Set up airtel gprs in archlinux via bluetooth

I had an urge to write this post since setting up a dial-up connection took me quite an effort. First of all you should have bluez and wvdial installed.

sudo pacman -S bluez
sudo pacman -S wvdial

First scan for bluetooth-enabled devices by

hcitool scan

If there are any devices, its address and name would be displayed. Copy the required address. Now, create rfcomm device to connect to your phone via bluetooth.

sudo mknod --mode=666 /dev/rfcomm0 c 216 0

In the file /etc/conf.d/bluetooth, set RFCOMM_ENABLE true. In another terminal run bluez-simple-agent and now to check the connection, type

rfcomm connect 0 address channel

You already have the address, the active channel is obtained from the command

sdptool search dun | grep Channel

When you run the command, you will be prompted for a pin in your mobile and that has to be entered in the terminal which is running bluez-simple-agent. You should have successfully connected right now. Now press ^C to exit the connection. For setting up the internet connection you have to edit /etc/wvdial.conf or create one. For guys using a different ISP, get your APN by googling(just change airtelgprs.in by your ISP’s APN).

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/rfcomm0 
Init3 = AT+cgdcont=1,"IP","airtelgprs.com"
Phone = *99# 
Username = user
Password = pass
New PPD = yes
ISDN = no
BAUD = 115200
Stupid Mode = yes
Carrier Check = no

The Username and Password, in the case of airtel are just for namesake. You can fill them up with bogus data. With that done restart the bluetooth daemon.

sudo rc.d restart bluetooth

Starting wvdial as root would connect you to the internet.