Bangkok Library Digital library and information center for Bangkok, Thailand

EASY STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO ENABLE INTERNET ACCESS FROM A MOTOROLA E6 MOBILE PHONE. CONFIGURE YOUR MOTOROLA E6 MOBILE PHONE AS A GPRS MODEM FOR USE WITH UBUNTU.

Introduction

These instructions explain how I configured Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (64 bit) to connect to the Internet using a Motorola E6 mobile phone. Although I cannot guarantee they may work, the instructions may be useful for someone with similar requirements and hardware. For reference, I used the following:

• IBM Lenovo R61i laptop computer
• USB cable
• Motorola E6 (MotoRokr) smart phone
• Happy DTAC SIM

Please note that I had already subscribed to a GPRS package with the carrier DTAC (Thailand). This cost about 100 baht per month for a maximum of 20 hours usage.

Installation

On the phone, I clicked the “status bar” (with icons for signal strength, remaining battery, etc.) and selected the following:

Next, I configured the phone to operate as a modem:

After this step was completed, I connected the phone to the laptop computer using a standard USB cable. I then opened a terminal window and issued the following command:

This listed all USB devices including my USB modem:

To show only lines containing the word “Motorola” I could have changed the command as follows:

Next, I had to install an essential program named wvdial. To do this I had to connect to the Internet (a chicken and egg problem). There were no “free” wifi signals in my neighborhood so I disconnected the USB cable and then took the laptop computer to a nearby Internet café where they allowed me to use a spare Ethernet connection. Connected to the Internet, I issued the following commands:

The dialer program (“wvdial”) downloaded and installed very quickly. I then reconnected the phone using the USB cable and then issued the following command:

Auto-configuration took just a few seconds. I then opened the PPP (peer to peer protocol) options file using a simple text editor:

and then added the following line denoting a local and remote IP address:

I then saved the changes and closed the file.

Next, I opened the wvdial configuration file for editing:

and then added / edited the following lines:

After the changes, the edited file looked like this:

That was the configuration completed!

Using wvdial to connect to the Internet

To connect to the Internet using wvdial and a USB modem, I now issue the following command:

This normally outputs something like this:

The Internet connection is slow but adequate for basic web browsing and checking emails. When I have finished using the dial-up connection, I press Ctrl + C to end the session: