Recently I switched from (Zte MC 315+ )Reliance Netconnect connection to (Zte AC2726 ) Reliance Broadband+ plan. The transition was one of a bloggable experience hence the post.

The new device Zte AC2726 is a usb composite device which means at the same time it emulates as a usb cdrom device as well as usb evdo/cdma_1x(rtt_1x) modem. This is fairly simple to install in Windows Vista without the need of any cd. The device has the windows software listed in it and when plugged in prompts to install the setup needed else runs the application if already installed on the local syste. Quiet amazing.

Now lets put it back to older systems like Windows XP which dont have neccesary drivers for the usb composite device and go bananas trying to figure what it is. I tried updating my drivers through many available softwares Driver Detective, Driver Genius. All of em fail. Some which do recognize it ask for money. After spending Rs. 3500 on the device already. That was a no go. Bad bad support.

Now I wanted to try and make it work on Fedora. So I plugged in the device to see if it recognises it.

#lsusb

Output
**********************
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 19d2:fff5 ONDA Communication S.p.A.
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
**********************
End Output
#dmesg

**********************
Lists no ttyUSBx device but shows it as a cdrom
**********************

Lets make a switch which changes the usb cdrom mode to usb modem mode. For this we require usb_modeswitch. Lets install it.

#yum install usb_modeswitch

**********************
usb_modeswitch is installed
**********************

We know what to look for. So lets add these lines in usb_modeswitch.conf and uncommented and comment all other lines.

#vim /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf

**********************

########################################################
# ZTE AC2726 (EVDO)
#
# Contributor: Navin Dutta

DefaultVendor=  0×19d2
DefaultProduct= 0xfff5

TargetVendor=   0×19d2
TargetProduct=  0xfff1

MessageEndpoint=0×0a
MessageContent=”5553424312345678c00000008000069f010000000000000000000000000000″

**********************

Now lets make it switch.

#usb_modeswitch

**********************
Successful… msg sent
**********************

now lsusb to see if it got changed

#lsusb

Output
**********************
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 19d2:fff1 ONDA Communication S.p.A.
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
**********************
End Output

Yes it got changed from fff5 to fff1 which means from cdrom to modem mode

Now lets modprobe it

#modprobe usbserial vendor=0×19d2 product=0xfff1

Now lsusb or dmesg to see the if it gets detected

#dmesg

**********************

usbserial_generic: generic carrier detected
…..
…..
**********************

Now put ttyUSB0 in wvdial.conf

#vim /etc/wvdial.conf

**********************
[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Modem Type = Analog Modem
Phone=#777
Username=9xxxxxxxxx
Init1=ATZ
Password=9xxxxxxxxx
Baud=4608000
PPPP Path= /usr/sbin/pppd
New PPPD= 1
Stupid Mode = 1
Tonline = 0

**********************

#sudo wvdial

**********************
Gets connected. Voila!! I get an average speed of over 60kbps. Not bad.
**********************

Check the part two of this article for the kernel module hack for high speed access of over 250 kbps with the same device.

http://navindutta.com/wordpress/2009/09/installing-reliance-broadband-on-fedora-linux-part-two/