Huawei modem does not work with 16.04

Ubuntu 16.04 does not recognize my Huawei 15ca USB modem.

How can I fix this?

This command worked for me. I just needed to execute it once.

lsusb

Note down vendor and product id. In my case it is 12d1 and 1f01 respectively.

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 05c8:038f Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd (Foxlink) 
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0438:7900 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:b008 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 12d1:14db Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. E353/E3131
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0438:7900 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Then execute this once.

sudo usb_modeswitch -v 12d1 -p 1f01 -J

The instructions on how to fix this are slightly different than 14.04.

One of these steps might not be needed, but here is how I got it to work:

vi /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules

and add this line:

ATTR{idVendor}=="12d1", ATTR{idProduct}=="15ca", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b/%k'"

Then:

sudo touch /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/12d1:15ca

Run this command:

sudo usb_modeswitch -J -v 0x12d1 -p 0x15ca

Now you should see it under available network connections and under lsusb it appears with a different product number:

Bus 003 Device 008: ID 12d1:1506 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Modem/Networkcard

You might have to reboot or remove and reinsert the modem a couple of times to get it to work. Also remember to add it into edit connection/add mobile broadband connection.