If there's one thing the becomes clear when you're a Linux user, it's that mobile broadband can be a royal pain in the bum. If you get it working, it'll usually be in spite of the providers rather than because of them, and you often need to resort to scripting and wvdial even to connect, whereas Windows users are given lovely shiny graphical apps to help them.
Most recently I've been left high and dry because changes to the kernel have made the WWAN cards in Thinkpads inacessible (bug reported on Launchpad here). So I'm very excited to report that after weeks without mobile data I've just got one of these:
http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/MiFi
It's a pocket-sized wifi hotspot, which communicates with the 3G network. The clever thing is that, as far as your computer is concerned, this is just another WiFi connection - your computer never needs to know it is a mobile broadband connection. I've just tested it with Kubuntu Karmic running wicd and it works a treat. I've also connected my Mac without problems
I'm sure these modems will start appearing on eBay shortly (its generic name is a Huawei E5830). So if, like me, you need mobile data, and if like me you've had trouble with mobile broadband then get a cheap data SIM and grab one. It really is a much simpler solution. And what's even more exciting is that several people can share the connection simultaneously as it's a wireless hotspot.
I've just realized this sounds a lot like an advert! To be clear: I've nothing to do with selling this, I'm just a Linux user who has jumped through a lot of mobile broadband hoops and is happy to have found a solution...
Most recently I've been left high and dry because changes to the kernel have made the WWAN cards in Thinkpads inacessible (bug reported on Launchpad here). So I'm very excited to report that after weeks without mobile data I've just got one of these:
http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/MiFi
It's a pocket-sized wifi hotspot, which communicates with the 3G network. The clever thing is that, as far as your computer is concerned, this is just another WiFi connection - your computer never needs to know it is a mobile broadband connection. I've just tested it with Kubuntu Karmic running wicd and it works a treat. I've also connected my Mac without problems
I'm sure these modems will start appearing on eBay shortly (its generic name is a Huawei E5830). So if, like me, you need mobile data, and if like me you've had trouble with mobile broadband then get a cheap data SIM and grab one. It really is a much simpler solution. And what's even more exciting is that several people can share the connection simultaneously as it's a wireless hotspot.
I've just realized this sounds a lot like an advert! To be clear: I've nothing to do with selling this, I'm just a Linux user who has jumped through a lot of mobile broadband hoops and is happy to have found a solution...
But could they give me any sort of helpful advice? Sadly no 
Would be really strange if it didn't!
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