Installing Reliance Netconnect 3G in Linux – 32 & 64 bit

With the launch of 3G in India, all the leading network providers have launched 3G data cards with high speed internet. I got hold of a Reliance Netconnect 3G data card that supports upto 7.2 Mbps of data transfer speed to see how it works.

Reliance, as always, has been Linux friendly. Perhaps, it is the only network provider in India which provides installation packages for Linux distributions! On the package, it shows support for Ubuntu 9.04 & upwards releases alongside Windows and Mac. The mini cd provided with the datacard contains the installation software for Reliance 3G  in deb and rpm packages. This means netconnect 3G can be installed in rpm based distributions as well like Fedora, Suse, Red Hat and CentOS.

The software installation might look straightforward, but I was not able to install it at one go. There is a specific which needs to be followed to install and make the software work. So, here’s the procedure.:

Please note: the installation procedure  shown below is for Ubuntu 10.10/11.04 32 and 64 bits. If anyone is using Fedora please install the rpms instead of the deb files.

Instructions for 32 bit systems :

First, copy from the cd, PCL_RELIANCEIND.tar.gz tar file to the desktop .

Now, open up a terminal and extract the tar file on the desktop. Dont worry, its just simple copy paste of commands.

cd  ~/Desktop

tar -xvf PCL_RELIANCEIND.tar.gz

Go into the folder tools/deb/wvdial/

cd ~/Desktop/PCL_RELIANCEIND/tools/deb/wvdial/

Install the contents

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Now, go into the qt folder

cd ~/Desktop/PCL_RELIANCEIND/tools/deb/qt/

and install the files.

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Go back to the main folder

cd ~/Desktop/PCL_RELIANCEIND/

and run the install.sh file

sudo ./install.sh

Instructions for 64 bit systems:

Just copy paste the commands once you have copied the tar file to the desktop from the cd

cd  ~/Desktop

tar -xvf PCL_RELIANCEIND.tar.gz

cd ~/Desktop/PCL_RELIANCEIND/tools/deb/wvdial/

sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture *.deb

cd ~/Desktop/PCL_RELIANCEIND/tools/deb/qt/

sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture *.deb

cd ~/Desktop/PCL_RELIANCEIND/

sudo ./install.sh


That’s it. Now, you will find the Reliance launcher in Applications-> Internet -> Reliance 3G. You can also drag it to your desktop for a shortcut or if you are using docky, you can just drag n drop it into docky for a quick link.

As I have said before, the software works for Ubuntu 10.10 and the upcoming release of Ubuntu, Natty Narhwal.  See below for screenshots.

reliance-3g-dash

One  reason for going through this rigorous process and installing the software is that, since this is a very new service that was launched by Reliance, the connection settings are not available in network manager database for mobile broadbands. Here’s a screenshot.

This software is a standalone connection manager for Reliance 3G and does not use the network manager settings at all. Infact, it does not even show any kind of indication on the network manager GUI if the connection is active. To me, thats a bug and should be fixed by Canonical. I will be submitting a bug report soon!

Anyway, now that your Reliance 3G is all set up, you can enjoy high speed internet on your desktop/laptop netbook running any 32 or 64 bit Linux distribution! Happy surfing!

Update: I have managed to install the Reliance Netconnect 3G using Ubuntu’s network manager on Natty Narhwal. After you select “My plan is not listed …” under choose you billing plan for new Mobile Broadband Connection, choose the APN as rcomnet and save the connection. It  will connect to the network.

Editing Reliance connectionNetwork Manager with Reliance netconnect 3G

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