The latest Smart Bro USB modem available in the Philippines comes with the ZTE MF627 USB modem which comes with an ISO file for automated installation for Windows and Mac which makes it a bit tricky to install in a Linux environment like the on the eee PC 701 2gig that I have. The eee PC just won’t detect it as an HSDPA modem at all unlike Globe Tattoo’s Huawei E160 series USB modems.
To make it work for a Xandros Linux PC, all you have to do is to download mode switch and once it’s saved on your system all you have to do is to hit Ctrl+Alt+T to open the terminal wondow and type in “sudo bash” to be root (root is like being on admin mode for Windows). Once done, you should unpack modeswitch by typing in “dpkg -i (add file location here)/usb-modeswitch_0.9.6-1_i1386.deb” then press enter.
After modeswitch has been loaded, all you need to do is to edit the which will be found on /etc. You may have to input “cd ..” several times so you would be on the main folder then type in “cd etc” to be in it. Once you’re on etc, all you need to do is type in “nano usb_modeswitch.conf” to open the editor.
You would then notice that it contains driver information of several USB modem drivers and only the first one has no comment (;) on it. You need to comment that out by adding ; before every line and uncomment the ZTE MF628+ which has the same info as the ZTE MF627. Press “X” to get out of Nano and then Press “Y” to save the file.
You can now open the Network menu again and run the installation wizard. It will then detect your Smart Bro USB modem.
P.S. If you happen to visit Smart Bro’s download page, you will see an installer for Linux. Please note though that it’s not compatible for the latest wave of Smart Bro modems specifically the ZTE MF627.
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