Dial up from Debian GNU/Linux and USB Modem Claro ZTE

When I am far away from a wired connection to internet, a USB Modem turns out to be just acceptable. Because this is not so frequent for me I log it now for future references.

Here I describe the procedure to connect through Claro, a telecom company established in Chile.

The hardware is a HSDPA USB Modem MF626 and Compaq 6715s laptop running Debian GNU/Linux Squeeze.

First, we need the package(s) for wvdial.
You may need some dependencies... yep, it may turn out to be the hen and egg problem (I used another laptop with a colorful operating system).

#apt-get install wvdial

Second, you run the autoconfiguration utility:

#wvdialconf

Third, check the configuration file written in /etc/wvdial.conf:

#cat /etc/wvdial.conf

[Dialer Defaults]
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Modem Type = Analog Modem
ISDN = 0
New PPPD = yes
Phone = *99#
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB2
Username = claro
Password = claro
Baud = 112800

Verify the values, in my case the modem was not found in the place reported (/dev/ttyUSB1).

Fourth, run the dialer:

wvdial
--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.60
--> Cannot get information for serial port.
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: ATZ
ATZ
OK
--> Sending: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT*99#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99#
CONNECT 3600000
--> Carrier detected.  Waiting for prompt.
--> Don't know what to do!  Starting pppd and hoping for the best.
--> Starting pppd at Sat Sep 17 18:03:22 2011
--> Pid of pppd: 11384
--> Using interface ppp0
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> local  IP address 186.172.53.253
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> remote IP address 10.64.64.64
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> primary   DNS address 8.8.8.8
--> pppd: �[7f]
--> secondary DNS address 8.8.4.4
--> pppd: �[7f]

If your connection is still not working, try bringing down any other network interface:

# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1a:4b:77:59:eb 
          inet addr:192.168.0.29  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:16

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:747 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:747 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:70604 (68.9 KiB)  TX bytes:70604 (68.9 KiB)

# route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
10.64.64.64     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.255 UH    0      0        0 ppp0
192.168.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 eth0
169.254.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U     1000   0        0 eth0
0.0.0.0         192.168.0.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth0

# ifdown eth0

Try again:

# elinks www.google.com

It worked.

# route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
10.64.64.64     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.255 UH    0      0        0 ppp0
0.0.0.0         0.0.0.0         0.0.0.0         U     0      0        0 ppp0

# ifconfig
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:1149 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1149 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:266335 (260.0 KiB)  TX bytes:266335 (260.0 KiB)

ppp0      Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol 
          inet addr:186.172.53.253  P-t-P:10.64.64.64  Mask:255.255.255.255
          UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:5935 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:5673 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
          RX bytes:4872033 (4.6 MiB)  TX bytes:1055978 (1.0 MiB)