Wi-Fi availability
Swamp Rat
service that will work in country towns) and was told they do not
support Ubuntu or any other flavour of Linux. I don't want to spend
$175 on a modem that doesn't work. I have an Asus Eee 901 and have
just converted it to Ubuntu UNR. Everything works fine including Skype
with webcam/audio. I desperately need comms. Does anyone know if a Wi-
Fi will work with Ubuntu/UNR and how to get it going?
Grateful for any assistance. ps -I have low end knowledge of Unix/
Ubuntu so pleeez make it simple.
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Paul Gear
> I visited Telstra today to but a Wi-Fi broadband modem (the only
> service that will work in country towns) and was told they do not
> support Ubuntu or any other flavour of Linux. I don't want to spend
> $175 on a modem that doesn't work. I have an Asus Eee 901 and have
> just converted it to Ubuntu UNR. Everything works fine including Skype
> with webcam/audio. I desperately need comms. Does anyone know if a Wi-
> Fi will work with Ubuntu/UNR and how to get it going?
I've successfully used Telstra's and Vodaphone's stock USB broadband
modems. I can't remember the model numbers or chipsets, though. A wide
range of them do seem to be compatible nowadays - others on the list can
comment on the exact models.
Paul
Dave Hall
On Wed, 2009-11-04 at 23:47 -0800, Swamp Rat wrote:
> I visited Telstra today to but a Wi-Fi broadband modem (the only
> service that will work in country towns) and was told they do not
> support Ubuntu or any other flavour of Linux. I don't want to spend
> $175 on a modem that doesn't work. I have an Asus Eee 901 and have
> just converted it to Ubuntu UNR. Everything works fine including Skype
> with webcam/audio. I desperately need comms. Does anyone know if a Wi-
> Fi will work with Ubuntu/UNR and how to get it going?
Do you mean a 3G WiFi router, looks like a normal router but takes a sim
card to connect to Telstra's Next G network? Or are you talking about a
USB 3G modem?
If it is the first you should be fine.
If it is the later (usb 3g modem). I would suggest you ask the store
for a 24hr trial. I was lucky I know the regional sales manager for
Telstra Next G where I live, he gave me a 21Mbps modem and SIM for a
week to go nuts. I ended up buying a cheaper modem from ebay and
signing up with Telstra Business. BigPond requires that you use a
bigpond modem and you can't switch modems between pre and post paid.
Official vendor support and it working are 2 different things. It might
also be worth pointing out to Telstra staff that Sierra (manufacturer of
most of their modems) offers the source code for their Linux drivers on
their website - including decent documentation too.
Cheers
Dave
Slawek Drabot
which country town are you looking for coverage? Do you get mobile reception from Optus in your town? This wil lgreatly increase your options and reduce your cost.
Wireless broadband modems work with Ubuntu: this email has been sent from such.
With my modem (Huawei E1762), Ubuntu identified the modem and then a wizard walks you through selecting the country and service provider to configure the connection.
What Telstra probably mean is that they will not offer support for the modem you buy from them if you use Ubuntu.
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Dave Hall
> "Does anyone know if a Wi-Fi will work with Ubuntu/UNR and how to get
> it going?"
>
> which country town are you looking for coverage? Do you get mobile
> reception from Optus in your town? This wil lgreatly increase your
> options and reduce your cost.
Or not. I have used Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Virgin and 3 over the
years for mobile data. Out of all of them, Telstra wins hands down - no
one comes close to their coverage, their customer service leaves optus,
3 and virgin for dead and if you look at it closely, the pricing on the
higher end plans is actually pretty good. One month over quota with
Optus can wipe out any savings you may have made by using them. BigPond
offer shaped plans.
Yes, some of Telstra's business practices are questionable, alot of
their products are over priced, but you will find very people (including
some of their harshest critics) who will criticise their Next G network.
If you have Optus coverage then I would recommend you consider using
Internode's 3G product. I have heard good things about it and it is
capped, so you don't get a nasty surprise when the next bill arrives. I
don't use it as 5G is far too little. More info at
http://www.internode.on.net/residential/broadband/3g_wireless/nodemobile_data/plans/
Disclaimer: Internode sponsors the free community wireless network in my
town in country Victoria, so I like to say nice things about them.
Cheers
Dave
Paul Gear
> ...
> Disclaimer: Internode sponsors the free community wireless network in my
> town in country Victoria, so I like to say nice things about them.
things about them without ever having benefited from their sponsorship. ;-)
Dave Hall
I used to say nice things about them before they sponsored us, but now I
have a stronger compulsion to do it. I think I am close to being
considered a node fanboi ;)
Christopher Lees
wrote:
> Subject: Wi-Fi availability
> To: ubun...@lists.ubuntu.com
> Message-ID:
> <8e127b47-8307-45e7...@r24g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I visited Telstra today to but a Wi-Fi broadband modem (the only
> service that will work in country towns) and was told they do not
> support Ubuntu or any other flavour of Linux. I don't want to spend
> $175 on a modem that doesn't work. I have an Asus Eee 901 and have
> just converted it to Ubuntu UNR. Everything works fine including Skype
> with webcam/audio. I desperately need comms. Does anyone know if a Wi-
> Fi will work with Ubuntu/UNR and how to get it going?
>
> Grateful for any assistance. ps -I have low end knowledge of Unix/
> Ubuntu so pleeez make it simple.
Wi-fi is where you have a short-range network running in your house or
business; I think from your description that you want Mobile Broadband.
Mobile Broadband gives you internet access through mobile phone towers.
I ended off getting my mobile broadband (prepaid) through 3. They
included an E160G modem, which works out-of-the-box on Ubuntu 8.10, 9.04
and 9.10. A friend of mine who also runs Ubuntu got a mobile broadband
plan with 3 and got given a different modem - I think it's an E169, it's
black and it has a rotating USB plug so you can put the modem at a
different angle. It also runs out-of-the-box on 8.10 and 9.04 (he hasn't
tried 9.10).
I've seen an E160G with an Optus logo on it too, so Optus is another
option as long as they are providing that modem. I went with 3 because
their prepaid option was cheaper than the competition AND if you
recharge before the month ends they carry over your remaining data,
which I thought could come in handy.
Obviously, check what modem you are going to get, and check that 3 has
coverage. Ubuntu 9.10 has some known regressions in terms of mobile
broadband support (my E160G sometimes takes a few tries to connect
properly) so you might want to stick with 9.04 or be ultra-careful in
checking compatibility for 9.10 specifically.
Slawek Drabot
Availability of Optus means you have access to the likes of Exetel and RegionalConnect who use the Optus 3G network. A price comparison can be found at whirlpool (for regional Vic for example): http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/bc/?action=search&exc=1&state=vic&class=2&type=res&cost=50&pre=3000&conntype=6&speed=512&upspeed=0&contract=99&needhw=yes&upfront=999999
--- On Thu, 11/5/09, Dave Hall <dave...@skwashd.com> wrote:
Dale
> I visited Telstra today to but a Wi-Fi broadband modem (the only
> service that will work in country towns) and was told they do not
> support Ubuntu or any other flavour of Linux. I don't want to spend
> $175 on a modem that doesn't work. I have an Asus Eee 901 and have
> just converted it to Ubuntu UNR. Everything works fine including Skype
> with webcam/audio. I desperately need comms. Does anyone know if a Wi-
> Fi will work with Ubuntu/UNR and how to get it going?
>
> Grateful for any assistance. ps -I have low end knowledge of Unix/
> Ubuntu so pleeez make it simple.
>
I have both Huawei E1762 and E160E 3G wireless dongles from
Internode[1] and they work great under Linux and are very easy to
setup and use with Network Manager. I have also used the E169 under
linux too and it works great to. I have the dongle cause I am moving
very soon to the country, and at the new place the dongles work good
up there to concidering the 3G tower is the next town is over from the
new place.
Regards
Dale
[1] http://www.internode.on.net/residential/broadband/3g_wireless/nodemobile_data/
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