1. Introduction

This HOWTO is for people who have Reliance or TATA Indicomm WLL phones and wish to access Internet on their desktops/laptops running GNU/Linux using serial cable (NOT a USB CABLE).

No software provided by Reliance was used, but I did search the Internet for the modem query strings which are required during PPP setup.

I have tried this setup on Slackware Linux 10.1 with a 2.4.29 kernel and I am pretty confident that this trick will work on other Linux distributions as well.

The HOWTO assumes that you have a fair knowledge about your Linux distribution (BSD or System V style) and that PPP support is pre-compiled in your Linux kernel.

In this HOWTO we are talking about the serial cable for the following reasons:

1. The cable provided by Reliance or TATA is very expensive (about 1400 rupees) and the software provided supports only MS Windows.The cable typically has a USB interface on one end and an RJ-45 interface on the other. However, for these phones phones a cheaper cable is available on the market (only 100 rupees). This cable has a serial interface on one end and an RJ-45 on the other. You can make this cable yourself. The procedure is discussed later in this HOWTO. Why waste money when you can assemble your own cable or purchase the cheaper one?

2. USB cables have some glitches for the WLL handsets, especially the LG ones. I have no idea about other handsets, your input is welcome if you know about other sets. The advantage in using a USB cable is that you can connect at 153.6 kbps as the handsets have an inbuilt modem which is capable for speeds upto 170kbps.

3. On the numerous forums I searched on the net I found that all talked only about the USB cable and not about the serial one. I thought it was high time to write this HOWTO to help fellow Linux users.

But I have a USB cable!

If you have the USB cable after all, visit http://www.hackgnu.org/ril-howto.html for information about setting up Internet access using LG/SAMSUNG CDMA sets. This link is also helpful: http://www.linuxsolved.com/forums/ftopic1178.html Unfortunately the LG/SAMSUNG CDMA mobile uses USB cables only, but the good news is that these USB cables are also available on the market. Purchase them at your local computer vendor's. As per my last information such cables cost only 200 rupees.