Linux GPRS/EDGE via Bluetooth

Kernel configuration

The most important thing is to have your hardware recognized, so let's step to kernel configuration. For proper bt/gprs you should have followig options compiled in:

CONFIG_BT=y 

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_L2CAP=m 

	
	
	 

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_SCO=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_RFCOMM=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_RFCOMM_TTY=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_BNEP=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_BNEP_MC_FILTER=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_BNEP_PROTO_FILTER=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HIDP=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	## Bluetooth device drivers 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIUSB=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIUSB_SCO=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIUART=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIUART_H4=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIUART_BCSP=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIBCM203X=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIBPA10X=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIBFUSB=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIDTL1=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIBT3C=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIBLUECARD=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIBTUART=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_BT_HCIVHCI=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	## PPP 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_PPP=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_PPP_ASYNC=y 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_PPP_SYNC_TTY=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_PPP_DEFLATE=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_PPP_BSDCOMP=m 

	
	
	

	
	
	CONFIG_PPP_MPPE=m 

Bluez utils configuration

On gentoo all bluetooth configuration files are placed in /etc/bluetooth/, on your system it can be elsewhere

The most important file is rfcomm.conf and hcid.conf. We will edit them in a moment, because first we have to know the bluetooth address of the phone/pda we will be using

Start the blutooth system:

/etc/init.d/hcid start or /etc/init.d/bluetooth start

Issue scan command (rememeber to start bluetooth on your device too):

hcitool scan

this gives something similar to that on my machine:

Scanning ... 00:15:2A:2E:E1:97       Nokia 6230i

	
	
	

Now, when we know the bluetooth address of the phone, we can start editing the config files.

hcid.conf

options  options {

	
	
	

	
	
	         autoinit yes;

	
	
	

	
	
	         security auto;

	
	
	

	
	
	         pairing multi;

	
	
	

	
	
	         pin_helper /etc/bluetooth/pin-helper;

	
	
	 

	
	
	}   

	
	
	

	
	
	laptop device {

	
	
	

	
	
	         name "t43 (%d)";

	
	
	

	
	
	         class 0x3e0100; 

	
	
	

	
	
	        iscan enable;

	
	
	

	
	
	         pscan enable;

	
	
	

	
	
	         lm accept; 

	
	
	

	
	
	        lp rswitch,hold,sniff,park;

	
	
	

	
	
	

	
	
	.. and the 
	
	
	/etc/bluetooth/pin has just 1234 example pin inside.  

	
	
	

The rfcomm.conf is as follows

rfcomm0 { bind yes;
device 00:15:2a:2e:e1:97;
channel 1;
comment "Nokia";
}

PPP ocnfiguration

After having your bluetooth system configured, it is about time to configure the PPP to connect to internet through the phone, using bluetooth as a carrier

The configuration I use is suitable for my provider, which is Plus GSM. In your case, the files will be the same, only the details may change.

First we have to create a file, which we will use for the connection. I created a file called "plus":

vim /etc/ppp/peers/plus

The file is as follows:

/dev/rfcomm0 115200

	
	
	 

	
	
	

	
	
	

As you can see, there is a second file, called chat-gprs, which needs to be created. It controls the way we communicate with the modem

/etc/ppp/chat-gprs '' ATZ OK
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","www.plusgsm.pl"
OK "ATD*99***1#"
CONNECT ''

The contents of this file is what you need to change if you do not have Plus GSM provider. Additionally if your provider uses login/password authentication, you should place proper data to /etc/ppp/chap-secrets or /etc/ppp/pap-secrets

Connecting to the internet

Now, as we have everything configured, we can at last connect to the internet. All we need to issue is:

pppd call plus

... and have fun while open-air browsing

Remember to check if you have your bluetooth switched on in the phone and laptop.

Additional software

Besides raw internet access, I am also using kbluetoothd daemon to browse my phone resources with konqueror. If you are a KDE user, I recommend this way to be very comfortable.

	
	
	connect '/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/ppp/chat-gprs'

	
	
	

	
	
	 crtscts

	
	
	

	
	
	 modem -detach

	
	
	

	
	
	 noccp

	
	
	

	
	
	 defaultroute

	
	
	

	
	
	 usepeerdns

	
	
	

	
	
	 noauth

	
	
	

	
	
	 ipcp-accept-remote

	
	
	

	
	
	 ipcp-accept-local

	
	
	

	
	
	 noipdefault 

	
	
	}