Tata Indicom Photon+ and Reliance NetConnect Broadband+ on Ubuntu

Its been raining high speed internet in India. Tata, Reliance and BSNL have started offering 3G USB Data Cards which offer high speed internet. Tata and Reliance claim 3.1 MBps speeds while BSNL claims 7.2 Mbps.

I have tested both Tata Indicom Photon+ and Reliance NetConnect Broadband+ on Ubuntu 8.10. I didn’t get much time to test everything but this is my initial feedback.

They claim to offer 3 Mbps but in reality I got 300-700Kbps download speeds. Which is still not bad.

Note: Even if you take the unlimited plan, you are still limited to 10GB of download per month as there is a fine print of fair use policy. This is an  irritant for people who do lots of downloads.

Tata Indicom Photon+ offer Huawei

Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ offers a choice of  Huawei and ZTE.

Reliance Huawei was the only one that works out of the box on Ubuntu and gets detected as  /dev/ttyUSB0.

After that you can edit /etc/wvdial.conf and put the following lines.

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Username = yournumber
Phone = #777
Password = yournumber
New PPPD = yes
Stupid mode = yes

Replace yournumber with your number (provided at the back of the box).

ZTE didn’t even get detected,  and strangely enough there was no message on dmesg either.

lsusb shows: Bus 005 Device 002: ID 19d2:fff6

Tata Indicom Photon+ (Huawei based) also didn’t get detected.

lsusb shows:

Bus 005 Device 009: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Moz has tried this and has got this working using the following steps.

$ sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x140b
$ sudo mknod /dev/ttyUSB0 c 188 0
$ sudo mknod /dev/ttyUSB1 c 188 1

Add the following lines to the /etc/wvdial.conf, customise phone number, username and password as per advise of TataIndicomm.

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Init1 = ATZ
Phone = #777
Username = cdma
Password = cdma
New PPPD = yes
Stupid Mode = 1

Try connecting with sudo wvdial

If you want a graphical dialer, install gnome-ppp

Go into setup, select your modem as /dev/ttyUSB0

Put your login/password depending on the service provider. Put the number as #777 and you are ready to connect.

Links to tariffs/plans:

Reliance

Tata Indicom

38 thoughts on “Tata Indicom Photon+ and Reliance NetConnect Broadband+ on Ubuntu”

  1. Rajesh Sharma

    I also had tested reliance data card.The speed is not good.I am doing business in video mails,vdeio conferencing & web sreaming.
    For video conferencing atleast 1Mbps speed is required which we do not get in reliance.They are telling soon we will get.But I do not know if load increases than the speed will reduce or not.
    I am using BSNL nic card it is providing 240 kbps speed which is very less bit sufficiant to see mails do video mails,surf.To duwn load.As we can do unlimited down loading.
    If you are interested in video mails,video conferencing & streaming from your PC please write to pushpakesolutions at gmail.com

  2. I recently bought reliance netconnect and wondering how to connect to internet on ubuntu. Thanks for the tip, I was able to connect to internet using Reliance Netconnect(Huawei based) without any problems on my ubuntu.

  3. hi….
    i m using reliance netconnect broadband+ model EC168…my problem is that i m unable to connect it with my ubuntu 8.04 but fails ..basically after sending init=ATZ it again sends init2=ATQ and then resends ATQ and after this modem not responding..although i have tried different strings different baud rate but it couldnot work…plz any one of u help me out…

  4. dear sir, because of your post i bought a netconnect broadband usb modem and it works superbly in ubuntu.

    as i was looking for which will surely work on ubuntu
    thx for the tip
    reliance should probably give u commission 😉

  5. i want to purchase an usb modem for searching at home for banking works, some project work information on net etc. which modem should i prefer, reliance net connect or tata photon?

  6. Reliance has now stopped the Huwei EC 168 modem for Broadband+, which is working out of the box in Ubuntu 9.04. Now they are giving only Huwei EC 1260 Modem. Which is also working out of the box on Ubuntu 9.04. Here is ‘lsusb’, Infect i am using ‘NetworkManager’ for making connection so i can get rid of Firefox’s “Work Offline” option 🙂


    Bus 004 Device 005: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

  7. hi.. i just bought reliance netconnect EC1260 and it doesnt seem to be detected as ttyUSB0 or any either.. can any1 plz help…?

    thanks a lot

  8. i am also one of the victim of the reliance netconnect i bought the connection at december and i closed the connection on janauary but he never stopped me sending me bill i went to the reliance world again and again but there was just a consolidated response they say “dont worry” its not a problem we will do it right.
    finally i got a notice from court to be present before lokadalath i was shocked then i again went to the reliance world the answer was the same finally i have to pay 3000/ rs without any mistake of mine. there are 1000s of people who daily come to the lok adalath daily all are reliance company victims.
    The reliance is the biggest frauds i have paid 3000/ rs without any reason the actual fault was the companies but i was the victim.
    how do you think that they have the crores this is the reason. Never go to any reliance postpaid or prepaid products. this is a kind request to all indians never buy these frauds products.

  9. Wayne Fernandes

    I have bought a Reliance netconnect+ it is very slow infact TATA Photon+ is better and cheaper. Reliance has launched a sad product that is expected from them. I am now shifting to TATA Photon+ which is 1000 times better and cheaper than Reliance+. If possible dont buy any reliance product cause it is always sad. and they bill you for 30 days when u have only use 30. Reliance is really SAD.

  10. is it possible that i use Tata Photon + instrument and run the Reliance Net….

  11. I bought this reliance huawei modem and it works perfectly on my Jaunty. But I’d like to add that I had to wait for half a week without the device being activated. But when I went to their outlet they told me I have to dial *228 to activate the modem, so I got this done at the web world outlet itself. How did you manage this with wvdial? In the windows dialer they’re shipping we have a separate option for activation.

  12. hi ,

    Am looking out to buy a Tata Photon / Reliance net connect. Am Put up in Bangalore, Jp nagar 7th phase. If some one can suggest which is the best option it would be very helpful.

  13. Ramesh Karthik

    Tata indicom photon plus, i bought last week, which does not connect for at least 10 minutes…. i am very much frustrated with this…customer care does not responding properly….

  14. Sanjay Salian

    Hi Everone,

    Never take Reliance Netconnect Broadband connection because it is a worst net connect i hv see in india, Reliance chage you as worst then the amount that next time no one will pay the bill and no one take the card u will definatly thow them in to a dustbin so my advise is not to take the Reliacne Data Card.

  15. plz contact for TATAINDICOM high speed wireless internet device at chennai location

    Ph:9283155077
    mail:indicomphoton@in.com

  16. reliance is worst choice i made .they are fake. their customer support is not good. i insist you to by photon instead of reliance 3.1mbps

  17. hi
    I have two tata photon+ with me.I want to use both of them on my linux pc.I installedthe usb_modeswitch and modified the wvdail.conf file for the two card(tata photon).But i am able to get only one ip and one ttyusb .what should i do to get the two devices ip?

  18. will you please tell me how to connect bsnl nic(Huwai product) card on ubuntu 9.10…?

  19. “Dear Mr.Prakash,
    Thank you for your kind words and minute deatails. We look forward to your continued support and suggestions to help us to add more value to our products and services and serve you better.”

    Thanks once again for your patronage!

    Regards
    S.Baburaj – Tata Indicom

  20. never buy tata photon+.Sometimes the speed comes down to as low as 10kbps.Even youtube videos buffer.It also got disconnected many times.so i would not recommend this product to anyone.And as far as reliance is concerned ,it is a fraud.

  21. Anuvrat Parashar

    sir
    the of modem not getting detected persists even after running the mknod commands.
    Please help me out.

    and ah … I am using Photon Plus EC 1260 modem. working pretty fine for me 🙂

  22. sir,
    i have a TATA PHOTON PLUS(EC1260),but i`m not getting speed of more than 50-60 kbps….pls. help me…..is there any way to speed up the
    my net accessing??

  23. Guys its true that dont go for any company that offers you 3mbps or 100mabps wireless….cuz its impossiable that this much speed u get via wireless…so if u r not a traveller then i suggest go for wire net connect….cuz i have also having broadband+ but its useless for me for every thing to download i have to go net cafe….so what ever u can do it wont work fast so forget it…if u already buy the dongle then u wasted u r money…if not then be cleaver dont go for any photon+ or Broadband+

    Thnx guys

  24. I had tata photon whiz which is very less in speed and the connectivity is very poor when compared to reliance net connect which gives 3.1 mbps speed

  25. hi, anyone help me for broadband connection. here is so much confussion which is to get.from me.

  26. Ubuntu /debian user for tat photon

    apt-get install wvdial

    copy into /etc/wvdial.conf

    [Dialer Defaults]
    Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
    Init1 = ATZ
    Phone = #777
    Username = internet
    Password = internet
    New PPPD = yes
    Stupid Mode = 1

    then sudo wvdial

    it will work..

  27. A very nice blog post.

    I was planning to shift my laptop to Ubuntu Linux. The only trouble I had in mind was the TATA Photon+ device I had. Whether it works on linux or not.

    Thanks Prakash & Hinal now I can go ahead with my plans.

    I have booked my webspace with Macpro Systems and plan to work on my website using PHP. They have both Windows and Linux hosting plans with tons of free server applications installable through a very easy web-interface. Earlier I used ASP. I feel the linux community is very strong and people like you out there are making it stronger by sharing your knowledge.

  28. Hi there. I just gave up on windows recently and installed Ubuntu 9.10 in my laptop. My only regret is that Reliance Connect does not work. I tried to follow your steps bur it did not work. I have Huawei EC 1260. Fist thing I did was: apt-get install wvdial, then when entered: etc/wvdial.conf, it says: NO SUCH FILE OR DIRECTORY or sometimes PERMITION DENIED. What do I do now?
    Thanks!

  29. Never buy reliance netconnect its real torture. It didnt work. I kept on calling customer care for 45 days before throwing that card away which costed me 3.5K
    Their customer care has no idea about when that issue will be resolved, worst part is that i got bill for 2 months, when it was not working . Never buy any Relience stuff, not worth mental torture

  30. I am using BSNL 3g through windows mobile in kolkata and getting download speeds of 30-50kbps and it costs around 600Rs for 2gb data usage

  31. i m using relincenetconnect.can i use reliance device for tata photon connection?

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  33. Mohit Oberoi

    Never go fow Tata photon plus,, pathetic connection I have ever used,, out of 24 hours it works only for 2-3 hours in a day with ok speed!!, I logged my complaint 2 months back everytime they close my ticke t and send me an email that your issue has been resolved,, though my issue was never resolved,, pathetic customer service, pathetic Nodal office services,, nothing is good about tata photon!! if you want to waste your money tata photon is the best connection ot buy!!!!remember my words,, pathetic connection

  34. Reliance Netconnect advantage

    Reliance Netconnect service offers you Hi-speed wireless internet access across India in over 24,000 towns and 6 lakh villages, as well as along major highways, railway routes, airport lounges and remote locations. Reliance’s cutting edge CDMA 1x network can give you high-speed internet access, up to 144kbps.

    Reliance wireless internet in chennai

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