# ZTE MF626 / MF636

Related articles

- USB 3G Modem

The ZTE MF626 / MF636 is a USB modem which combines 3G+/3G with EDGE/GPRS in one compact device. It has an integrated micro-SD card reader. It can send data at speeds up to 4.5 Mbps on 3G+ networks and receive data at speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. It is also known as the Rogers (Canadian cellular carrier) red stick USB dongle.

## Disable CD mode on the device

Using a Windows machine, plug in the USB device and go through the short install wizard. Once done, close the Rogers app that starts up, then head into the Device Manager (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager). Under the Ports section, find the COM port that's connected to the USB modem (ignore the Diagnostics mode). Connect to that COM port through Hyperterminal, found in the Accessories area of the Start Menu. Connection parameters are:

    Bits per Second: 115200
    Data bits: 8
    Parity: None
    Stop bits: 1
    Flow Control: None

Once connected, type the following commands:

    AT+ZOPRT=5
    AT+ZCDRUN=8

This tells the modem not to use CD mode when it's first plugged into a computer. Now exit Hypterterminal and remove the USB modem. You're done with Windows.

## Disable CD mode on the device with wvdial

First remove usb-storage then modprobe usbserial

    rmmod usb_storage
    modprobe usbserial

Edit /etc/wvdial.conf :

    [Dialer Defaults]
    Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
    Modem Type = Analog Modem
    ISDN = 0
    Init1 = AT+ZOPRT=5
    Init2 = AT+ZCDRUN=8

Run wvdial, it should use those commands and fail to connect.

Once it exits, unplug the stick and plug it back in and it should be seen as a modem.

## Setup udev rules

Create the following udev rule:

    /etc/udev/rules.d/90-zte.conf.rules

    ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0031", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0x0031", MODE="660", GROUP="network"

## Create a wvdial configuration

Wvdial is an easy-to-use frontend to PPPd. The configuration is fairly easy to comprehend. This one is probably longer than it needs to be, but I'll include it all. Make sure you replace the /dev/ttyUSB0 line with the node that your USB modem is connected to, you can see that with dmesg. Save as /etc/wvdial.conf.

    [Dialer Defaults]
    Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
    ISDN = off
    Modem Type = USB Modem
    Baud = 7200000
    Init = ATZ
    Init2 =
    Init3 =
    Init4 =
    Init5 =
    Init6 =
    Init7 =
    Init8 =
    Init9 =
    Phone = *99#
    Phone1 =
    Phone2 =
    Phone3 =
    Phone4 =
    Dial Prefix =
    Dial Attempts = 1
    Dial Command = ATM1L3DT
    Ask Password = off
    Password = off
    Username = na
    Auto Reconnect = off
    Abort on Busy = off
    Carrier Check = off
    Check Def Route = off
    Abort on No Dialtone = off
    Stupid Mode = on
    Idle Seconds = 0
    Auto DNS = on

## Create a wvdial configuration (extracted from sakis3g, the above config didn't work for me)

This is for Etisalat Misr, but I imagine it should work for all the other networks that use the same stick.

    [Dialer Defaults]
    Modem = /dev/ttyUSB2
    Modem Type = Analog Modem
    ISDN = 0
    Baud = 7200000
    Dial Attempts = 3
    Username = apn
    Password = apn
    Phone = *99#
    Auto Reconnect = off
    Stupid Mode = 1
    Init1 = ATZ
    Init6 = AT+CGEQMIN=1,4,64,640,64,640
    Init7 = AT+CGEQREQ=1,4,64,640,64,640

## Connect to the internet

Now just run wvdial to connect

    # wvdial

If you see output reporting your PPP local and endpoint IP addresses, then it worked.

==

## Tips & Tricks

All steps above may be obsolete if the modem stick is supported by sakis3g which is an all in one command line script and automatises all the steps above. The installation steps are as follows:

    wget "http://www.sakis3g.org/versions/latest/$ARCH/sakis3g.gz" # where $ARCH is either i386 or amd64
    gunzip sakis3g.gz
    chmod +x sakis3g
    ./sakis3g --interactive

## Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following webpages that gave me all this information:

       * http://www.zeroflux.org/blog/post/255
       * http://www.matt-barrett.com/?p=5
       * http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1005910
       * http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1065934

Category:

- Modems