How to connect to SmartBro Prepaid in Ubuntu Jaunty

Blogging about faith and life... with a Macbook running Ubuntu (Linux)!

How to connect to SmartBro Prepaid in Ubuntu Jaunty
Posted by Fr. Stephen, MSC

Aug7

null A friend of mine recently bought a SmartBro Prepaid USB stick (Huawei E156C). She asked me to help her set it up. You might think that you need to be a Linux geek to configure the mobile broadband to work in Linux. It is so easy anyone who knows how to use a mouse and a keyboard can do it. Here is how I made it work in Ubuntu Jaunty.

Once you connect the USB stick, you are prompted with this dialogue box. Just click “forward”. You may also click on the images for full view.

You choose “Smart,” of course. Then click “forward” again.

All you have to do then is click “apply.”

Then you right-click on the NetworkManager applet and then left-click “Edit Connections”.

Once you’ve done that, you need to click on the “Mobile Broadband” tab and then the “Edit” button.

Then, depending on your security settings, your computer may ask you if you want to “allow application access to keyring”. I suggest that you choose “always allow.”

In the next dialogue, you will notice that you are provided with the default username and password. You should delete them. Everything should be empty except for “Number” and “APN”. Number should be *99# and the APN should be “smartbro” without the quotation marks.

Then you click on the “PPP Settings” tab and then the “Configure Methods” button. You should uncheck everything except “PAP”.

You are basically done. You need to left-click the NetworkManager applet and choose “Smart” to connect.

If you have followed the instructions correctly, you should get this happy announcement.

I did this on three different computers: a Dell Latitude D530, an MSI Wind U100, and a generic desktop PC. All running Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope).

I hope this has been helpful to you.

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17 CommentsLeave a comment »

7 August 2009

sheilarouge said:

Thanks for this, pads. I just wish this feature was available about a year ago…
7 August 2009

Fr. Stephen, MSC said:

@sheilarouge – you are welcome. glad to be of help.
9 August 2009

carmen said:

thanks for new learning…pads, it reminds me that my laptop needs a dual boot
16 August 2009

Sarwar Faruque said:

Thank you so much for the walk thru. Just installed Ubuntu Jaunty. Works great!
28 August 2009

rica said:

my problem is, i followed your instructions but after I set everything up, Smart wont just appear in the list on connections when you click the network manager applet so I am not able to choose it. So why isnt it appearing?
29 August 2009

Fr. Stephen, MSC said:

@rica – what linux distro are you using? if you are using ubuntu, what version is it? Please know that I only did this process under Ubuntu Jaunty.
18 September 2009

sgo said:

i tried this and it works perfectly in Ubuntu.

at first it did not work and then i had to delete the username and password and click “automatically connect”.

and now it works flawlessly.

thank you!
19 September 2009

Fr. Stephen, MSC said:

@sgo – you are most welcome. I’m glad this tutorial has been of help to you.
4 October 2009

aji santiago said:

hi stephen! great post. i’m currently using bayanDSL at home, but since i need to travel a bit, i’m thinking of getting smart bro prepaid as a temporary alternative. great post, i’ll definitely use this guide. however, just have to ask: in smart bro’s website, it says there the smart bro account should be registered first on a windows-based platform. after buying smart bro prepaid kid, can i do all these immediately and it will connect flawlessly or should i have the modem registered first on a windows platform? all our computers at home are already using ubuntu, not a pc with windows, so i need to know this first. regards

aji
5 October 2009

Fr. Stephen, MSC said:

@aji santiago. no need to register at all. all i did was insert the SmartBro Prepaid USB stick (Huawei E156C) to the USB slot of my Ubuntu-powered laptop and then did all the steps I outlined above.
6 October 2009

Karl Arao said:

Good Stuff, your post was very helpful. I just bought the E156C

- Karl Arao
7 October 2009

marco said:

I still encounter “GSM Disconnected”
Default setting worked for two days but now i can not connect to it.
Tried it in Windows XP, the kit is working.

I am using Jaunty and HUAWEI E156C
9 October 2009

Michael said:

Hi all!

Thanks Fr. Stephen for the tutorial. This is something all Smartbro clerks (and Globe Tattoo perhaps) should know!

Has anybody got Smartbro working on Kubuntu (KDE)? I got this working perfectly with nm-applet, but not with KDE’s Network Management plasmoid (looks like buggy to me, I can’t even uncheck some of the items like EAP, CHAP, etc.

Thanks! God bless you all!
11 October 2009

marco said:

Hi Fr. Stephen, I also encountered Michael’s problem in configuring the PPP settings. I only left PAP checked but every time I edit the PPP settings they are just coming back checked.

I already tried to use Ubuntu 9.10 but I can not still use my HUAWEI E156C
for internet. Anyone could help???
25 November 2009

sgo said:

Fr. Stephen, how do you use Smartbro with Debian 5.03? I am currently using Karmic Koala 9.10 on one laptop but my other laptop uses Debian 5.03 Gnome. Is this ability to use Smartbro only specific to Ubuntu? or is it Gnome’s NetworkManager that does it? Thank you.
22 December 2009

mike said:

tested and works on 9.10 karmic koala. thanks.
23 February 2010

Joel said:

Hello all!

I’m using ubuntu 9.10 as well, and have added and configured the Smartbro Mobile Broadband connection through the network manager applet. However, I can’t make the Smart option appear in the list of available network connections whenever I left-click on Network Manager. Can someone help me on this? Many thanks in advance. God bless…