You will not be able to get help by adding a note to this page. This page is only for notes you might think are important overall.

For suggestions on this Dialup Howto, you might want to contact the Ubuntu Documentation Team. If you need specific help, you can make a support request at launchpad.net, post a forum thread asking for help at ubuntuforums.org, or ask for help at an IRC channel.

Useful Links

• Information about modems

• http://xmodem.org

• FaxHowto for information on how to fax.

• DialinHowto for information on how to dial in to your computer.

Useful links about Winmodem development in Ubuntu

• Ubuntu Feature Request for supporting winmodems out of the box

• An unofficial poll about whether more development effort should be spent so that dialup modems should be supported out of the box in Ubuntu

• Effort to include better offline networking documentation into Ubuntu

• This and this posts relate to the new format of this documentation.

• The old version of this main dialup howto wiki page can be found at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DialupModemHowtoOld

Stub Links

This is a list of links to wiki pages that are not complete yet.

Discussion

Hardware Modem Discussion

Note on undetected serial modem

I experienced the problem of a non-detected and not working external hardware serial modem (which made pppconfig, wvdial[conf] and gnome-ppp unuseable) even after issuing a 'sudo ln -s /dev/ttyS0 /dev/modem'. Of course, it previously worked in Slackware and Mepis! Eventually I got it working by making sure the modem was ON and connected to the RS-232 at the time when the kernel was booting! I guess it's smth with the boot scripts... -RaduCristianFotescu

Note on RS232 connected modem

I am experiencing problems with Ubuntu 6.10 Live CD that the I do not have with 6.06 Live CD in working with an RS232 port connected modem. In 6.06 I just configured the connection using the System/Administration/Networking tools and clicked activate to have the modem dial out and connect perfectly. Under 6.10, nothing happens when I check the little check box in the modem section on the front pane of this same tool. There is no other button for "activating" this connection. My modem was connected to the RS232 port and turned on while booting both versions. -RoAblate

Note on Robotics Speedsters

According to a couple of bug reports, this modem model seems to be problematic in some instances. Beware.

Note on removed links

I removed links to 'working modems' pages as they are incomplete. They shouldn't be included before being at least somewhat completed. As they are now, they will greatly frustrate people looking for help, instead of actually helping them thanks. -towsonu2003

• I'm just greatly frustrated because there needs to be stub pages, there needs to be a place to put this information down because there isn't such a place, I made it separate, and it was in early draft mode. Breezy ain't feisty or dapper and people I have after 3 days of research, not seen a cheap modem model number that is indicated works with dapper or feisty. I don't even know if ISA works with feisty. I remember a distro that dropped support. I did name it poorly, I'm figuring out how to organize as I go. -AaronPeterson

  • Also, selecting a modem is not telling anybody to purchase one, I chose those words very carefully. I have a freaking huge bin of them, I'll give them away. You kept the basic information, so I'll think about it but there does need to be a list of tested modems, and I'd like to be able to go have lunch and come back and continue refining before links get nuked.

    • Apropos stub pages: you could create a "links to stub pages" section in this wiki page, and as they are done, you can move them to the big DialupHowto page. Or, you could create a stub wiki subpage, for which the link would be: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DialupModemHowto/StubLinks

      • Done

      The thing is, while you are working on the pages, some people will come to the howto page, look at the (unfinished) links, and get angry But I'm sorry that I nuked them out fast, I should have at least put them in here. I just didn' think about it (I'll try to fix that now)... I agree with you 100% that there should be a 'supported winmodems' page. I think we had something like that but I can't find it. Ah here it is: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsModems once we have an ok-looking page, we can move that to the main page as well. I am just trying to avoid having a messed up wiki page similar to the old one (which took a lot of time to clean). It becomes messy quite quickly if you don't clean it fast and mercilessly... I appreciate your work on this issue (no, really, I do... there is too few who are caring for these modem pages). -towsonu2003

Needs Documentation On How To Start And Stop A Modem Connection

The DialUpModemHowto needs documentation on how to use a modem connection. The naive way (assuming you have set the connection up) would be:

1. Turn off software updates so they don't bog down your connection. Do this by using System->Administration->Software Sources, Updates tab. Uncheck the box for "Check for updates".

2. In System->Administration->network, uncheck the box for the wired connection "point to point type modem ..." when you wish to be disconnected and check it when you wish to connect.

However in Ubuntu 8.04 (uptodate as of today 2009.12.17 ) this doesn't work. When I boot the machine with the modem turned off, it hangs at the login screen. When I boot the machine with the modem turned on, it tries to dial and connect, even though I left the "point to point ..." box unchecked before my previous shutdown. So I don't think the above method should be contributed to the documentation just yet! Let someone who understands the correct way explain it.