Command Line PPP Access: WvDial

For a dial-up PPP connection, you can use the WvDial dialer, an intelligent dialer that not only dials up an ISP service but also performs login operations, supplying your username and password (Ubuntu main repository). WvDial will automatically detect and configure your modem. It will ask you to enter your phone number, username, and password. It will then set up a configuration for your modem, letting you automatically connect to your dial-up network.

Configuration is saved in the wvdial.conf file. Should you need to reconfigure this file, you can use the wvdialconf utility to create a default wvdial.conf file for you automatically; wvdialconf will detect your modem and set default values for basic features. You can also edit the wvdial.conf file and modify the Phone, Username, and Password entries with your ISP dial-up information.

The WvDial program first loads its configuration from the /etc/wvdial.conf file. You can modify this file directly if necessary. Here, you will find modem and account information, including the modem speed and serial device, as well as the ISP phone number, your username, and password. The wvdial.conf file is organized into sections, beginning with a section label enclosed in brackets. A section holds variables for different parameters that are assigned values, such as username = chris. The default section holds default values inherited by other sections, so you needn’t repeat them. You can also create a named dialer, which is helpful if you log in to several different ISPs.

To start WvDial, enter the command wvdial, as shown next, which reads the connection configuration information from the /etc/wvdial.conf file. WvDial then dials the ISP and initiates the PPP connection, providing your username and password when requested.

$ wvdial

You can set up connection configurations for any number of connections in the /etc/wvdial.conf file. To select one, enter its label as an argument to the wvdial command, as shown here:

$ wvdial myisp

Source of Information : McGraw Hill Ubuntu The Complete Reference