MTN Huawei E220 on ubuntu linux

Getting this baby to work has been a not so enjoyable experience. After what seemed like fighting a losing battle, I stumbled upon the above mentioned post, I read through the post carefully and got stuck on the first bit where I had to reset the username and the password.

You see, unlike other people, I have been using the same phone for the last four years and my phone can’t exactly change the pin on a 3G card. It’s basically like asking a 1.3 Toyota Hilux 1988 model to do 120 up a steep hill. So after this first failure I decided to read on just for interest’s sake.

After a while of reading I decided to try it anyway, but still, I couldn’t get it to work. Just as I thought it was a lost cause, I came across this better entry which was for an E620 model, and for what I think was Vodacom or maybe Vodafone. After reading through it I remembered I had previously installed a copy of PPP.

This is how you get an MTN Huawei E220 from MTN to work on ubuntu 7.10. I adapted it from Manfred Hertenberger’s comment on http://www.tectonic.co.za/wordpress/?p=1596
pre-requisites

Start with a sound PPP installation (by that I mean it’s working).

Pull out your SIM from the modem and note the number behind it (you will need it later for your user name).

Put it back into the modem, plug in the modem and open your terminal.

Run this command [ sudo pppconfig ]

Create a new connection on this utility and give it a name like MTN or 3G, you might even name it after your dog(some dogs are loved that much)

Use the sim number noted above as the username

For the password, it was a bit tricky, I assumed this was a new sim, usually they come with four zeros as the pin, so I used them — if you know the pin, please feel free to use it.

Select PAP as the connection method and dial type is tone.

Use *99# as the number to dial and set the COM port to /dev/ttyUSB0 if you cant see it on your list.

Save the configurations and you are done.

To connect use pon [name you gave above], for example: pon MTN.

To disconnect — poff

Happy surfing!