Dial Up Modems

Linux

Dial Up Modems

Many people now use broadband Internet connections. Some people use dial up modems, either because they are in a location where broadband is not available, or because it is less expensive.

This section is included for people who use a dial up modem.

Modems

Some dial up modems work with Linux, others may not, particularly Winmodems. Most external modems work.

Kppp

Following is an explanation of how to set up Kppp using common options. In some situations the information which needs to be entered may be different. Enter information as appropriate for your situation.

Begin by clicking on "KPPP" in the menu to open it. You should find it under Applications -> Internet -> KPPP.

Click "Configure." You will see a new window.

Click "New." You will see a new window.

You may try "Wizard" and see if it works. Only some countries are included here. If your country is not included, you cannot set it up using this method. Let's use Manual Setup.

Click "Manual Setup." You will see a new window.

Click "Add." You will see a new window.

Enter the phone number your computer dials to connect to the internet. Then click "OK." This will close this window and take you back to the previous one.

Enter the name of your internet provider in the box following "Connection name." (You can enter anything here.)

You may Click the "Accounting" tab and set up accounting if you want to record your phone costs, but this is not necessary.

Click "OK." This will close this window, and take you back to the previous one.

Click the tab "Modems."

Click "New."

Enter the name of your modem in the box following "Modem name." (You can enter anything here.)

The box following "Modem device" needs to set as appropriate for your modem. If you have an internal modem, leave it as "/dev/modem." If you have an external serial modem, it may be "/dev/ttyS0."

In the box following "Connection speed," change it to "115200."

Click "OK." This will close this window, and take you back to the previous one.

Click "OK" again. This will close this window, and take you back to the previous one.

In the box following "LoginID," enter the username you use to connect to the internet.

In the box following "Password," enter the password you use to connect to the internet.

You can now click "Connect," and connect to the internet.

You can also click "Quit" to close it.

Network Settings

Following is an explanation of how to set up Network Settings using common options. In some situations the information which needs to be entered may be different. Enter information as appropriate for your situation.

Click "Network." This may be under "Administration" or "System," in the menu. It may also appear on the bottom panel as a small icon of two computer monitors. If you Click this, you then need to Click "Manual configuration" to open it.

You will see another window, called "Network Settings."

Click "Unlock." You will see a new window.

Enter your password, and click "Authenticate." This will close this window, and take you back to the previous one.

Click "Point to Point Connection" to highlight it. Then click "Properties." You will see a new window.

Click the square preceeding "Enable this Connection."

Enter the number your computer dials to connect to the internet, and your user name and password.

Click the tab "Modem."

Select your modem port. If it is an internal modem, this should be "/dev/modem." If it is an external serial modem, this is usually "/dev/ttyS0." Leave dial type as tones. Change volume to whatever suits you.

Click the "Options" tab.

Click the squares which preceed "Set modem as default route to internet," and "Use the internet service provider usernames."

Click "OK." You should now connect to the internet. If not, wait awhile, and Click the square which preceeds the picture of a telephone, and "Point to point connection."

PPPconfig

Following is an explanation of how to set up PPPconfig using common options. In some situations the information which needs to be entered may be different. Enter information as appropriate for your situation.

Open a Root Terminal and type:

pppconfig

You will see a new window, with "Create Create a connection" highlighted. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "provider" highlighted. It is not necessary to change this, but if you want, you can enter the name of your internet provider. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window. Press the down arrow, then the space bar, to move the star to the front of "Dynamic Use dynamic DNS." Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "PAP Peer Authentication Protocol" highlighted. Leave it as it is. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "replace with your login name" highlighted. Use the "Backspace" key to delete that, then enter the User Name you use to connect to the internet. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "replace with password" highlighted. Use the "Backspace" key to delete that, then enter your the Password you use to connect to the internet. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "115200" highlighted. Leave it as it is. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with a star in front of "Tone." Leave it as it is. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "replace with number" highlighted. Use the "Backspace" key to delete that, then enter the number your computer dials to connect to the internet. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "Yes" highlighted. Press "Enter." This will attempt to find your modem. If it finds your modem, you can skip the next two paragraphs.

If it does not find it, you will see a new window, with "(*) Manual Enter the port by hand" highlighted. Leave it as it is. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window, with "/dev/ttyS1" highlighted. Change this to whatever port your modem uses. Most external serial modems use "/dev/ttyS0." Most internal modems use "/dev/modem." Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window. Press the down arrow several times to highlight "Finished Write files and return to main menu." Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

You will see a new window. Use the down arrow to highlight "Quit Exit this utility." Press "Tab" to highlight "OK," then press "Enter."

For this information to take effect, you need to turn your computer off, and restart it.

To connect to the internet, open the Root Terminal, and type:

pon

To disconnect from the internet, in the Root Terminal, type:

poff

PPPsetup

Following is an explanation of how to set up ppp using common options. In some situations the information which needs to be entered may be different. Enter information as appropriate for your situation.

Open the Terminal and type:

sudo pppsetup

You will see a new window. In the first window you do not need to enter any information, just press "Enter."

You will see a new window where you need to type:

atdt(phone number)

After typing "atdt" type the phone number the computer dials to connect to the internet, with no spaces. Then press "Enter."

You will see a new window where you need to select how the modem is connected to the computer. You need to make the correct selection here. Most external modems connected to a serial port should be "ttyS0." Then press "Enter." If the option for your modem is not included, after setting up ppp, edit the file /etc/ppp/options, inserting the correct information.

You will see a new window where you select the modem connection speed. Use the down arrow to make the appropriate selection. Most people can select "115200." Then press "Enter."

You will see a new window where you indicate whether your internet service provider uses callback. Most people should select "No." Press "Tab" to highlight "No." Then press "Enter."

You will see a new window where you can change the modem init string. Most people don't need to type anything here, but just press "Enter."

You will see a new window asking for your internet service provider's domain name. Don't type anything here. Just press "Enter."

You will see a new window asking for the IP address of the Domain Name Server. This will be done later, so don't type anything here. Just press "Enter."

You will see a new window where you need to select whether your internet service provider use PAP, CHAP or another script. If you are not sure, leave it as it is, and see if it works. If it doesn't work you can run pppsetup again and select another option. Press "Enter."

You will see a new window where you type the Username for connecting to the internet. Then press "Enter."

You will see a new window where you type the Password for connecting to the internet. Then press "Enter."

You will see a new window displaying the ppp configuration. Press "Enter."

Using the Root Text Editor, open the file /etc/ppp/options. Add the line:

usepeerdns

After adding this line, when you connect to the internet, the computer will get the IP addresses of the domain name servers, and write them in the file /etc/ppp/resolv.conf.

Connect to the Internet. In the terminal, type:

sudo ppp-go

Copy the file /etc/ppp/resolv.conf to /etc/, replacing the existing file. Using the Root Terminal, type:

cp -p /etc/ppp/resolv.conf /etc/

You can now use the internet.

When finished, you can disconnect from the internet by typing:

sudo ppp-off

Web Browsers

If you use a dialup modem, some Web Browsers do not recognize that you are connected to the internet when you are. As a result, when you open them they are in offline mode. Examples include Firefox and Epiphany. If this occurs, Click "File," then Click the tick which preceeds "Work Offline" to untick it. You can then browse the internet. You may need to do something similar when using some other Web Browsers.

Also see dial up using: