   1	telstra.pcpack	Data plan with time limit
   2	telstra.datapack	Data plan with download limit
   3	telstra.internet	Phone plan
   4	telstra.internet	Unknown

   
   Connection number 3 worked for me with my work phone.
   
   Remember the one corresponding to your plan for later.


6. Right click on the network icon in the notification area then click on Edit Connections




Network status icon



7. Click on the Mobile Broadband tab


8. Click Add




Mobile broadband connections



9. Click Forward


10. Click Telstra then click Forward


11. Type a name in the box (I used Next G) and click Apply


12. Click on your connection in the list and click Edit


13. Change the number from *99# to *99***connection id#, e.g. *99***3#


14. Clear the APN field


15. Click OK




Final settings



16. Click on the network icon, scroll down and click on the name you gave it, e.g. Next G


17. Wait a few seconds for it to connect




Connected to Next G

I'm now getting internet speeds of around 1.2 to 2.0 Mbps, which is the best mobile broadband speed I've seen.

ZDNet's download speed test with my new Next G card

If you try these steps but needed to do anything differently, please let me know.

Notes for other modems and cards

For most mobile phones, try an APN of telstra.internet and *99# as the phone number.

Notes for BigPond users

I think you need to explicitly specify an APN of telstra.bigpond and provide your username and password.

Can you try and let me know?

Listing your modem's APNs

In case your modem has different connection ids, install minicom, then run it...

user@host:~$ cd /dev
user@host:~$ sudo ln -sf ttyUSB0 modem
user@host:~$ sudo apt-get install minicom
[and answer the prompts to install it if necessary]
user@host:~$ sudo minicom

Welcome to minicom 2.3

OPTIONS: I18n 
Compiled on Oct 24 2008, 06:37:44.
Port /dev/ttyUSB0

                 Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys                                             
                                                                                                     
                                                                                                     
OK

...then type AT+CGDCONT?[ENTER]

AT+CGDCONT?
+CGDCONT: 1,"IP","telstra.pcpack","",0,0
+CGDCONT: 2,"IP","telstra.datapack","",0,0
+CGDCONT: 3,"IP","telstra.internet","",0,0
+CGDCONT: 4,"IP","telstra.internet","",0,0

The first number is the connection id.