[H-GEN] Using a USB Modem under Linux

[Frank Brand]

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>Bought a USB modem recently.  Tried using it under Red Hat Linux 7.1 but I
>don't know how to set it up.  Any ideas?  Is setting up a USB modem
>(Kingmax) much more complicated than setting up a Serial modem under Linux?


Well yes. Up until recent distributions, USB ports were not supported in
Linux but the later versions have USB support.

If you have USB support, and Red Hat 7.1 does have support, you would need
appropriate driver support. Generally, USB modems are not particularly
generic and each requires its own proprietory driver, whereas serial modems
will often work on more generic drivers.

The Kingmax data sheet on the 56Kb USB modem shows only Win support and the
Linux modem compatibility list shows the Kingmax USB modem as an unknown
quantity. Further, a lot of USB modems are Winmodems.

I am not sure about the Kingmax ...maybe others might have more knowledge of
that particular model ... but I have not seen that much evidence of
extensive support for USB modems in Linux yet...3COM/USB Robotics claims
some support.

There is USB kernel support which, I expect, would be required. I am not
sure whether this is enabled by default or whether you may need to recompile
the kernel.


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