TOPIC: Using a Sony Walkman W810i as a Modem through AT&T

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Introduction
Having struggled for two years with the stability of the Sony-Ericcson GC83 PCMCIA cell phone card, I was uncertain if my new Sony-Ericcson Walkman W810i cell phone would perform much better.(In all fairness to Sony, Ericcson, and Cingular, I was never able to determine if the issue was with the card, the script on my laptop, a device driver, or the services provided by AT&T.) Where the GC83 would drop the connection after every dozen or so email download, or most any attempt at upload or an ssh session, the W810i with Edge bandwidth is performing beautifully. In fact, I am preparing this HOWTO from a hotel room in Reno, NV (SC07) via my cell phone, now, the packet latency low enough that I am able to use a server-side text editor without issue.

It is important to give full credit to Thierry Nicola whose blog and personal attention to my request for assistance was paramount to my success. I struggled to get the connection working, but in the end, my associate Aaron (while driving with me for thirteen hours, nothing better to do) discovered a typo in my replacement of Thierry's Swiss cell phone provider with AT&T. Once corrected, it literally just worked.

This HOWTO assumes the use of a USB to W810i cable (included with the phone) which I prefer for it charges my phone as I use it. Soon, I will give Bluetooth a shot as well.


The scripts, the command, the connection.

1. As root, in /etc/ppp/peers/ create a file called "att", as follows:

   	crtscts
   	/dev/ttyACM0
   	115200
   	noauth
   	defaultroute
   	usepeerdns
   	bsdcomp 0,0
   
   	# (see Thierry's notes)
   	lcp-echo-failure 10000
   	lcp-echo-interval 1000
   	asyncmap 0
   	novj
   	connect "/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/chatscripts/sony-gprs"
   	debug
   	

   ... where Theirry's script has a few notes about some experiments you may conduct, lines to tune.
   
   
2. As root, in /etc/chatscripts/ create a file called "sony-gprs" (as called from the previous script).

   	ABORT ERROR
   	" 'AT'
   	OK 'AT &F'
   
   	# (see Thierry's notes)
   	OK 'AT V1E0S0=0&D2&C1'
   	OK 'AT +CMEE=1'
   	OK 'AT E1'
   	OK 'AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","wap.cingular"'
   
           # (see Thierry's notes)
   	OK 'ATD*99#'
   	CONNECT "
   	

   ... where there are another dozen remarked lines which are not used. Refer to Thierry's original HOWTO if you desire to experiment.
   
   
3. Attach your W810i to your YDL box via the Sony cell phone to USB cable.
   
   
4. Your phone will prompt you. Choose "Phone mode" (not data).
   
   
5. From the command line, as root:

   pppd call att [ENTER]

   ... give it a second and your W810i will show "Connecting ..." and when complete, you will have a small, blue globe in the upper left of your cell phone screen. You can of course add this command to your desktop or iBar as an click-able icon to make things a little less geeky.
   
   
6. Resolving DNS
   I am not cerain why, but I am not getting DNS from AT&T as I believe I should. I manually edited /etc/resolve.conf to enter my own DNS servers, but ultimately this should not be required. Will investigate futher ...
   
   
7. To disconnect, on the phone select:

   Main Menu --> Settings --> Data Connection --> Disconnect

This HOWTO was prepared by Kai Staats, Aaron Johnson of Terra Soft Solutions, Inc.