doc/www/modem.php

   1 <? include ("barry.inc"); ?>
   2
   3 <? createHeader("Using your BlackBerry as a USB Modem"); ?>
   4
   5 <? createSubHeader("Introduction"); ?>
   6
   7 <p>The Blackberry has the ability to act like a Hayes compatible modem,
   8 complete with AT commands.</p>
   9
  10 <p>In order to make use of this feature you will need the Barry command line
  11 tools installed on your system.  See the <? createLink("install", "Install"); ?>
  12 page for more details.</p>
  13
  14 <p>You will need three components to connect to the internet:
  15 <ul>
  16         <li> a working Barry install, version 0.13 or later </li>
  17         <li> a working pppd and matching kernel </li>
  18         <li> an options file and chatscript for your Blackberry provider </li>
  19 </ul>
  20 </p>
  21
  22
  23 <? createSubHeader("If You Installed Barry's Binary Packages..."); ?>
  24
  25 <p>If you installed Barry's binary packages, specifically barry-util,
  26 then default ppp options and chat scripts are installed automatically
  27 for you.  Currently there are scripts available for the following
  28 providers:
  29 <ul>
  30         <li> AT&amp;T Cingular </li>
  31         <li> China Mobile </li>
  32         <li> Fido </li>
  33         <li> KPN Nederland </li>
  34         <li> O2 Ireland </li>
  35         <li> Optus AU </li>
  36         <li> Orange Spain </li>
  37         <li> Rogers </li>
  38         <li> Sprint </li>
  39         <li> Telus </li>
  40         <li> T-Mobile US </li>
  41         <li> Verizon </li>
  42         <li> Vodafone AU </li>
  43         <li> and a minimalist script for debugging </li>
  44 </ul>
  45 </p>
  46
  47 <p>For example, to run the default Rogers connection script, use the
  48 following command as root:</p>
  49 <pre>
  50         pppd call barry-rogers
  51 </pre>
  52
  53 <p>If none of the default scripts work, see the Troubleshooting section
  54 below.</p>
  55
  56
  57 <? createSubHeader("If You Installed Barry From Source..."); ?>
  58
  59 <p><b>Configuring PPPD</b></p>
  60
  61 <p>Sample configurations are provided in the source tarball, and if you are
  62 using a binary package, they should already be installed for you under
  63 /etc/ppp/peers and (depending on your system) /etc/chatscripts.</p>
  64
  65 <p>Copy the desired options file to /etc/ppp/peers and edit the file,
  66 making sure that the paths are referencing the correct files.
  67 <ul>
  68         <li> <b>pty</b> - must point to the location you installed Barry's
  69                         pppob program. </li>
  70         <li> <b>connect</b> - must use the correct chatscript </li>
  71 </ul>
  72 </p>
  73
  74
  75 <p><b>Establishing a Connection</b></p>
  76
  77 <p>If you named your options file "barry-rogers", then to connect to the
  78 internet, run:</p>
  79 <pre>
  80         pppd call barry-rogers
  81 </pre>
  82
  83 <p>Some systems may provide wrapper scripts for running pppd.  For example,
  84 Debian uses "pon" and "poff".</p>
  85
  86
  87
  88 <? createSubHeader("If Your Device Needs a Password..."); ?>
  89
  90 <p>If your device requires a password, you can specify this on the <b>pppob</b>
  91 command line.  For example, if you are using the <i>barry-rogers</i>
  92 PPP script, edit your /etc/ppp/peers/barry-rogers file, so that the
  93 <b>pty</b> option says something like this:
  94 </p>
  95 <pre>
  96         pty "/usr/sbin/pppob -P password"
  97 </pre>
  98
  99
 100 <? createSubHeader("Testing Your Connection"); ?>
 101
 102 <p>PPP will display some messages on stdout as it connects.  On success,
 103 you should see IP address negotiation and the resulting IP address for your
 104 machine.  PPP will then just wait for network activity.</p>
 105
 106 <p>When testing to see if this works, use your web browser.  The usual
 107 method of using <b>ping</b> does not work reliably, and some providers
 108 may have this blocked.</p>
 109
 110 <p>Check your routing table to make sure that the new default gateway
 111 is there.</p>
 112 <pre>
 113         /sbin/route -n
 114 </pre>
 115
 116
 117 <? createSubHeader("Security Concerns"); ?>
 118
 119 <p>Depending on your provider, you may or may not have a firewall installed
 120 when you connect to the internet through a tethered modem.  Keep an eye on
 121 your open ports, and remember that connecting to the internet this way
 122 may not be the same as the network you are used to.</p>
 123
 124 <p>Also keep in mind that if your system is configured to forward packets
 125 and you have pppd setup to replace your current default route, and you
 126 are still connected to an internal network (say, via ethernet), this could
 127 allow outside connections to be routed to your internal network.  The
 128 default pppd options files installed by Barry do not use the
 129 <b>replacedefaultroute</b> setting for this reason.  Contact your
 130 network administrator for assistance on configuring your mobile
 131 network setups.</p>
 132
 133
 134
 135 <? createSubHeader("Troubleshooting"); ?>
 136
 137 <p>Some devices don't respond to the PPP commands at first, but after
 138 the battery is removed and reinserted, modem functionality works.  This is
 139 likely due to the protocol not being completely understood, but resetting
 140 the device in this manner is enough of a workaround to get it working.</p>
 141
 142 <p>If you still run into trouble, the first task is to increase debug output
 143 and to log it.  PPPD supports increased logging if you add the following
 144 lines to the options file:</p>
 145 <pre>
 146         debug
 147         nodetach
 148 </pre>
 149
 150 <p>Barry's <b>pppob</b> program also supports verbose protocol logging.
 151 Change your options file and edit the pppob command line.  For example,
 152 if your pppob is installed in /usr/sbin, set the <b>pty</b> option to:</p>
 153
 154 <pre>
 155         pty "/usr/sbin/pppob -l /tmp/pppob.log -v"
 156 </pre>
 157
 158 <p>Be sure to remove these options once you have your connection working,
 159 as the above causes your entire internet traffic to be logged to the
 160 output file.</p>
 161
 162 <p>If your provider is not yet supported by the sample options files,
 163 you will need to do a little digging on your own.  If you are able to
 164 tether your Blackberry using a Windows system, you can duplicate the
 165 login information in your chat script.</p>
 166
 167 <p>You may also find example configurations for your provider on the
 168 various Blackberry forums available online.</p>
 169
 170 <p>If you are still having trouble, please send an email to the
 171 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=153722">mailing list</a>,
 172 including:
 173 <ul>
 174         <li> the version of Barry you are using </li>
 175         <li> the output from pppd </li>
 176         <li> the log output from pppob </li>
 177         <li> the ppp options file and chatscript you used </li>
 178 </ul>
 179 </p>
 180
 181 <p>The logs from pppob can be fairly large, so limit the size to a single
 182 run.</p>
 183
 184
 185 <? createSubHeader("Connecting via Bluetooth"); ?>
 186
 187 <p>If your device has Bluetooth support, it is also possible to tether
 188 using Linux's own native Bluetooth serial drivers.  There are probably
 189 better tutorials on this already on the net, but here are a few notes
 190 from Michael Brown to help you get started.</p>
 191
 192 <p><b>Bluetooth Config</b></p>
 193
 194 <p>Put the following in your /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf file, replacing
 195 the X's with your Bluetooth BADDR.</p>
 196
 197 <pre>
 198 rfcomm0 {
 199         bind yes;
 200         device XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX;
 201         channel 1;
 202         comment "Blackberry Dialup";
 203 }
 204 </pre>
 205
 206 <p><b>PPP Config</b></p>
 207
 208 <p>Use the same peer file that you would use for the USB tethering above,
 209 but remove the pty line that points to /usr/sbin/pppob.  Since you are
 210 using the Bluetooth serial port, you don't need pppob.  Replace that
 211 line with the line of your newly configured rfcomm device.  You may
 212 also need to specify the baud rate.</p>
 213
 214 <pre>
 215 /dev/rfcomm0
 216 115200
 217 </pre>
 218
 219 <p><b>Chatscript Config</b></p>
 220
 221 <p>No change is required.  Use the same chatscript you would use for
 222 USB above.</p>
 223
 224 <p>Run as usual.  For example:</p>
 225
 226 <pre>
 227         pppd call barry-rogers
 228 </pre>
 229