Tether Nokia 5800 as a 3G Modem on Ubuntu

I recently updated my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic to firmware v40.0.005 (also worked perfectly on v50.0.005) and my netbook to Lucid Alpha 3 which reminded me I hadn’t tried using my Nokia with Ubuntu. A friend of mine has a HTC Tattoo which he tethers with Ubuntu 9.10 to connect to the internet anytime, anywhere. My contract with Virgin Mobile includes “Unlimited Internet” so I wondered if I could tether my Nokia 5800 to my Samsung NC10 too.

In short … Yes.

It turned out to be incredibly simple to tether a Nokia 5800 to Ubuntu 10.04

  1. Make sure Modem Manager is installed (sudo apt-get install modemmanager)
  2. Connect the phone via USB to the PC.
  3. Set the Nokia to “PC Suite” mode.
  4. Left click on the Network Manager icon and choose “New Mobile Broadband Connection”.
  5. I then chose the recommended values in the wizard.
  6. Success. I can now choose the “Virgin” entry and I’m online via 3G.

Yet another example of how simple computing with Linux, especially Ubuntu, has become. In fact this post was written and published via the 3G connection as a “proof of concept” use.

As a side note I also recently wiped my netbook clean, I had it dual booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.10, to being an Ubuntu only install, I usually wait until the Beta is released before upgrading but I wanted to experience firsthand the re-branding everyone has been talking about on the Planets. I have to say I love it. Fresh. Clean. Professional. It’s certainly come a long way since Breezy.

Update: Added a step to ensure Modem Manager is installed courtesy of info provided by Ralf Hildebrandt below.

24 Comments »

Alan Doyle on March 11th 2010 in Howto, Nokia 5800, Ubuntu

24 Responses to “Tether Nokia 5800 as a 3G Modem on Ubuntu”

  1. Paul-cyt responded on 22 Mar 2010 at 7:21 pm #

    Yeah! Worked for me. My Nokia 5800 was a t-mobile but changed it to standard nokia using a tool. Firmware is 40.0.005 and Ubuntu 9.10 64bit

    Cannot believe how simple that was thankyou!

  2. Joe responded on 15 Apr 2010 at 7:38 pm #

    Can’t believe how easy that was. I have ATT and it worked first time.

  3. Richard@Home responded on 26 Apr 2010 at 1:23 pm #

    Have you had any luck tethering via Bluetooth?

  4. Alan Doyle responded on 26 Apr 2010 at 8:53 pm #

    Richard, I haven’t tried it via Bluetooth but I must give it a try and see.

  5. Richard@Home responded on 31 May 2010 at 7:57 am #

    Just tried this with ubuntu 10.04 – worked flawlessly with my t-mobile n5800

  6. Arthur responded on 01 Jun 2010 at 11:29 am #

    Hi guys,

    it also worked for me with firmware 40.*** and ubuntu 9.04.

    But today I have got the latest firmware “50.0.005″ and I’m using ubuntu 10.04 i386. I got the following dmesg when connecting the mobile via usb:

    [ 6689.565227] usb 1-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
    [ 6689.698243] usb 1-3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
    [ 6690.127216] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ether
    [ 6690.138018] cdc_acm 1-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
    [ 6690.139709] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm
    [ 6690.141170] cdc_acm: v0.26:USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters
    [ 6690.146335] usb 1-3: bad CDC descriptors
    [ 6690.146399] usbcore: registered new interface driver rndis_host
    [ 6690.170829] NET: Registered protocol family 35
    [ 6690.185160] usb 1-3: bad CDC descriptors
    [ 6690.185265] usbcore: registered new interface driver rndis_wlan
    [ 6690.190271] cdc_phonet: probe of 1-3:1.10 failed with error -22
    [ 6690.190315] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_phonet

    What are your experience with firmware 50 and ubuntu 10.04?

  7. Ralf Hildebrandt responded on 09 Jun 2010 at 5:54 pm #

    @arthur: Same error here!

    [212668.760104] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 8
    [212668.911710] usb 1-4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
    [212668.913486] cdc_acm 1-4:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
    [212668.926027] usb 1-4: bad CDC descriptors
    [212668.926260] usb 1-4: bad CDC descriptors
    [212668.930558] cdc_phonet: probe of 1-4:1.10 failed with error -22

  8. Ralf Hildebrandt responded on 09 Jun 2010 at 6:02 pm #

    @arthur: Please look at my Ubuntu bug report for this issue and feel free to add details which I might have missed.
    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/591840

  9. Ralf Hildebrandt responded on 12 Jun 2010 at 1:17 pm #

    @arthur: I found the error in my ways :) Reading http://live.gnome.org/NetworkManager/Debugging
    especially the section “Debugging NetworkManager 0.8.x 3G connections” made me look at ModemManager — which was missing entirely. Well, D’oh!

    sudo apt-get install modemmanager

    and a reboot solved the issue entirely for me.

  10. Ed responded on 14 Jun 2010 at 4:35 am #

    Thanks, this was cool! I expected a convoluted and tortuous command-line odyssey to get this going, but was pleasantly surprised to find out it is indeed so easy :)

    BTW: I’m in India, carrier is CellOne/BSNL. Connection was terminated a couple of times – maybe low signal – but the procedure certainly works!

    I very much want to tether via Bluetooth, though – the very short USB cable that came with the 5800 makes it a pain if you don’t have a flat surface for laptop and phone :-( so off to Google for that, now!

    Cheers,
    Ed.

  11. Memo responded on 23 Jun 2010 at 11:18 pm #

    Resultó ser increíblemente sencilla de Conectar a un Nokia X6 a Ubuntu 10,04

    1. Conecta el teléfono a través de USB al PC.
    2. Ajuste el Telefono Nokia en modo “PC Suite” (cuando aparece el menu en tu telefono).
    3. Izquierda haga clic en el icono de Network Manager y elija “Nueva conexión de banda ancha móvil”.
    4. Elegí los valores recomendados en el asistente ( SI lo haces manual, pide la configuracion a tu proveedor de servicio).
    5. Éxito. Ahora puedo elegir la “Mi Proveedor de servicio” de entrada y estoy online a través de mi Telefono Nokia X6.

    Sin embargo, otro ejemplo de lo sencillo de computación con Linux, Ubuntu en particular, se ha convertido. De hecho, en mi SO predilecto

  12. openSUSE 11.2: Nokia 5800 as USB 3G Modem - NetworkManager Solution responded on 02 Jul 2010 at 6:31 pm #

    [...] work also for Nokia 5530, Nokia 5235 and similar v.9.* Symbian phones. Source (see comments): Alan Doyle � Tether Nokia 5800 as a 3G Modem on Ubuntu Reply With Quote + Reply to Thread « Previous Thread | Next [...]

  13. Stephen McKenzie responded on 12 Jul 2010 at 3:31 am #

    To tether via bluetooth in Ubuntu is easy. Install blueman, pair your phone. Right click on the phone in the blueman list and select “Connect to Dial Up Networking”. It then appears as a Mobile Broadband device in NetworkManager.

  14. Rick responded on 25 Jul 2010 at 3:58 am #

    Do you think the BlueTooth Transfer Rate will be fast enough to support a practicle tether?

  15. Rick responded on 25 Jul 2010 at 4:03 am #

    I would also like to do this but when I called to get information from my wireless provider Cincinnati Bell, they told me that there was an additional $30/month charge! :-( Not happy and sure not going to pay that. Does anyone have any information about how I can make this happen without the additional charge. I already have a data plan on my phone. I would just like to use my laptop instead of the nice but small Nokia 5800 screen. :-) Thanks, Rick

  16. Alan Doyle responded on 31 Jul 2010 at 2:50 pm #

    Hi Stephen,
    That works a treat.
    Thanks,
    Alan

  17. Alan Doyle responded on 31 Jul 2010 at 3:14 pm #

    Hi Rick,
    I’ve used the tethering via Bluetooth several times and didn’t notice any extreme slowness but then again I wasn’t doing any heavy downloading either.
    Thanks,
    Alan.

  18. Rakesh responded on 25 Aug 2010 at 1:46 pm #

    Thanks Mr.Doyle

    This works like a charm. Your tips helped me when I most needed it.

    Regards,
    Rakesh

  19. cacovsky responded on 05 Jan 2011 at 12:18 am #

    Also works on Fedora 14.

  20. henry responded on 14 Jan 2011 at 3:47 am #

    muy fácil excelente la ayuda muchas gracias

  21. xiroV responded on 09 Feb 2011 at 2:49 pm #

    That was awesomely easy! Thanks a lot!

    I have a HTC Hero which I’ve used for a long time as a 3g modem now, but it recently stopped working, for some reason.

    So I’m glad I can keep doing the same with my old phone (nokia 5800), though it seems like the speed is pretty slow: around 0.3 mbit vs. the 2 mbit I had when I used my Hero (and which I’m paying for).. Does anyone else have this problem?

  22. picsel responded on 29 Mar 2011 at 4:46 pm #

    It works with my Nokia 5230, too.
    Thanks!

  23. Phil responded on 23 May 2011 at 11:30 pm #

    working perfectly with my nokia 5800, thank you so much!

  24. senthil responded on 15 Nov 2011 at 3:11 pm #

    Thanks…. It works perfectly

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