Author Topic: Cricket a600 3G usb modem working with Minime wvdial and kppp  (Read 2088 times)

Offline corazon

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Cricket a600 3G usb modem working with Minime wvdial and kppp
« on: October 07, 2009, 03:13:20 PM »
Got this Cricket 3G  Wireless a600 usb modem working with wvdial, thanks to many people
who posted their efforts across many forums, and to the authors of usb_modeswitch,
and to those who include it in popular repositories!  
(see the next post for kppp details)

This is my /etc/wvdial.conf

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Baud = 460800
Stupid Mode = 1
Auto DNS = 1
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Modem Type = USB Modem
Phone = #777
FlowControl = Hardware (CRTSCTS)
Dial Command = ATDT
Username = your Cricket phone number goes here
Password = Cricket

The username entry is your Cricket phone number, the same one you must give
when you pay your monthly bill. Those who use Cricket only as an ISP still
get a number, its on the signup documents.

Their ISP service costs me $43 a month, with a slowdown on modem speeds
after 5 gig-per-month is exceeded, but no extra charges. Not for internet gamers, or movie download
fans, but fine for users with basic linux needs.

As for speed, I downloaded an iso last night in the wee hours, 70 k per second,
today, in broad daylight, using synaptic and apt-get, speeds average about 35 k per second.
These speeds are both consistant with typical results found in Cricket google searches, and a bit faster
than the same device on XP Home SP2, and Vista Home Premium.

I have a dual-boot with xp, which initializes the a600 modem, when I reboot into Minime,
the modem is ready, no need to run usb_modeswitch.

(edit: my other post for a working /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf
which initializes the modem without involving anything from microsoft.)

Hope this info helps someone, and Minime is fantastic, what a great way to have your own custom OS!!!

I posted this at My PCLinux forum too, hope this is OK
« Last Edit: October 11, 2009, 01:50:03 PM by corazon »

Offline corazon

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Re: Cricket a600 3G usb modem working with dual-boot Minime and wvdial
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2009, 04:45:40 PM »
I'm  using kppp now with the a600, I used the info from the wvdial.conf in a new kppp account,
and with these settings:

in the accounts tab,

Connection name Cricket
Phone number #777
Authentication PAP/CHAP
Callback type None

Store password is checked (x)

in the device tab

Modem name a600
Modem device /dev/ttyACM0
Flow control  Hardware CRTSCTS
Line termination CR/LF
Connection speed 9216000

Use lock file  is unchecked
Modem timeout 60

in the modem tab

Wait for dialtone before dialing  is checked (x)

Busy wait  0 sec

Modem volume  0

On the main kppp screen,  choose the new account you made for the Cricket a600,
use your assigned phone number as Login ID,
and Cricket as your password

Happy pretty fast/cheap 3G browsing!
« Last Edit: October 07, 2009, 07:11:12 PM by corazon »

Offline corazon

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Re: Cricket a600 3G usb modem working with dual-boot Minime wvdial and kppp
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2009, 01:40:17 PM »
For non dual-boot users, my working /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf  is down below

(Detailed instructions, and dozens of modem configuration files, are here

http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch


If that site has a config for a modem you have/want, it should be easy to transpose the relevant data into whichever connection software you choose. This file has those other configs deleted for brevity.

Copy this file to /etc
When you run it, it may take 10 to 20 seconds for the modem to initialize, so have
a wee bit something nice to sip on.


# Cricket A600
#
# Switches to ACM device. Might need a ResetUSB after switching - or not
#
# Contributor: Jeffrey Hoogland

DefaultVendor=  0x1f28
DefaultProduct= 0x0021

TargetVendor=   0x1f28
TargetProduct=  0x0020

# only for reference and 0.x versions
MessageEndpoint=0x08

MessageContent="555342431234567824000000800108df200000000000000000000000000000"

# Afterwards (optional): "usb_modeswitch -v 0x1f28 -p 0x0020 -R"