Dialup Connections

In the past, one of the more problematic processes in Linux was connecting your modem to an ISP. Even if your modem was fully Linux compatible (ie: not a “Winmodem”), manually configuring the proper files to make the ISP connection could be a bit daunting. To simplify the task, several GUI tools were created to automate the process of ISP/dialup configuration. Today, we’ll talk about the most widely used of these programs, KPPP. Here’s the process, step by step, for using KPPP to configure your Internet connection.

1. Click on the KMenu item in your KDE desktop and select Internet.
2. Select Setup from the resulting dialog box.
3. Click on the New button to open the setup window for your ISP. You’ll find several tabs in this window, including Dial, IP, DNS, and Gateway.
4. In the Dial tab, name your connection and enter the telephone number for your ISP’s dialup connection. You’ll also need to know your ISP’s authentication protocol. By default, KPPP selects PAP (Password Authentication Protocol). This is the most common and should work for your connection. You can also choose whether or not to store your password and enter programs that will be executed on connection to the Internet.
5. With most dialup connections, the IP address will be dynamically assigned at the ISP. Leave the IP settings at the default initially - they set your connection up for DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). If this doesn’t work, you may need to contact your ISP to determine if, in fact, your dialup connection uses a static IP address.
6. As with IP addresses, most ISPs now allocate DNS (Domain Name Servers) dynamically, once you’ve connected to the ISP. Again, the defaults in KPPP should work. If not, add it to your list to ask the ISP what the primary and secondary DNS IP addresses are.
7. Click on OK. This will return you to the login window.
8. Select the connection you just created from the “Connect To” dropdown, enter your username and password, and click on Connect. You’re good to go with an active connection to the Internet.

You can check the status of your connection using the ifconfig command. Enter

    /sbin/ifconfig

as root. This will display a listing of all your network interfaces. If you’re connected to the Internet via ppp, you should see an entry like this:

lo
Link ecap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1  Bcast:127.255.255.255  Mask:255.0.0.0
UP BROADCAST LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:3584  METRIC:1
RX packets:32 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
TX packets:32 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0

ppp0
Link ecap:Local Loopback
inet addr: 207.179.18.65  P-t-P:207.179.18.63  Mask: 255.255.255.0
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING  MTU:1500  METRIC:1
RX packets:27 errors:1 dropped:1 overruns:0
TX packets:36 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0

The critical element of this report is the ppp0 interface. It is, in fact, your connection to the Internet. ifconfig lists all network interfaces, including the local loopback, as shown in lo.

Configuring and checking on the status of your dialup connection to the Internet can be a piece of cake using KPPP.