Tata Indicom Plug2Surf on a Mac

My mom and bro gave me a Tata Indicom Plug2Surf for my last birthday (geeky gift, I know. What can I say? They know me too well). It’s only been with me for a couple of days but I’m already addicted to the sweet device. And as usual, set up is as Mac-ish as can be… if you know the proper settings.

  1. Start by plugging in your Tata Indicom device. It’s a blocky ugly but functional device that takes up more than its share of USB ports on my Macbook. The small light should change from red to orange and then stay a pale green.

    Tata Indicom Plug2Surf pics

  2. Open System Preferences and navigate to Network. A Qualcomm CDMA Technologies MSM device should already be detected. Select that and click Configure.


  3. Fill up the settings as in the pic below. The number to dial is #777, the username and password are the same: ‘internet’ (lame!). Be sure to check Save Password to avoid nag screens.

  4. Click on the Modem tab and from the list choose the ‘au CDMA 1x WIN W01K’ modem. The default selection will not work. Navigate back to the PPP tab and click Dial Now…

  5. You’ll be presented with Internet Connect, the general dialer application for the Mac. I use this for VPN connections as well. Check ‘Show modem status in the menu bar’ and click Connect. It should take under 5 seconds and the dialog will expand to show statistics for the connection.

The tariffs are reasonable. It’s Rs. 2500/- for the device and Rs. 350/ per month (paid like a postpaid bill) for 30 hours of net access a month (overcharges are 25ps for a minute). I have a BSNL plan otherwise, so this is for mobile net. It’s not entirely as plug2surf as the advertisement shows however since on Windows devices, you’ll have to install a driver (provided in a tiny CD). On a mac, you don’t, but you don’t know how much of tariff you’ve used either.


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112 responses

  1. I use my phone as a modem and works reasonably well. On osx the ppp drivers are a bit screwed, but it works like a charm on linux. This way i can browse from my phone too!

  2. @Devanshu Reliance has no drivers for Mac. Won’t work…
    Hmm, what is the billing like on this, anyway? Why only 1 hour of use, Vishnu?

  3. Swapnil Shah Avatar
    Swapnil Shah

    hi vyansu,
    thank you very much for the help. now i have a question. I am using mac leapord and in that under the modem tab i can not find the modem you described earlier. i think i will have toi install the correct driver. can you please tell me from where i can find that?

  4. Thanks for your helpful blog. The stupid TATA INDICOM guys didnt know a thing. Illiterate bunch of fools. Your simple settings helped me set it up on my mac book pro OS X.
    Thanks a ton.

  5. Arindam: nope the mac doesn’t support Speed+, one of my weekend projects would be to get it working under the Mac. Finding out how it works will be interesting 🙂

  6. Hi Vysnu,
    Thanks for the info.

    Does MAC support Speed+ as well.

    Speed+ tool provided free by tata indicom is really good for windows.

    cheers
    AB

  7. This was extremely Helpful. Nobody in Nvsari coudl help with the drivers for my macbook. If I had not seen this website I wuld have hd to get a full refund…!!!

    Now when I visit India, I can have the freedom to surf the net whilst mobile on my MacBook.

    Cheers!

  8. thanks Vysnu, tata indicom is working on leopard. thanks once again.

  9. I started using the USB modem device two months back.I was all praise for it till I received my second month’s bill.I have the 325 value plan which entitles me to 1800 minutes of free usage per month.I made it a point to surf in that limits checking the Internet log daily . My internet log shows 24 hrs of usage but the bill is charging me for around 40 hrs of usage….I am very confident about not having surfed so much…have any of u got into same situation???

    BTW, i found loads of complaints regarding excessive billing at http://broadbandforum.in/tata-indicom-mobile-connection/17831-tata-indicom-plug2-surf-usb-modem-excessive-billing/

    Thanks!!!!

  10. sorry thanks to Vishnu and Jay.

  11. @Aravind Thanks worked in one chance. Also downloaded Net Monitor to keep an eye on usage on my Mac. Now if only I can find a software to send SMSs. Anyone know any good one around for this? Thanks.

  12. Hello, Vishnu, I tried in the same way, but window appeared – the selected communication device does not exist. Please verify your settings and try again. Help me in this. thanks for the reply.

  13. Hey Aravind here is what you want…. It is much easier than any modems I have installed. After keying in the phone number, username and password as stated above, go to Advanced functionality. Go to Modem. Change Modem to “au by KDDI” Then choose Model: WxxX (PC Card). Say “OK” On the first screen, click on “Apply”. Now you are connected!

  14. Hi, vishnu,

    How do i connect tata indicom with Leopard. Please Help

  15. Hi guys,
    i have a ADSL modem at my office which gets easily connected to my windows laptop ,but I dont know how to configure it with the MAC…please help

  16. Hi vysnu, you saved me a few hours of my life. An hour back i spoke to the “ENGINEER” from Tata Indicom and he refused to help saying thay can’t help me “OFFICIALLY” to get it running on MAC. I spent 5mins on your site and now i’m connected. Thanx

  17. Devanshu Avatar
    Devanshu

    Have you tried the Reliance data card too? Which is better? Also do these setting work for the Leopard too? Thanks in advance.

  18. u been gr8 help Pradeep,tataindicom usb i working fine with the solution u gave

    thanx guys

  19. I figured it out. It is much easier than any modems I have installed. After keying in the phone number, username and password as stated above, go to Advanced functionality. Go to Modem. Change Modem to “au by KDDI” Then choose Model: WxxX (PC Card). Say “OK” On the first screen, click on “Apply”. Now you are connected!

  20. Hi Vishnu

    Can you please post details on how this will work on Leopard. Your help will be appreciated.

    Thanks
    Pradeep

  21. Even I upgraded to leopard a few days ago but haven’t had the chance to setup the indicom thing on it. Let me take a look, in a few days should have something up!

  22. I used the tata CDMA card with tiger and it worked however now I have upgraded the macbookpro to Leopard and stuck. This one doesn’t have the Quallcom driver and I am not sure what to do, can anyone help !!!

  23. Hi Mate,

    your configuration are really helpful,and were working fine with my previous OS (Tiger) but now I have ugraded to the latest OS Leopard and it does not have the vendor option of ”au cdma” as it had in previous OS…How do I go about it now?can I download the Sungil cdma 1x win driver any where,or you you already have a solution.
    Please Help.

    Cheers

  24. Here is a tip for relatively advanced users. If you are having connection issues (especially could not negotiate type of messages), open /var/log/ppp.log and try and interpret the detailed error messages in this file. Of course, if you are not comfortable with UNIX’s cryptic messages, this may be gobbly-gook for you. good luck

  25. yes man i amusing it on mac ibook g4

  26. Ameya: Are you using this on a Mac? Where does Qualcomm come into the picture here? Try it in different locations definitely.

  27. hi
    vishnu

    u r website is very informative…regarding this tata plug & surf modem…thank u very very much for providing this knowledge to all the Mac users…
    i have just bought this today but some time this Qualcomm dosent detects my device since the dot is red instead of green any funda to get away with this or is just due to lack of network …but tried this few times on same place… pls let me know if u have ever experienced something like this…before

    Thanks..
    Ameya

  28. Santosh: It works on my Windows Vista machine. The dialer, the stats and all. Why doesn’t the driver work?

    Double A: You’re welcome

    Gitanjali:
    Does it work fine with Windows? It might be because the card itself isn’t activated (my dealer had to call up support to activate my connection).

    If that isn’t the case, double check all the steps (esp. the one to select a different modem). Ignore the fact that passwords seem to be longer, it’s like that for me too. A bit weird, but it works.

  29. Hi Vysnu,
    Your page to configure the Tata Indicom data card for Mac’s is absolutely godsend! I bought this card last week as an alternative for internet access when I am on the move or at home to stay in touch with my husband who is abroad. So far, it hasnt worked for me for even an hour of satisfactory service. I configured my mac entirely according to your instructions (and checked it in a Tata indicomm store)- It gets upto the establishing connection phase and shortly displays a “disconnecting” message because it cant connect with the PPP server. Any suggestions? I notice that the password internet seems to keep getting reset to something longer by my Mac and I need to change it back everytime. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am at the end of my tether with this card.Thanks, Gitanjali

  30. Thanks Dude! I figured out everything except the magical userid and password. For some reason that is not required on Windoze. The dealer of course is clueless about Mac.

  31. I purchase a tata indicom usb modem plug to surf
    it run on win xp and win 2000 but its not run in windows vista the driver is not suppot.I search it in tata indicom web site it also download but it not running.it also mantion on the box.How can i got this driver support for win vista.plz help me.

    Thank you
    SANTOSH

  32. Ariel: It’s definitely not that slow for me. I’m using it off and on when I go out or when BSNL dies on me and it’s a really good 2nd net connection. Get around 10-20Kb/s.

    rrkommoju: This should help you.

  33. Hey great site! With your instructions, I got the modem working on my macbok pro but it goes so S L O W !!!

    It’s taking 10+ minutes (still loading) to pull up Gmail. The light on the modem keeps flashing green. Is this normal? How is your experience. I would say it’s pretty much unusable from my experience.

  34. rrkommoju Avatar
    rrkommoju

    Dear friend.
    i bought the tata indicom usb modem but it is not provided with any installation cd. how can i install it please

  35. Ajay: I’ve been meaning to get a hang of how the “boost” thing works. Also it’s an annoyance not knowing how much time/balance is left etc.

  36. Prabha: Does it work from Windows? If it does, then double-check all the settings here. Esp. make sure you got the right modem: the au CDMA 1x WIN W01K one.

  37. Hello Vysnu,
    Your detailed instructions have been very helpful but I am still not able to connect. The message I keep getting is this: “Could not negotiate a connection with the remote PPP server. Please verify your settings and try again”. What am I doing wrong/not doing?
    Thanks
    Prabha

  38. Hi Aakash,

    You would like to MAC Workstation or Windows
    version.
    If you wanna MAC then nothing to do, everything is avalable in MAC OS but you want access the features in Windows OS then 1st you install Driver CD along with TATA USB Modem.

  39. whr will i get the tata usb ix modem driver??????pls tell me as ssooon as possible

  40. Thank You Very much for MAC support Regarded TATA USB Modem.

    I am very easyly connected through your steps by TATA USB Modem on MAC G5 & Bookpro but speed is not avalable. if any Idea about how to boosts-up internet speed then please reply me!

    & then same end Windows Workstation speed 10 to 14 kbps… if you have solution then reply me
    dear. thank you once again.

  41. Anupam: here, I’m using the Value 325 plan.

    Arun, Riyad, you’re welcome!

    Anand: Max speeds around 128k, but reliable. There’s a bit of a delay when initiating network connections (it might be coz I’m using OpenID OpenDNS). There’s some software you can download from the website which apparently boosts your speed (wonder how this works), but since I’m on a Mac can’t use it.

  42. Dude what the max speed your able to get?

  43. hey.. bro thanks.. it was a surprise to see ur help on using the usb thing on a mac. will surely try this. hope it works on my powerbook g4.
    thanks

    arungupta

  44. i would like to know its price..please..is it economic while compared to other systems?

  45. Thank you man… I did everything except change the modem settings… and then looked desperately on the net for any help.. urs was the first site..
    Im so glad the mac community is growing as well, take care,
    thanx again

  46. Fragger: Aye, will be traveling soon so it’s a bonus. Haven’t paid a bill yet.

    Rishi: Don’t think so, charges should be same. Of course, you’ll have to change your billing address. Call up customer care to clarify.

  47. are there any other plans too……?…..and i purchase this device from one state and later i shifted in other state so will the plan charges which i hav taken will be increased?plz do solve my query
    thank u

  48. This device seems to be mighty convenient.

    I wonder how the connectivity will be while using it on a train .

    2nd class AC sleeper coaches in Indian Railways have plug points for charging stuff.

    PS: Tata Indicom’s usage metering seems to have some issues, as I found out in Pune (through a large bill). So keep a watchful eye on your usage. 🙂

  49. No, I don’t get a headache. The plastic does get extremely hot though, so I tend to not use it for long periods (considering an hour per day is the limit, makes sense in other ways too).

  50. Hi Vysnu..

    I’m using this device too and it gives me head ache (real one) on using for more than one hour.

    Have you experienced any sort of physical discomfort while using it?

    Best,
    Mani

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