Hi,
I finally took the plunge and went for GPRS, and thought I'd share my linux configuration experiences in case anyone else has to go through the same pain as I did!
* Why would you want to do this?
- Faster connection whilst on the road (up to 5x the speed of a dialup connection over a GSM mobile connection)
- The geek factor
* Why wouldn't you want to do this?
- On most networks a GPRS connection is more expensive per mb than a dialup connection (call charges work out less than per mb charges!)
- Super high latency link: don't expect to be IRCing from it, but fine for email downloading etc.
* What do you need?
- A computer running linux (Debian in this example) - A mobile phone with GPRS support - A mobile phone service provider, with GPRS enabled on your account
I'm on O2, using a Sony Ericsson T68i over infrared to my Debian laptop. These details should be more or less the same regardless of distribution, network or phone: the only things you need to check are the "APN" (access point name, eg "mobile.o2.co.uk"), username and password, and dial string.
* How?
Configuring a successful computer-phone connection is beyond the scope of this. Get that working first! Once you have a working connection to your phone (eg you can set up a normal dialup connection using it), you need to configure a new ppp connection with the following two files:
- /etc/ppp/peers/o2gprs - /etc/chatscripts/gprs-connect-chat
File /etc/ppp/peers/o2gprs:
--- begin o2gprs --- # o2 GPRS settings debug hide-password noauth connect "/usr/sbin/chat -f /etc/chatscripts/gprs-connect-chat" # The next line is the port you talk to your phone on, and may need editing /dev/ircomm0 115200 noipdefault ipcp-accept-local ipcp-accept-remote local novj novjccomp noccp default-asyncmap nomagic # The next line is your telco's username: it may need editing depending on your provider user "web" defaultroute persist disconnect "/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/chatscripts/gprs-disconnect-chat" remotename o2gprs ipparam o2gprs --- end o2gprs ---
File /etc/chatscripts/gprs-connect-chat:
--- begin gprs-connect-chat --- ABORT BUSY ABORT 'NO CARRIER' ABORT VOICE ABORT 'NO DIALTONE' ABORT 'NO DIAL TONE' ABORT 'NO ANSWER' ABORT DELAYED '' ATZ OK-AT-OK 'AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","MOBILE.O2.CO.UK"' OK-AT-OK 'AT+CGQREQ=1,0,0,0,0,0' OK-AT-OK 'AT+CGQMIN=1,0,0,0,0,0' OK-AT-OK 'AT+CGATT=1' # The next line is your dial string: it may need editing depending on your phone OK-AT-OK 'ATD*99#' TIMEOUT 42 CONNECT \d\c # prelogin
# ispname # isppassword # postlogin --- end gprs-connect-chat ---
Finally, edit /etc/ppp/options and comment-out lcp-echo-interval and lcp-echo-failure.
Test the connection using pppd call o2gprs and watch /var/log/syslog for details. (eg use tail -f /var/log/syslog)
* Other useful details
You'll need to tweak your MTA to send outgoing mail via smtp.o2.co.uk (or similar for other providers, check with them for details).
* Closing remarks
I'd welcome any feedback from others trying to do this ... I'll eventually put this on a page somewhere (eg the ALUG site). And yes, this email is coming to you via GPRS (hopefully!).
Andrew.