Ubuntu Touch, GPRS, HotSpot
===========================
As I don't have the regular internet connection now (and this situation
seems to remain unchanged for some time) a wanted to try a setup for
situations when some sort of such connections will be necessary. You
know, sometimes it is needed to send an e-mail or two and so on.
I still have the BQ Aquaris E4.5 phone (the Ubuntu Edition one). The BQ
is no more and the Ubuntu Touch is no better. So I runt the UBports
[1]] here (it's a continuation of the original Ubuntu Touch). The
UBPorts people have been planning to obsolete this phone and to cut off
its support but it is still supported (it will happen when they rebase
their system from the Ubuntu 16.04 to the Ubuntu 20.04 - fortunately
for me they are still unable to finish this task due to some problems).
The phone itself is not in the best condition - it is obviously 7 years
old, with adequate number of scratches and dents and with a bad
battery. Anyway, it works enough to serve as an WiFi hotspot.
Setting up the WiFi hotspot is very easy in the Ubuntu Touch/UBPorts.
One just need to enable the GSM data (I use the GPRS thing as the 2nd
generation network still work but the 3rd generation one is mostly
phased out) and to start the WiFi Hotspot function (it only asked for a
network name and the password and that is all).
I have been using an another Ubuntu Touch device as the "desktop": the
BQ Aquaris M10 FHD tablet. A nice 10" tablet with 1920x1080 screen. I
have had connected a keyboards (something from the HP - it is not bad
and has an acceptable number of keys) and the Lenovo laser mouse (I
have no other Bluetooth mouse, I think). They have been connected via
the Bluetooth. Using Bluetooth peripherals with the Ubuntu Touch is a
fun - if they are not read AND ACTIVE (one should move the mice and
press keyboard keys from time to time) during Ubuntu boot then they
most likely will not be accepted at run time. Don't ask me why but both
of my Ubuntu Touch devices behave in this way.
But when everything starts then I can connect to my hotspot and enjoy
the internet.
I consumed about 9 MB in two days, by the way (some text-only e-mails,
some downloads of weather forecast and some Gopher browsing).I even
opened one or two static WWW sites and downloaded some RSS feeds. And I
felt that is enough...
Written on the PSION MC600 in the Vim 5.
References:
[1]
http://ubports.com
