I've been lucky enough to try several GSM modems with Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope. Here I list all of them and their status on Ubuntu. Luckily all the modems I've tried are all work out of the box (and thanks to contributed readers, I can expand the list), without any hack involved .
So here they are :
So here they are :
| Make | Type | Connection | Note |
| Huawei | Huawei E220 | USB | |
| Huawei E156G | USB | ||
| Huawei E169* | USB | ||
| Sierra Wireless | Sierra Aircard 881u | USB |
|
| Motorola | Motorola V3XX | USB | |
| Motorola L7i | USB | ||
| Nokia | Nokia 6500 slide | USB | connect as PC Suite when asked by the phone |
| Nokia 5610 | USB | connect as PC Suite when asked by the phone | |
| Nokia 6230 | Bluetooth | ||
| Nokia E51 * | USB | connect as PC Suite when asked by the phone | |
| LG | LG KF310* | USB | |
| Option | Option ICON 225* | USB |
* = reader contribution
And no need to install special software, nice.
Now imagine if I ran Windows, at least I need 5 different software to use all the modems listed above. what a heck of drivers mess. I know and I count, I tried them on Vista too. You need Mobile Partner, Mobile Connect, Sierra 3G Watcher, Motorola Phone Tools and Nokia PC Suite. And why all these default connection manager software run painfully slow and sometimes unresponsive too?
This post will be more useful for someone who's planning to buy one if you left a comment or two about your own experience and I'll update this post accordingly.
update :
Now imagine if I ran Windows, at least I need 5 different software to use all the modems listed above. what a heck of drivers mess. I know and I count, I tried them on Vista too. You need Mobile Partner, Mobile Connect, Sierra 3G Watcher, Motorola Phone Tools and Nokia PC Suite. And why all these default connection manager software run painfully slow and sometimes unresponsive too?
This post will be more useful for someone who's planning to buy one if you left a comment or two about your own experience and I'll update this post accordingly.
update :
May 20, 2009 : list updated,thanks to readers who left helpful comments.
keyword : working usb modem on ubuntu
Add LG KF310 to the list, flawless 3G with Network Manager. (corrected LG from mistyping it LB)
ok gnanet, LG KF310.
thanks,
Nokia E51 works ok with USB cable, connect as PC Suite when asked by the phone.
I use an Icon (Option) 225 on the Orange network.
Works perfectly.
Huawei E169 USB key works perfectly.
Onda express cards also works.
@ all : thank you. I've updated the list.
@ marco : can you be more specific on what type of Onda? please :)
funny, my Sierra Aircard 875 PCMCIA card works in Jaunty, but only 'and only' with wvdial. seems the network manager would not cooperate with my IM2 broom card, albeit after correct parameters were set. it just would not appear on the list when I left click the icon... problem is, pidgin behave strangely without network manager working... any suggestion?
@suari//widi :
sorry, I have no idea. have you tried ubuntuforum?
but my guess is : massive command line session will be involved :)
Nokia E71 with USB cable can be connected as well.
Nokia 5320 works with both USB cabel and Bluetooth.
ah.. it finally listed on the left-click menu. but when I choose it to connect, it just failed to connect :( looking around in ubuntuforum, found that the same problem happens on Sierra Aircard 881U, but a firmware upgrade fix it. not a solver for me, my card has been discontinued :| found this on launchpad though:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/368457
and
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/360905/
either one would leads to a bug patch, but none released at the moment...*sigh*
Nokia N95 8GB works both using Bluetooth and USB.
A Huawei 160 works fine on any Ubuntu variant of 8.10 or more: we have tried easy peasy; Eeebuntu; MoonOS: all are great: right-click on network manager; select mobile broadband; add to start to configure; select country; select network;
maybe you add Huawei 160 to the list?
Same with your Sierra Wireless 881U, my 885U also works out-of-the-box under Jaunty although sometimes it disconnects randomly due to some bugs in the network manager on Jaunty. It works perfectly on Intrepid though.
You can add the E66 usb using PC Suite when asked.
did not managed yet with bluetooth.
Has anyone tried a v3xx with 9.10? 9.04 worked fine, but two installs with 9.10 (desktop and UNR), I get errors in the syslog trying to open the modem.
Please add huawei e1550. It works fine with ubuntu UNR 9.10