I got a Huawei HSPA E1762 USB stick a few months ago for 3G network access, together with Exetel’s $5/month Zero Gig plan (uses the Optus network). Great for when I’m out and about and can’t find a wireless signal to jump onto, or I’m at some client who doesn’t allow laptops onto their network. I’ve been using it regularly and still haven’t gone over about 100M usage, so it’s worked out to be very cheap.
Using Network Manager on Ubuntu Jaunty it mostly “just works” – all I needed to do was set the APN to ‘exetel1′. I’ve also bought an antenna for it from The Antenna Shop – gives me better coverage in shadows in the CBD and out in the country. There’s also other bigger antennas available, as well as car antennas.
antenna
All-in-all a good buy – thanks Dean for the tip.
Addendum
As per Matt’s comment below, Huawei modems currently have problems on Ubuntu Karmic – Problem with Huawei E1762 Mobile Broadband in Karmic, Bug #413989, Bug # 446146.
Also, if you’re ever prompted to enter an “SP CODE” (ie Mac & Windows), enter “BROADBAND”
Stay with Jaunty for the time being.
The Huawei USB modems have been broken in Karmic. :-/
Comment by Matt Bottrell — 3 November 2009 @ 23:04
Good to know, thanks! I now try to wait a couple of months before upgrading – let issues like these sort themselves out…
Comment by Sonia — 4 November 2009 @ 07:26