I can also confirm this bug. I also have a swedish ISP and it also only says GSM-network but it actually connects to a 3G HSPA network. This will cause a lot of confusion with users. 

this has been communicated to me multiple times while collecting feedback on mobile broadband in NM 0.7 in ubuntu. Maybe worth getting fixed in 0.7.

Not that we actually honor that option right now anyway.  We should hide it in the UI until we actually do.  But for the moment, the options should be:

Any
Prefer 3G
Prefer GPRS/EDGE
3G Only
GPRS/EDGE Only

And the options in libnm-util/nm-setting-gsm.h should be instead:

enum {
	NM_GSM_NETWORK_ANY = -1,
	NM_GSM_NETWORK_3G = 0,
	NM_GSM_NETWORK_GPRS_EDGE = 1,
	NM_GSM_NETWORK_PREFER_3G = 2,
	NM_GSM_NETWORK_PREFER_GPRS_EDGE = 3
};

want to patch it?

I confirm that the same happesn with 3 UK and modem E160G. If I use "Edit connection" it is recognized as GPRS (but 3 UK works only on 3G-UMTS). 

Also if I try to manually change the connection type to "Any" this is not saved and when I edit the connection again it is back to GPRS.

NM svn r4106, applet svn r906

So this will be fixed when Intrepid is released? 

It'll get fixed whenever the Ubuntu devs pull the latest NM changes into Intrepid.  I have no idea when that will be since I'm not the Ubuntu dev responsible for NetworkManager, I'm the upstream developer.  Try asking Alexander Sack (asac ubuntu com); he's the guy you're looking for.

On Ubuntu Intrepid, since the last upgrade (with NM-0.7~~svn20080928t225540-0ubuntu1 0), the preferences can't be saved. The password and the type of connection are never saved and the connection hence fails (whereas it didn't before the upgrade).

Is this a bug from nm-connection-editor ?

Yesterdays updates fixed half the bugg (Ibex). Now you can actually choose 3G in the preferences. That is all good. But when you hower your mouse over the NM-icon it says (GSM-connection) and if I leftclick on the icon it says "GSM-Network (Huawei Technologies E220 HSDPA Modem....)"
This should be changed.

GSM --> 3G

Yup, tested and I confirm,  also that the notification presents that a connection
is establish against GSM and not 3G as correct.

 

If you connect with EDGE or GPRS, that's not 3G.

I am testing with my cellphone and I have a 3G connection.

Nevertheless "Asac" upgraded NM 0.7 today and now its another notification. 
"Connected to 3",  maybe this also comes from "MBCA" ?

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2008-October/008011.html

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/intrepid-changes/2008-October/008010.html

There was no "release note" within Launchpads "Fix release" so it can maybe be better routines for avoiding mess up/downstream.

Thanks !   

Right, but the point is that when you're mobile, or when you're in an area that doesn't have coverage, you may _not_ have a 3G connection and the device will drop down to EDGE or GPRS speeds.  You can't call everything "3G" because it's not all 3G all the time.

Note that the "Network Type" setting isn't actually honored at this time, and it'll be hidden quite soon.  Will be un-hidden when that support is actually present.

"GSM" is the generic name for GSM-derived technologies, including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, and HSUPA.  There needs to be some generic name for all of these, and half of them are _not_ 3G.

GSM can be associated to 2G and 2.5G technology. UMTS and 3G is a complete different stuff. I think using GSM to generalize is incorrect. Please check wikipedia. I would better use something like WAN or "Mobile".

@Dan Williams 

Cellphones I am using is a S-E K610 or Walkman K850.

I can see it on the phone when the Internet connection starts > 3G and
"The Internet globe"

I have also performed speedtest against a reference server in Sweden.
So I am running 3G.... 

Another issue is if its possible to set USB port speed somewhere ?

I am also going to test with a high speed 7.2 MBits USB moden (Huawei)

I tested in August and it was not possible to get faster connection then approx 1 Mbits...so therefore if the speed is limited somewhere ????

Really difficult to find answer about Linux and USB port speed.

The general term I've been using internally is "mobile broadband".  The question is whether it's useful to differentiate between CDMA and GSM-dervied devices in the applet menu, or whether the hardware ID strings that you see when two devices are plugged in are enough.

"GSM" itself is _not_ 2.5G technology.  It's 2G.  GPRS/EDGE are the 2.5G technology but of course still use the TDMA air interface with different modulation schemes.  So using "GSM" in reference to 2.5G is not appropriate either.

The GSM "family" includes everything in the GSM migration path _including_ WCDMA-based Radio Access Networks:

GSM -> GPRS -> EDGE -> UMTS -> HSDPA -> HSPA -> HSPA+ -> LTE

Likewise, the CDMA "family" include everything the CDMA migration path:

IS-95 -> IS-95A -> CDMA2000 (1xrtt) -> EVDO rev 0 -> EVDO rev A


In the end, users don't really care what these technical terms are.  They want their stuff to work.  We can probably just change the applet menus to show "Mobile Broadband Network" instead of CDMA or GSM and if you have more than one device plugged in, do the same hardware string thing.

But it's important to remember that terms like "2G" or "3G" or "4G" are entirely confusing because they aren't standardized.  T-Mobile in the Czech Republic uses the "4G" brand name for IPWireless devices that are completely different from GSM and CDMA.  Should I start using "4G" in the UI for those devices?  No.  Likewise the UI shouldn't contain strings like 2G and 3G that are fairly ambiguous.

OK, I think they care and in Sweden we have a "explosion" with users going over
to Mobile Broadband.  A lot of them also knows the difference between GPRS/EDGE and 3G, it will just cause a lot of questions with unclear presentation.

Back to speed... ;)    ttyACM0 is the magic module as I understands it.

I have been using wvdial for a long time and its easy to set baudrate with a config file (after first check with usbserial)


What is ttyACM0 set to with NM 0.7  ?


ISPs in Sweden runs ads with "Turbo Mobile Broadband" ;)   7.2 Mbits, real speed maybe 50%.

Changing to "Mobile Broadband Network" sounds like a good idea, that would make it easy for everyone to understand. 

cdc-acm is the module that provides ttyACMx devices.

Switched to using "mobile broadband" for both CDMA and GSM devices in applet svn r931.

Nice work, keep it up. Over and out.

Thanks Dan !

NM 0.7 is really a key function for the moment. Rather strange situation with users running Vodaphone software...So this is just great.  :)


@Leif
Can you please test a high speed connection ? "Huawei - 3"

Reference test server
http://www.bredbandskollen.se/   (Starta mätning = start measure)

I would probably go for a generic "Mobile network". The band of a GPRS connection can be hardly defined as "broad"

@Plun
Im very close to max speed. I get 0.31 Mbit upstreams and 5.8Mbit downstream, I have 3 and I live in Gothendurg, great coverage here.

@Leif.... Great,  then it works....  :)

Using "3's" slowest 3G connection myself with my laptop.  Save money...

I added a proposal to "asac" to include this change for Ubuntu within
the Ubuntu bug report

The provider info for "3" is also not correct as I sees it for a cellphone but that can maybe be tested somewhere else....