I recently updated my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic to firmware v40.0.005 and my netbook to Lucid Alpha 3 which reminded me I hadn’t tried using my Nokia with Ubuntu. A friend of mine has a HTC Tattoo which he tethers with Ubuntu 9.10 to connect to the internet anytime, anywhere. My contract with Virgin Mobile includes “Unlimited Internet” so I wondered if I could tether my Nokia 5800 to my Samsung NC10 too.

In short … Yes.

It turned out to be incredibly simple to tether a Nokia 5800 to Ubuntu 10.04

1. Connect the phone via USB to the PC.
2. Set the Nokia to “PC Suite” mode.
3. Left click on the Network Manager icon and choose “New Mobile Broadband Connection”.
4. I then chose the recommended values in the wizard.
5. Success. I can now choose the “Virgin” entry and I’m online via 3G.

Yet another example of how simple computing with Linux, especially Ubuntu, has become. In fact this post was written and published via the 3G connection as a “proof of concept” use.

As a side note I also recently wiped my netbook clean, I had it dual booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.10, to being an Ubuntu only install, I usually wait until the Beta is released before upgrading but I wanted to experience firsthand the re-branding everyone has been talking about on the Planets. I have to say I love it. Fresh. Clean. Professional. It’s certainly come a long way since Breezy.