Working with HiLink Mode on the Huawei E303/353

Introduction

Some Huawei USB modems, such as the E303 and E353, support an easy-to-use HiLink mode. This mode allows you to perform basic modem configuration via a web interface instead of the command line.

HiLink mode is more limited than the standard PPP configuration–notably, you cannot establish inbound connections to the device. Still, it may be useful for some simple applications if your modem supports it.

Windows and MacOS

Slide the cover off of the Huawei E303 Modem and insert your Hologram SIM card with the full-size SIM insert.

Plug the modem into your computer. The modem will mount itself as a storage device with the appropriate drivers on it. Install the drivers from the device, or download and install the latest drivers from the Downloads section of the E303 product page.Click Settings->Profile Management->New and add a profile for the Hologram APN (hologram) as shown here:

Save your changes and then go to the Connection Settings page. Enable the auto connect options as shown here:

• When the install finishes, a web browser should automatically open to the Huawei HiLink settings page. If this doesn’t happen, navigate to 192.168.1.1.

• Click back to the Home page and click the connect button. You should now be connected to the internet via cellular.

Linux

Install the usb-modeswitch utility, which will handle switching the modem from storage mode to modem mode. For Debian-based distributions (e.g. Ubuntu and Raspbian), install this package from the standard repositories with:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch

Then reboot your PC.Slide the cover off of the Huawei E303 Modem and insert your Hologram SIM card with the full-size SIM insert.

Then plug the modem into a USB port on your PC.Run ifconfig to find the eth* device corresponding to the modem. If you are unsure which eth device is the right one, you can unplug the modem and see which one disappears when running ifconfig again.

If the network interface doesn’t have an IP address assigned (no inet addr entry in ifconfig), run the DHCP client to acquire an address:

sudo dhclient eth1

Where eth1 should be replaced with the modem’s device name.Open a web browser to 192.168.1.1 to configure the modem via web UI. Set up the Hologram APN profile and connection settings as described in the Windows/Mac instructions above, then click the Connect button on the device home page.Disable or unplug your PC’s other network connections (ethernet or wireless), then test your internet connection:

ping -c1 hologram.io

If you get an error, you may need to add a route configuration so that network traffic is routed to the new cellular interface. From the command line, enter:

sudo route add default gw 192.168.1.1 eth1

Where eth1 should be replaced with the modem’s device name. Then retry the ping.

To automatically enable the modem whenever it’s plugged in and across restarts, you’ll need to update the networking config. In Debian-based distributions, add the following lines at the end of the file /etc/network/interfaces:

allow-hotplug eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

Where eth1 should be replaced with the modem’s device name.