What can be done from a regular modem. How to make a USB flash drive from a usb modem What can be done from a modem

What is unlucky, and how to deal with it? The eternal question. Personally, I've always had bad luck getting broadband at home. There are several large ADSL operators in the city - but my PBX does not fall into any coverage area. Then local cable TV operators came up with telematic services, we have two of them, and the coverage area of ​​the first one ends two blocks north of my house, and the coverage area of ​​the second one - three blocks to the south. I even tried to involve a radio access operator in solving the problem (although their connection costs some absolutely insane money) - a specially trained person arrived, climbed onto the roof, waved some copper garbage towards the horizon and delivered a verdict: he won't live, even shoot ...

But it looks like the holiday on our street is beginning - some enterprising office spreads a "house network" around the quarter and promises everyone the first space speed at quite human prices. In the meantime, companions installers get to my home, we need to solve a fundamental question: on which shelf should I throw the modem? On the one hand, there is no need for it completely (dial-up looks a little pale against the background of a 10-megabit dedicated line, in reality, of course, there won't be any ten, it's called "marketing", but two megabits will be enough above your head). On the other hand, using a $ 200 Courier 56K Everything as a cactus stand is also not very smart.

What else is a modem capable of besides serving as a door to the global network? You may be surprised, but the modem has the functionality of a full phone, and even programmed. And in the process of searching for that very control, I came across a program named Auto call(download from the author). This thing allows you to turn your personal office into a powerful call control center, with calls in both directions, both to you and from you. True, this requires: a) a modem with voice functions, and b) a telephone line with tone dialing. Neither one nor the other can be found in my house (Courier, of course, is a beast in terms of communication and holds the line like a bull terrier to a rat, but the creators offended him with their voice, alas), so the bride had to be shown on foreign territory. And although for me personally this program turned out to be useless from a purely technical point of view, it is worth talking about it.

"Auto Call" can be defined as "Script Builder for Automated Call Control". Simply put, she knows how to make calls, receive calls and conduct a dialogue with the person on the other end of the line. Here is a quite typical task for AutoCall: make a query to a database (which can be any OBDC source, from an Excel table to an Oracle database); extract a list of subscribers from there; call each of them; read out a text to everyone. Moreover, the text can be different for everyone (have you ever used voice mail? "The box belongs to the number .. three-two-nine-zero-etc." - the same principle). Another, no less typical task: to listen to the telephone line; pick up the phone; determine who called (if the caller ID cannot cope with the number, then explicitly request the caller); and, depending on the situation, do something (read the text, open the voice menu, hang up, record the call in the database, and so on). Tellingly, the program can work with several modems, each of which works out its own scenario.

How is the script produced? To do this, the program provides a visual constructor (in terms of interface and principle of operation, it is very similar to our old friends RoboTask and Alchemy Eye, the constructor is the constructor). The constructor contains all the necessary "blocks" - an action (execute a modem command, pick up or hang up the phone, recognize an answer, speak a text, make a query to a database, start an external application, etc.), branch (conditional jump, loop), internal variables ( create-install-read), service action (timer, exit from the program, display a message). On this basis, you can build any scenarios for the program's behavior, from the simplest (pick up the phone and say that no one is at home) to the most complex (multi-level spreading menu, control via tone signals, and even context-dependent, depending on who called). There is the possibility of step-by-step debugging and recording detailed logs - what happened, when it happened and how it ended.

Does the program have any drawbacks worth mentioning? Yes, but they are all insignificant. These are: small cockroaches in the interface (for example, open the settings file, change something in it and close it back - the program will not even think to ask if we want to save the changes before closing, and they will be lost); some non-obviousness of the interface (if you open several scripts and configure them at the same time, it will not be difficult to get confused where whose properties are not difficult) and the already good-natured attitude of programmers to exceptional situations (in my deep conviction, the user should not see how the program crashes due to a critical error in the place where it was enough to catch the exception and tell the user "fi" for his actions). Little things, of course, but not very pleasant little things.

In theory, "Auto Call" refers to business-class programs - it can be a component of a billing system, help desk, and so on, but in the hands of a private person it can also be useful. Let's say you load the computer with some task and go to relax, and it periodically calls and voice(nothing supernatural, text-to-speech technology, aka "voice machine") reports on the work done and / or problems that have arisen. Well, what Auto Call is capable of in skillful hands (that is, in those who can type modem commands from memory and are able to flip through technical documentation for office PBXs and the like) I will not even tell - a professional will understand himself, but a non-professional such details are only a burden.

The general conclusion is this: if you are going to use the voice functions of your modem, this program will not be superfluous.

Owners of USB modems, having installed the necessary software for a PC, resort to the idea of ​​using the device in the form of a portable drive, and diligently search for information on the forums. The thought of how to make a USB flash drive out of a modem turns out to be a costly and time-consuming idea. It is worth first understanding the use, configuration and functions of this USB device.

General configuration algorithm

To connect MTS, Megafon modems in the Unity environment (Ubuntu 12.04 and others), the Network Manager interface is used. Instructions:

1. Go to the item to change connections.
2. Add a new network in the mobile transmission tab.
3. Select a configurable device.
4. Determine the telecom operator, country.

The connection parameters for each operator are different, and they consist of the access point (APN) to which you need to connect, and the login, password. For example, for MTS clients, you need to establish a connection with internet.mts.ru using the mts login and password of the same name. Usually this information is provided with the modem, but if it is not available, you can always contact the operator directly, or their website.

Configuring with AT Commands

For convenient configuration, you need a terminal program, or a more suitable solution in the form of Huawei Modem Terminal. After connecting to the device, you need to check the connection with the AT command. If the answer is yes, you can continue to adjust. In order to find out a list of all available commands, you need to enter: AT ^ CMDL. The list is different for each version of the device, however, with the help of it, you can quickly configure the default network, or assign any other parameters.

Switching modes modem / flash drive / modem + card reader

If the device natively supports the switchover function, the process occurs via the AT command AT ^ U2DIAG = [value]. With its help, you can switch the device to the “only modem” mode (0), use it as a flash drive (1), card reader (256), or connect everything together (255).

3G-modem from Beeline in the form of a flash drive

In theory, this is possible if the user can create a new firmware for the modem, but no one has done this yet.

How to make the modem Universal?

Mobile operators put a lock on their modems so that they cannot be used with SIM cards of other operators. To activate this function, you need to flash the device using the Huawei Modem Unloker program. It requires knowledge of the sewing code, which can be obtained by third-party programs by IMEI.

Creating a Wi-Fi network from a USB modem

First of all, you need to get a router that supports modem connections. If this is not an option, you can use an old router. Instructions:

1. Disconnect modem, Internet.
2. Connect a network cable between the router and the computer.
3. In the network settings of the PC, you need to refer to the properties of the telephone connection.
4. Allow other network users to use it.

So the router will distribute the Internet from the computer via a modem.

How to make a bootable USB flash drive

In order for the operation to be successful, you first need to make sure that the system supports booting from USB. You can check this by going to the BIOS. After that, you need to write the image to the device using UltraISO or another program, and start the PC not from the hard disk, but from the bootable flash drive (also through the BIOS).

Possible problems and solutions

For stable operation, it is better to assign the USB device to the "modem only" mode using the cutecom program, and go to the / dev / ttyUSB0 port, where you need to enter the appropriate command. If the connection is problematic, turn off Deflate, BSD in PPP parameters. To work without interruption, you need to monitor the remaining balance.

When purchasing, the happy owner of a 3g modem is faced with such a task as a low or low 3g speed on the Internet (for example: slow page loading speed).
Cellular technology belonging to the 3G generation, the network is not built in all cities. In other cities it is UMTS, EDGE or GPRS. And in some villages and villages of our vast Motherland, cellular communication leaves much to be desired.
But there are several ways to improve communication quality.

USB extension cable.

When buying a wireless modem for some models, an additional extension cable 30 cm long is given. Of course, this is not enough, preferably 2-3 meters are needed. For those who live in remote places of the city, this will be the very thing. Having connected the cord to the computer, we take it in the direction where the radio antenna of the cellular operator should approximately stand. This method works in many cases and is also very simple and does not require much effort and skills.
An extension cord can be purchased off the shelf (3 or 5 m), or made by yourself. A good USB extension cord is obtained from a USB cable for a printer. I have a coaxial TV cable extension. 2 pieces of 12 m each.

Acceleration of 3G modem using the program.

There are a lot of programs in runet to speed up a 3G modem. You can download this program on the manufacturer's website. It's up to you, of course, but before downloading and not wasting your time, read it.
Briefly, I will describe to you how this program works. Using software data compression, the Internet is accelerated. That is, the Internet accelerator, before loading a page or downloading some information, passes it through a special server, where everything is compressed. There is also a manual Internet setting mode. Honestly, I don’t know, I have never tried to work with such programs.

Scheme and manufacture of a remote antenna.

Here I agree that the quality of amplification can be improved, whether it is operators: Megafon, Beeline, and other mobile operators. Of course, you can buy an antenna, but we will assemble a homemade antenna for a 3G modem with our own hands. Carefully open the modem by prying the edges with a small flat screwdriver. At the same time, remember about the guarantee of your modem you are already losing. But those who do not take risks will not achieve a good connection with the Internet. And so, the modem was opened, albeit with little effort. Remember, everything must be neat!
Then we take a silver-plated wire (copper is also possible), about 1mm thick, length at your discretion, about 0.6m.

The figure shows (signed in small red) that you can clamp our wire antenna, where the main antenna of the modem is pressed (written in large red). At the same time, we make a small hole on the back case for the exit of the wire antenna. This 3g modem already has an antenna connector, all this can be seen in the figure below.

Perhaps the antenna is attached in some other way to this socket, but this will not work in my way. Having inserted the same wire there, it can fly off at any time, we leave this option and do not touch it.
Next, doing as in Fig. 1, we assemble the modem back. By the way, assembling the modem is much easier than disassembling it, just slam the cover and fasten the screws. We wind the remaining wire antenna onto the body of our modem. To prevent the antenna from unwinding back as in Fig. 3, we pass it through the ears (in the lower side).

Changing the network settings for the 3G modem.

The baud rate depends on the settings. Such a parameter as MTU is the maximum block size that receives and sends information. Windows defaults to the default (usually 1500). Probably there are programs - tests by which you can determine the mtu parameter. But I haven't heard of them yet.

TOTAL

Modem operation primarily depends on the level of the received signal. If you lose it, the modem simply turns off.
When using an extension cord, remember that the longer the cable, the greater the resistance. Accordingly, the loss drove away, the laws of physics have not yet been canceled.
About antennas. Observe the dimensions when making storgos yourself! Do not forget about antenna polarization. It can be either vertical or horizontal.
About programs. I doubt that this method will give a positive result.

There are many different sites and forums on this topic on the Internet. Below are the links that I think are the most interesting:

Which of the following methods to choose is a matter of taste. Personally, I raised the modem 10 meters using a homemade extension cord.

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Do not expect a 3G modem to be as fast as satellite or wired internet. 3G modem is a moped. Having bought a moped, we are not offended that it drives slowly and has a small carrying capacity. To go faster and more comfortably (and take more) you need to buy a car. a moped (3G modem) has its advantages: mobility and low cost. So he thought. Expecting something more from a 3G modem is a waste of nerves. 3G modem is to check mail, look at the site, download a trifle.
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Dial-up connections and dedicated ADSL lines for Internet access have long since sunk into oblivion. Many people from the younger generation do not even know what a dial-up modem is, but many older people still have strange boxes that are like a suitcase without a hand: it is a pity to throw it away, and it is already unbearable to carry it. Many enthusiasts find use for outdated modem models, and in this article we will try to figure it out. what can be done from an old modem.

The first thing that comes to mind is simply to create a universal box for storing any small things or tools. You don't need much intelligence here. It is enough to pull out all the insides from the external modem and remove one of the walls. All external modems are wall-mounted, which is quite practical. But this is not all that can be done.

With the proper skill and the appropriate knowledge, you can find application almost for its intended purpose, but there are many limitations in terms of hardware: which chip is installed, is it possible to reassign ports, the presence of a USB port, is there a built-in WiFi adapter, and much more.

Using built-in dial-up modems

As a rule, external and internal PCI or ISA modems with Dial-Up mode can only be used as an answering machine, and then only if there is a built-in voice communication function. This is not difficult to do. You just need to download a program from the Internet that functions as a phone. There are a lot of such programs, and they perform the following functions:

• the ability to make incoming or outgoing calls through the telephone network using a headset (headphones and microphone) connected to the computer;
• can receive and send faxes;
• there is a possibility of recording a telephone conversation;
• using the automatic dialing function allows you to transfer previously recorded voice information to many subscribers;
• built-in answering machine function.

Having two such modems, of course, you can create a peer-to-peer network between two computers, but the connection speed will not meet modern needs. And the distance at which it will operate cannot exceed 50-60 meters. It is more convenient to use a long twisted pair cable.

External ADSL modems and routers

With external modems, things are much more fun. They often have a lot more built-in capabilities to use. All the latest modems have a built-in web server that is used to edit the configuration, so there is no difference in setting between such a modem and Ethernet.

Almost all ADSL modems have the ability to reassign ports. Of the 4 built-in LAN ports, one must be configured to work with an Internet provider, i.e. make it WAN. The rest of the ports can be used to connect computers or other network devices, such as a network printer. If this modem is a router with a WiFi adapter, then it will still work in the mode of a full-fledged access point.

It is worth noting that some of the necessary functions may not be present on the standard firmware, but there are communities of enthusiasts engaged in the development of alternative versions of firmware, and putting them in the public domain. It is enough to drive the existing modem model into the search bar and download the firmware on an open platform.

Another option for using an old modem is to make a server out of it. You can read about this in the article "How to make a server from a router"... A special advantage will be the moment, if it is possible to connect an external USB, then the server's capabilities will be significantly expanded.

USB modems, which are used to access the Internet through the network of a mobile operator, also sometimes become obsolete. The operator's communication standards, coverage areas, etc. are changing. However, you should not immediately throw away such modems. If there is no desire to alter and configure anything, then such a modem is very well used as a "flash drive": each of the modems has support for microSD cards.

If you want to tinker, you can configure such a modem as a WiFi access point, but for this you need, for example, for the Yota Egg modem, to connect and bring out an external Wi-Fi antenna. A lot of materials on the Internet have been written about how this is done.

The purpose of the article was not to give clear instructions on how, and what can be done from the modem, which is just gathering dust on the shelf. I tried to simply collect information from forums where interesting ideas are laid out and summarize it.