Prepaid Three Mobile Broadband on Ubuntu Linux with Gnome NetworkManager
December 29th, 2008
I received my shiny new Huawei E160G USB modem from 3 and was desperately hoping that I was just enough behind the curve that it would magically work out of the box with Ubuntu 8.10.
Now, I’m on a prepaid plan because I think contracts are the devil. As you would expect (?), the configuration required for the prepaid accounts is ever so slightly different from the defaults used by Ubuntu. Instead of using 3netaccess as the APN, you’ve got to use 3services.
If you’re running Gnome/Ubuntu, you can set the APN via System » Preferences » Network Configuration » Mobile Broadband, then selecting your Three mobile broadband profile and clicking “Edit”. The field for changing your APN should be in the “Advanced” section. Aside from that, you shouldn’t need to change anything more to enjoy your prepad Three account.
I’ve just sent off a patch to the upstream provider of the service data included with Gnome. I hope this saves somebody out there the two hours I just lost! 
UPDATE: This patch was applied upstream on the 19/01/2009.
Categories: Software Development |
Sweet, thanks, I just blew away my linux drive and reinstalled, and had forgotten the subtle difference. Your clear concise directions are very helpful.