Free The 3G
The world is being rocked by mobile Internet via 3G. Despite such technological revelations, it has taken Linux a little longer to catch up. Jono Bacon and Stuart ‘Aq’ Langridge talk about whether the free desktop is really ready for the mobile Internet revolution, and whether we should be dossing around with tethering or just bite the bullet and buy a USB dongle (assuming the damn thing works).
Of course, we are the very start of the conversation! What do you think? What is your experience of mobile Internet? Have you managed to get 3G dongles working well under Linux? Do you find tethering just works for you? What do you feel the Linux desktop still needs to make the mobile experience really rock our worlds?
30 Comments to “Free The 3G”
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I was talking at OggCamp, with a netbook I borrowed. The WiFi was down, so I borrowed a 3G dongle from someone else with the information “I’m on Orange Contract”. I plugged it in, never having used a 3G dongle before, the dongle never having been used with the netbook before. It popped up asking me what tariff I had, I chose Orange Contract. It worked. If that’s not “ready”, I don’t know what is. I was so impressed I’ve since bought a Pay-As-You-Go dongle myself.
Not only that, but NetworkManager is far nicer than the network providers’ own utilities I’ve seen for Windows. Epic Win.
I live in the UK. For me, the reason I don’t bother with the dongle is because it’s extra stuff an I shouldn’t need to. Tethering to my phone makes the most sense.
doing this wirelessly is the most appropriate. Some phones allow this via bluetooth, or converting the wireless in the phone to a hotspot. I did need to root my android phone to do this, but… The newer versions of android will include wifi and usb tethering. This makes any device you have work anywhere. Not just a single device. The dongle only works with the device it’s plugged in.
For me, having any other device is a bonus. (That said, I only have a phone and a laptop… but if I can swing an iPad then that too would work with my android network connection..)
Why would I buy a dongle with 3G, while I have a phone which is connected to 3G all the time?
I don’t see the problem of tethering either, since with my previous Nokia E51 and my HTC Desire now, it really is just two clicks before I can use tethering. The HTC Desire is unrooted, has the stock rom, no modifications.
It all works out of the box in Networkmanager.
Actually, not even two clicks with the HTC Desire: it’s just a matter of one click on the Desire to select Ïnternet Sharing” in e selection box which pops up when you connect it with a USB cable to my laptop, and then networkmanager automatically connects through 3G.
Easy as that.
Bas, A little word to the wise. Although your Mobile tariff says unlimited, it’s actually nothing of the sort. In fact a good read of the small print of the so called “fair use” policies of the carriers will quickly prove that they are in fact extremely %$ing limited. While there is no good technical reason why dongle internet access should be priced any differently to tethered access, the fact is that the real world pricing is massively cheaper on a dongle. I’m guessing if they can get you to have to sim cards and therefore 2 plans (be it PAYG or Contract), there is more cash to be made. Sorry if I sound snarky. I mention it in the hope you can avoid getting any big, unexpected bills.
Thanks for warning you, and with most providers you’re completely right: always look up the fineprint foor hidden FUP’s. Though with my Dutch contract, it really is unlimited. The catch is that the connection is really slow (384ksb/128kbs), so whenever you can you switch to wifi and you wouldn’t try to do really heavy stuff, but the connection is perfect for occasional browsing. If you can live with slow, you really get unlimited.
A point I failed to make, is to say how impressed I am with the support for 3G in Ubuntu. Just plug in a phone a tethering it works. The desktop is ready indeed.
3G Networking with Network Manager is so very easy, I plug in a dongle, answer a few questions about network operator upon the first time plugging it in and next time it just shows up and and you select it and connect. Much easier than what a few friends with 3G dongles with windows have had. They had to installed a load of bloated crappy software that always sits in their system tray and hogs resources even when you’re not using it.
It’s saying something about how far desktop Linux has come when a newish technological phenomenon is far easier to setup and use than the competing desktop platforms.
I can’t stress how wonderfully easy it is. Yes I would categorically say it’s ready.
Interestingly, before I moved to the US from Denmark, the mobile broadband was what made it possible to run an entirely Free Software operating system. My built-in Thinkpad IBM wireless would and will only work with the Madwifi driver. And the Huawei modem from Danish mobile broadband provder Oister just worked out of the can. I don’t mind mentioning their name, because they actually had Linux instructions on their website, too. Including Wvdial setup.
What we really need is for mobile operators to “Support” linux http://stuartward.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/mobile-networks-support-linux/
Kudos to Vodafone (UK) – They have a longterm project called “Betavine” which is specifically there to produce Linux support for Vodafone products. Even better, it’s a properly Open Source project.
I’m not shy of having a pop at things that suck, particularly in Ubuntu. But I have to say that Ubuntu has got it’s 3G support nailed. Particularly since Lucid arrived, it is faultless. I use an Aspire One out and about very heavily. Through work and cell provider bribes, I have 3x dongles with different providers, People in my office actually ask to borrow my Ubuntu (or mint depending on my mood) netbook and dongle because it’s more reliable and useable than the company desktop internet provision.
If you are part of the Ubuntu folk who do 3G support, congratulate yourselves. You Rock!
B1ackcr0w: Dan Williams who is mentioned in the show actually works for Red Hat and new NetworkManager features like 3G get their start in Fedora as the show also noted. Feel free to thank them too!
My apologies to Dan in that case. Not to mention my heartfelt thanks.
One of the things they’ve had to contend with is the degree these things have been designed and built with the sole intention of working on Windows and nothing else. Most of them have this weird “dual mode” where when they’re first plugged in, the go to the first mode which is like a virtual CD rom on flash memory that has the windows drivers and proprietry windows connection software. Only when that has booted will it let you get at the other side which is the actual 3G cell equipment gubbins. This dual mode is of course clothed in secrecy in case in rival want to discover the secrets of how to fuck over paying customers. Getting around this must have been a monumental PITA, and in basically 18 months, network manager has gone from being a 3G lottery to being tottally sweet and reliable. My personal opinion is that Network manager now handles these devices better than the windows OSs they were designed for.
Top work Dan, we mobile Linux folk salute you.
BTW… @sil wanted to know why folk weren’t buying PAYG dongles and leaving them in their laptop bags until they came in handy. I think the reason is that the credit is only good for 30 days, don’t use your bandwidth in that time and you lose it. I stand to be corrected of course, but that’s the way it is on the 3 PAYG dongle I have.
In Android 2.2 (Froyo), both USB and WiFi tethering are built in, no root required. I upgraded to 2.2 on my N1, and it works great.
I don’t think you mentioned that tethering is standard and ridiculously easy on Android as of 2.2 (Froyo). Unless you’re clinging to a non-Android phone, that seems like the obvious way to go. One SIM, one bill, one data plan.
If anything, UMTS USB sticks seem a little antiquated by now. Tethering via wifi makes so much more sense.
It seems the obvious way to go if you can afford it. I only pay £10 a month on my PAYG tarrif. My 3G dongle cost me £10 and connectivity is £2 a day when I need it. Compare that to the cost of a contract/Android phone, and I can put up with being “antiquated”.
There is a prepaid dongle provider here in the United States. Virgin Mobile, locally a division of Sprint, makes such available. To the best of my knowledge, the software required for the tool is even incompatible with Macs let alone Linux boxes.
Since the US is a mix of CDMA and GSM unlike Europe’s being dominated by GSM, tethering is a nasty question at times. GPRS can be effective in a pinch on GSM. On the CDMA operators there can be worries with tethering though the workaround seems to be the introduction of “mobile hotspots”.
This is a wee bit of a mess on this side of the pond.
“If anything, UMTS USB sticks seem a little antiquated by now. Tethering via wifi makes so much more sense.”
Err, yes, apart from the slight matter of battery life… Having a phone that’s doing heavy 3G downloading, and then relaying that data via WiFi, to a laptop that’s also running WiFi? I don’t know about you, but I do this regularly and it canes the my G1 and Eee batteries…
I used a 3g dongle and it was just plug and go…
oh and mobile internet here costs about 11 euros/month and the dongle is free… plus they give you a discount if you want to also buy a laptop
oh and I’m gonna buy one of those things as soon as I get a netbook… which will be soon …
Yeah, Froyo on Android is fantastic. One click and you have a “mifi” device in a phone and it works fast! I showed it off to some guys at work and they were blown away.
Yeah, dongles rock. I can pay 0,02€ per minute whenever and wherever I want, without an expensive phone or an expensive data plan. This crap is really expensive, so I can just pay for what little I use. Sure, an Android would be amazing, but 600€ + 15€ per month? No, go away. It’ll be less than half to carry my OpenPandora with the dongle around.
Froyo (available without rooting the N1) is available on the N1 (though manual for all but press phones at the moment!) – You can tether either wirelessly, or via USB – and it couldn’t be simpler to use!
Also, shameless plug:- For (Sim Free) USB 3G Dongles – http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/cat/Sim-Free-USB-Modems.htm
I use a Vodafone PAYG dongle (handy as the credits don’t expire on a monthly basis). It works without additional drivers, on my MacBookPro (Snow Leopard), my Eee-901 (running Crunchbang Statler) and my Draytek Vigor router. It doesn’t get easier than that.
I also have a Nokia N900 on 3, which I can use in the same way, although I’ve not tried it with the router. That works fine with #! too.
CyanogenMod can be installed on the early Android phones like the G1, and the latest version has USB tethering. Also, it’s had Wifi tethering since the earliest days, with an app downloaded from the Market.
However, I also have a 3G USB dongle from T-Mobile – £2 a day when you use it, nothing for the rest of the time, credit doesn’t expire, “unlimited” download, fair use 3GB per month which I’ll never hit. It Just Worked on my Ubuntu, both Lucid and Karmic, although occasionally (when the signal is weak?) it randomly asks for a Huawei hardware password of some sort, which I guessed as “1234″.
The dongle is better because the Wifi tethering, as someone else says, “canes the battery” on the G1. Of course, USB tethering charges the battery (!) so I may start using that a bit more, as I don’t pay anything extra for tethering (02 monthly contract plan with Unlimited Web bolt-on). But I’d need to carry a cable around. If my laptop had built-in bluetooth, I might try that, but it doesn’t.
I use Joikuspot, which converts my Symbian phone into an instant WiFi hotspot. I thinks it’s now available for other phones.
I have a 3 dongle, which I got free with my netbook. After creating a custom udev rule it works fine with Network Mangler. However, any credit you add to the dongle expires after a month, with makes it pretty useless.
A bigger problem for me here in the UK is the pitiful 3g coverage outside urban areas. Try getting a 3g singal in the Lake District, or almost anywhere in the highlands of Scotland.
Ian.
In reply to Aq’s remark about why don’t people just use their Android as a dongle, interesting situation here in Belgium, mobile internet for PCs is fat cheaper than mobile internet for mobiles.
To be specific, for my laptop I got a 3G dongle for free ( which worked out of the box in Ubuntu Karmic, yeah !) with a 5€ per month + 1€ per day of use which is quite a good deal, however for my Android even the most basic data contracts start at 30€ with only 2GB of volume.