PayAsYouGo Dongle

[AshleyC]

Has anyone used a pay as you go internet dongle on the raspberry pi?
considering getting one for a project im working on that needs a internet connection and wireless is out the question.

Just wondering if anyone has tried any yet and if so which one

Cheers

[hojnikb]

I've got a huawei e173 dongle aswell (also payasyou go system) and i have no idea how to setup this and if it even raspbian has a driver for that thing..

[redhawk]

These mobile dongles are effectively high speed dialup modems operating on a virtual serial port like old school COM1 / COM2.
First thing you need to do is install the drivers for your dongle and make sure it's communicating correctly with standard AT commands using a terminal emulator i.e. ATZ (should return OK).
Next you need to setup a PPP dialup connection and call the following number: *#99#
Some networks require additional AT commands before they will accept internet connections however this method has always works for me using 02 and Three UK.

Richard S.

[pygmy_giant]

http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2012/ ... i-success/

[AndrewS]

www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/search.php?keywords=huawei finds a bunch of threads which may or may not be useful

[syndicate]

I've used a Novatel dongle on a different embedded linux distro. All you need is PPPD and usbserial.ko. However carrier services like the one I had use NAT firewalls so if youre looking to host something on your device then you need a VPN tunnel.

[AshleyC]

what i would like to do is have the Raspberry on my boat monitoring such things as an intruder, bilge pump, etc and email me updates.

I guess i will just have to get hold of one and try it, unless anyone can think of another way, would bluetooth work linked to a internet ready mobile phone?

[syndicate]

Blue tooth to USART modules are widely available for embedded applications. I know you can use something like Blue Term for an Android phone. There are other bluetooth terminal software out there. However sacraficing a phone with a subscription can be an expensive option *shrug*. There are also long range zigbee modules that can transmit and recieve up to 40 miles! For the internet dongle, I actually have a very comprehensive solution in a Debian linux for an Atmel ARM 9

[twocvbloke]

Well, as the Pi can use WiFi dongles, and mobile broadband dongles can be used with MiFi adaptors, which are essentially WiFi routers for mobile broadband, then the problem is solved, in a sort-of way...

Although you might want to add a battery monitor portion to the info you want to use the Pi for on your boat, cos they use power which can end up draining your batteries, which is never a good thing...

[syndicate]

A wifi dongle would be easy to connect to your raspberry pi, then just use http://www.cradlepoint.com/ mifi to plug your internet dongle into and voila. Have the wifi on the raspberry connect to the cradle point wifi hotspot.

[AshleyC]

Big thank you for all your input, greatly appreciated and top info, back on track now.

On the boat i have a battery monitor with alarm which i should be able to take a cable from inside the unit across to a spare GIOP pin

[syndicate]

An easy option could be a ezweblynx (http://www.ezweblynx.com/) wifi device communicating via to a cradlepoint MIfi. Ezweblynx won't use as much power or components as a rpi and the ezweblynx is programmable in HTML and CGI. Ezweblynx has the ability to communicate via GPIO, I2C, USART, and wifi.

[hyla]

Hi,

I've got a Huawei E173 running ... although it takes a few times of restarting it to make it actually connect. I've used the script by http://www.sakis3g.org/ and the 'howto' on http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2012/ ... i-success/ to make it happen.
All that was left to be done was to install ppp ( sudo apt-get install ppp) and to recompile the script for which I had to install libusb ( sudo apt-get install libusb-dev ).

Nice.

B.t.w.: Does anyone know what I have to do to be able to ping my Raspi using it's dynamic IP address? I can ping it in the local network but not in the internet ...


Christoph

[redhawk]

That would depend on whether you're assigned an external IP address or an internal network IP address.
For example if you're using the 3 UK network your IP address is in the rage of 10.x.x.x this is internal and therefore out of reach from pings.
I cannot speak for other mobile internet providers but I would imagine they also route their data via a local network address.

If you really want to check if your PI has an active internet connection then it must make an outbound connection i.e. a http request which can be logged or a TCP socket connection of your choosing.

Richard S.

[raspberian]

on tmobile 3g prepaid dongle I get NAT'ed 208.x.x.x address, but still does not reply to pings from outside and I didn't find any open port I can connect to from outside into my raspberry.

Did anybody got any sucess?

[pygmy_giant]

Happily using Huawei E220 + sakis +raspbian + powered hub (you need a powered hub).

[raspberian]

can u connect from outside to your raspberry?

[tero999]

Hi,

I've got a Huawei E173 running ... although it takes a few times of restarting it to make it actually connect. I've used the script by http://www.sakis3g.org/ and the 'howto' on http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2012/ ... i-success/ to make it happen.
All that was left to be done was to install ppp ( sudo apt-get install ppp) and to recompile the script for which I had to install libusb ( sudo apt-get install libusb-dev ).

Nice.

B.t.w.: Does anyone know what I have to do to be able to ping my Raspi using it's dynamic IP address? I can ping it in the local network but not in the internet ...


Christoph

How did you get your e173 working? I am trying with that sakis scrit and it won't detect it. What other software do you need to install it? (i installed libusb-dev and ppp) Also I am of course using a external powered usb hub.

[pluggy]

on tmobile 3g prepaid dongle I get NAT'ed 208.x.x.x address, but still does not reply to pings from outside and I didn't find any open port I can connect to from outside into my raspberry.

Did anybody got any sucess?

A NATed IP address is by definition private and doesn't exist on the internet. NAT stands for Network Address Translation, it translates the inside private address used by your dongle to an outside global IP address used by the internet and back. It isn't possible to see an internal IP address from the outside world without port forwarding on the NAT gateway. That would need your ISP to setup for you, but I would suspect it ain't going to happen..........

[kghunt]

I have used my Huwaie e156 (giffgaff payg) with my pi using wvdial took all of 5 mins to set up and get working. Although as mentioned above most 3G dongles sit on a private network from your provider which is then routed to the Internet via another external IP. So cannot communicate with the pi directly.

What I did was make a simple XML web service in php on a machine that has an external ip. Then I wrote a small python program that polls a heartbeat URL on that machine. The pi transmits state information to the heartbeat URL and on the URL response I return any commands that I have pre defined. So I kind of simulate 2 way comms even though it isn't really as the Pi initiates each heartbeat.

[WindyMiller]

Hi, I have a ZTE 3 network dongle and a boat. Would be interested in trying to replicate your project, Ashley. Thanks