Getting a MF626 GSM Modem (aka Telecom ‘T-Stick’ + others) to play nice with Fedora 16/01/2011

There are a lot of posts already out there about how to use the MF626 GSM Modem (also known as one of the many Telecom T-Sticks, & Telstra Next-G Modems).  Word to the wise, I have no idea what is needed to make the other ZTE devices (like the MF180/MF363) to work, the instructions may work, may need deviations or may not work at all.  (Ditto for other distros).

Basically, this is to get it working with NetworkManager directly, instead of wvdial, in a way that a lot of Mobile Broadband modems (and some phones that act as modems) work, if you don’t like/use/want NetworkManager then this article may not what you are looking for.

1. Plug in your USB Modem, and make sure that device ID ’19d2:2000′ appears in your lsusb output (keep it plugged in)
   # lsusb
2. Install (via yum or the package manager of choice) the ‘usb_modeswitch’ package
   # yum install usb_modeswitch
3. Ensure that usb_modeswitch works, and verify that lsusb now shows device ID 19d2:0031.
   # usb_modeswitch -W -c /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/19d2\:2000
# lsusb | grep 19d2
4. As long as the above works, and the lsusb command shows the modem still, we can proceed to make it so the usb_modeswitch command will be run each time you plug the modem in.
   • Create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/90-zte.rules with the following contents:
     ACTION!="add", GOTO="ZTE_End"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="2000", SYSFS{idVendor}=="19d2", GOTO="ZTE_ZeroCD"
LABEL="ZTE_ZeroCD"
RUN+="/usr/sbin/usb_modeswitch -W -c /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/19d2:2000"
LABEL="ZTE_End"
   • Create the file /etc/hal/fdi/information/20-zte-mf626.fdi with the following contents:
     <deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<!-- ZTE MF626 HSDPA USB Modem -->
<match key="@info.parent:usb.vendor_id" int="0x19d2">
<match key="@info.parent:usb.product_id" int="0x0031">
<match key="@info.parent:usb.interface.number" int="3">
<append key="modem.command_sets" type="strlist">GSM-07.07</append>
<append key="modem.command_sets" type="strlist">GSM-07.05</append>
<append key="info.capabilities" type="strlist">modem</append>
</match>
</match>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>
5. Reboot the system
6. Once rebooted and logged in, right-click on the NetworkManager icon followed by ‘Edit Connections’ , on the Mobile Broadband tab, click Add, it should automatically detect your modem as “ZTE CDMA Technologies MSM”, click forward.
7. Select your Country/Provider (in my case New Zealand / Telecom NZ), after which you will be asked to select ‘your plan’, my understanding is both XT mobile Internet with Firewall (internet.telecom.co.nz) & XT mobile Direct Internet (direct.telecom.co.nz) are okay w/ the T-Stick, but I reckon you should go w/ internet.telecom.co.nz (Internet with Firewall) by default.
8. Click through the forward’s and two screens where you need to ‘Apply’, after which on your NetworkManager connections dialog (left click NM icon) you should see Mobile Broadband, plus the option to connect to Telecom.

As a note, I’d like to point out, that it can take a good 20-30 seconds for the modem to be ready to connect, the light will typically go Blue, then go off for a second, and go Yellow->Blue a second time, after the second phase, it should be ready.

Have fun, and credit goes to a Ubuntu Forums thread, which is the basis of this post.