Recently I acquired a Novatel Ovation MC950D UMTS Modem. A quick google to find links on how to setup revealed a few generic methods, with nothing very Ubuntu specific. As is turns out, the Mobile Broadband setup is build right into the Network Manager.
I simply configured a udev script to activate the modem following some hints from this post, by creating /etc/udev/rules.d/80-umts_stick.rules and adding the line SUBSYSTEM=="block",ATTRS{vendor}=="Novatel",ACTION=="add",RUN+="/usr/bin/eject %k".
Once this was complete, the GSM modem self activated, and I had a new Mobile Broadband section under Wired Networks and above Wireless Networks in my network manager. A few clicks later the network manager wizard had me on the net.
The first time I connected I had no DNS (but was connected via IP), a quick re-plug after making the udev and modprobe changes, and ever since has worked fine. The nice multi-colour status indicator is great, as the connection type is not passed back up to the OS via the serial connection. A quick test from my home office gave me about 3mbit (360kB sustained) down and 0.7mbit (80kB sustained) up using some well known sites that can exceed those limits from my home High Speed connection. At a corporate office 40km away I received about 5mbit downstream and 1mbit upstream. The new limit is my data plan as to what I can now accomplish on the road.
