GPRS/UMTS device for a FreeBSD notebook ?
t...@diogunix.com
I've already google'd for a while on this topic but could not really find
information about what GPRS/UMTS/WLAN expresscard or USB device runs fine on
a FreeBSD notebook regarding drivers available and configuration.
Actually I wanted to buy an Option Globetrotter Express (ExpressCard) but it
seems there might be issues with FreeBSD.
Are there any recommendations on with which hardware get GPRS/UMTS/WLAN
running on a FreeBSD notebook ?
Many thanks in advance.
Tom
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Mike Tancsa
>
> Are there any recommendations on with which hardware get GPRS/UMTS/WLAN
> running on a FreeBSD notebook ?
Support in RELENG_8 is pretty good for most things out there. If you
want to use a mini-pcie card, the Sierra works well here in Rogers land.
Generally, I would stick with what your carrier provides since if you
need support, they wont help you if the stick is not sold by them. And
I mean support as in, "hey, are you sure this SIM is active" kind of
thing as opposed to help setting it up in Windows.
For USB, we have used Sierra, ZTE, Ovation. The recent ZTEs that Rogers
gives away seem fairly stable. The trouble is that the guts inside
often change...
---Mike
>
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Mike Tancsa, tel +1 519 651 3400
Sentex Communications, mi...@sentex.net
Providing Internet services since 1994 www.sentex.net
Cambridge, Ontario Canada http://www.tancsa.com/
t...@diogunix.com
> Support in RELENG_8 is pretty good for most things out there. If you
> want to use a mini-pcie card,
yes, if, saying mini-pcie card, you mean a 34mm express card.
I prefer these over USB, at least if there's a choice.
> the Sierra works well here in Rogers land.
> Generally, I would stick with what your carrier provides since if you
> need support, they wont help you if the stick is not sold by them. And
> I mean support as in, "hey, are you sure this SIM is active" kind of
> thing as opposed to help setting it up in Windows.
I need sort of a one-size-fits-all solution as I'll be hopping across a
couple of western european countries: UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium,
France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain. I'd therefor prefer to have
always the same device in use and just exchange the SIM when crossing
borders (as roaming with only 1 SIM could make you a poor man).
With the Option products I like the possibility to plugin external (better)
antennas. Last year I noted the Option Globetrotter Express 441 was good,
but now only the Option Globetrotter Express HSUPA seems to be available.
Did not already check the other manufacturers (will have to do so of
course).
But first: How can I check whether or not a certain product / model will be
supported by RELENG 8 ? Is there a list of devices anywhere hidden in RELENG
8 ? And if so, where can I find it ?
kind regards
Mike Tancsa
>
> But first: How can I check whether or not a certain product / model will be
> supported by RELENG 8 ? Is there a list of devices anywhere hidden in RELENG
> 8 ? And if so, where can I find it ?
take a look at the man page for u3g. You can also look in the source
code. Often, to support slightly newer chipsets, you just need to add
the device IDs
e.g. see
/usr/src/sys/dev/usb/serial/u3g.c
There are quite a few there. Also, some devices use a different driver,
especially Option can make use of the uhso driver. I dont have an
experience with that.
---Mike
--
-------------------
Mike Tancsa, tel +1 519 651 3400
Sentex Communications, mi...@sentex.net
Providing Internet services since 1994 www.sentex.net
Cambridge, Ontario Canada http://www.tancsa.com/
Matthias Apitz
> Hello all,
>
> I've already google'd for a while on this topic but could not really find
> information about what GPRS/UMTS/WLAN expresscard or USB device runs fine on
> a FreeBSD notebook regarding drivers available and configuration.
>
> Actually I wanted to buy an Option Globetrotter Express (ExpressCard) but it
> seems there might be issues with FreeBSD.
>
> Are there any recommendations on with which hardware get GPRS/UMTS/WLAN
> running on a FreeBSD notebook ?
I don't know if a device exists supporting GPRS/UTMS and WLAN at the
same time. For GPRS/UTMS I'm using for many years a Huawei E220 USB
dongle. Check u3g(4) man page what is supported in your version of
FreeBSD and try to get an USB key or dongle of exact this type, ignore
what your provider is offering (they will support only Win and Mac,
and hotline will not even know about what you are talking if you ask them
for PPP/LCP/CHAP parameters).
I'm used to travel a lot in Europe and never had problems with the
ppp.conf config, not even in roaming networks -- they use all the same
handshake values.
Check out my page http://www.unixarea.de/installEeePC-8CURRENT.txt
chapter 6, if you need details.
HIH
matthias
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Bengt Ahlgren
> On 5/27/2011 2:27 PM, t...@diogunix.com wrote:
>>
>> But first: How can I check whether or not a certain product / model will be
>> supported by RELENG 8 ? Is there a list of devices anywhere hidden in RELENG
>> 8 ? And if so, where can I find it ?
>
>
> take a look at the man page for u3g. You can also look in the source
> code. Often, to support slightly newer chipsets, you just need to add
> the device IDs
>
> e.g. see
>
> /usr/src/sys/dev/usb/serial/u3g.c
>
> There are quite a few there. Also, some devices use a different driver,
> especially Option can make use of the uhso driver. I dont have an
> experience with that.
I use the uhso driver with an Option ICON 7.2 (needed firmware update).
It works very well indeed and much better than the ubsa driver I used
before. With uhso you get a real network interface and thus don't need
to fiddle around with ppp. You still get some serial ports with which
you can do "at" commands to control the modem if you want to do that
manually. Otherwise the uhsoctl program takes care of all that for you.
At least on my laptop (Thinkpad X40), ppp over serial port didn't go
faster than 300kbit/sec or so. With uhso I get much more.
Bengt
t...@diogunix.com
> This and the man page uhso(4) sound very interesting... Are these Option
> cards USB devices? Do you have a pointer where to get one of this sticks
> in Europe? Thanks
Option makes expresscard devices as well as USB devices, though their
website doesn't show a broad product range any more. Not sure why the range
is so small now. May be it's only temporary.
I've occassionally found some offers on Amazon's website (new and used) but
they also offer some more information on their own website:
http://www.option.com/en/products/where-to-buy/
Tom
Bengt Ahlgren
> El día Sunday, May 29, 2011 a las 05:44:00PM +0200, Bengt Ahlgren escribió:
>
>> I use the uhso driver with an Option ICON 7.2 (needed firmware update).
>> It works very well indeed and much better than the ubsa driver I used
>> before. With uhso you get a real network interface and thus don't need
>> to fiddle around with ppp. You still get some serial ports with which
>> you can do "at" commands to control the modem if you want to do that
>> manually. Otherwise the uhsoctl program takes care of all that for you.
>> At least on my laptop (Thinkpad X40), ppp over serial port didn't go
>> faster than 300kbit/sec or so. With uhso I get much more.
>
> This and the man page uhso(4) sound very interesting... Are these Option
> cards USB devices? Do you have a pointer where to get one of this sticks
> in Europe? Thanks
Mine is USB - I think they have cardbus variants too, but as far as I
understand, they are still internally USB-based.
I think I got mine here: http://www.dustin.se/ - they at least have them
now. See http://www.dustin.se/lp_21255_8518.aspx - klick the small UK
flag at the top to switch to English.
http://www.option.com/ might also give you some clues.