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wvdial and AT&T Worldnet Service

The wvdial dialer is an intelligent PPP dialer, which means that it dials a modem and starts PPP in order to connect to the Internet. It uses heuristics to guess how to dial and log into your server rather than forcing you to write a login script.

Intelligent programs are frustrating when they don't work right, and I never did get wvdial to work out-of-the-box for connecting to Worldnet. I've got it working now but here are some of the places that need a little tweaking to get it going.

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Initial Configuration

wvdial will first need to find and probe your modem, and then set up a standard configuration file. Then you will need to edit it to work with AT&T Worldnet.

1. As root, in a terminal window, type this command:
   # wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf
   This will identify the port your modem is on, establish an initialization string for your modem and save the results in the /etc/wvdial.conf directory.
2. Edit /etc/wvdial.conf to reflect your local Worldnet phone number, logon ID and password. As root, use your favorite plain text editor to remove the ; from in front of Phone, Username, and Password, then change those lines to reflect your situation. For example:
   Phone = 1234567
   Username = 123456789@worldnet.att.net
   Password = abcdefg-hijklmn
   Note: For these entries you need to replace the parts after the = with your individual number to call, username, and password. The above items are just example of the format your information should be in.
3. Check your wvdial.conf file for these two entries:
   Stupid Mode = 1
   Auto DNS = 1
   If they are not there, add them or make other appropriate changes so they are there. With Stupid Mode turned on, wvdial will bring up pppd right away.
4. Save your customized wvdial.conf and exit the text editor.

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Testing wvdial for the First Time

If you've got a really user friendly linux distribution and customizing the wvdial configuration has gone well, you should be able to connect to Worldnet and everything will work.

To dial in for the first time, as root, in terminal window enter:
# wvdial

There are two things to look for at this point:

• Does wvdial log in to Worldnet?
• Does wvdial automatically use dynamic DNS assignment?

Remember, you're working in virtual console, so nothing flashy will happen - just some plain text feedback on how things are progressing.

If you're not getting logged in, the connection will drop in 60 seconds or so. This is easy to fix.

Since the current terminal window is running wvdial, switch to another terminal window (eg. Ctrl-Alt-F2) and as a normal user, try a performing a couple of pings.

• $ ping -c 4 204.127.12.39
  If this one runs to completion, you're probably getting logged in.
• $ ping -c 4 www.worldnet.net.net
  If this one runs to completion, DNS is being dynamically assigned and you're golden.

To drop the connection and hang-up the phone, switch back to the terminal window that's running wvdial and type: Crtl-C
Note: You should do this as soon as the initial testing is done, as it's not a good idea to use your root account for normal day-to-day functions.

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Allowing a Normal User to Run wvdial

Use sudo:

1. As root, enter:
   # visudo
2. Navigate to the last line of the file and press the i key to get into insert mode.
3. Get to the end of the line and press Enter to get a new line.
4. On the new line add:
   username ALL=/usr/bin/wvdial
   or to allow the user to run wvdial without entering a password or username All= NOPASSWD: usr/bin/wvdial
5. Press the Esc key to leave insert mode.
6. Type :wq to write the file and quit visudo.
7. To double check that the editing went well:
   # less /etc/sudoers

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Starting wvdial

1. Assuming you are using sudo to start wvdial, as a normal user, in a terminal window enter:
   $ sudo wvdial
2. Type your user password when prompted.
3. Switch to another terminal window and do your normal Internet stuff. A typical Xwindow (gui) session is on virtual console 7 (Ctrl-Alt-F7).

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Ending wvdial

To drop the connection and hang up the phone, switch to the terminal window that's running wvdial and type:
Crtl-C

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Possible Problems

Failure to Login to Worldnet

The most common reason to not be able to login to Worldnet is to use the wrong ID/password. The e-mail ID/password will not allow you to login.

For some reason, some distributions don't play nice with wvdial and apparently the ID/password are not sent to Worldnet. The way around this is a little brute force and awkwardness.

As root, manually edit the chap-secrets file and add your ID/password. The file is typically /etc/ppp/chap-secrets and the line that should be added is in the form:
123456789@worldnet.att.net * "abcdefg-hijklmn"

Can't Ping www.worldnet.att.net

If you can ping 204.127.12.39, but can't ping www.worldnet.att.net then wvdial isn't automatically assigning DNS servers. The work around is to use predetermined DNS servers. This is done by adding some lines to /etc/resolv.conf, as root with your favorite text editor. The lines to add are:

domain worldnet.att.net
nameserver 204.1127.1129.1
nameserver 204.127.160.1
nameserver 204.127.129.2
nameserver 204.127.160.2
************ end

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Example of a Typical wvdial Session

*********** start
--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.42
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: at &f1
at &f1
OK
--> Sending: at e1 q0 v1 &c1 &d2 s0=0
at e1 q0 v1 &c1 &d2 s0=0
OK
--> Sending: at s7=60 s19=0 m1 &m4 &k1 &h1 &r2 &i0 b0 x4
at s7=60 s19=0 m1 &m4 &k1 &h1 &r2 &i0 b0 x4
OK
--> Sending: at +pig=1 +pmh=1 +FCLASS=0
at +pig=1 +pmh=1 +FCLASS=0
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT5730000
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT5730000
CONNECT 44000/ARQ/V92/LAPM/V42BIS
--> Carrier detected. Starting PPP immediately.
--> Starting pppd at Sat Jun 5 06:46:40 2004
--> pid of pppd: 12538
--> pppd: Using interface ppp0
--> pppd: local IP address 12.73.241.106
--> pppd: remote IP address 199.69.7.58
--> pppd: primary DNS address 204.127.160.2
--> pppd: secondary DNS address 12.102.240.2
--> pppd: Script /etc/ppp/ip-up run successful
--> Default route Ok.
--> Nameserver (DNS) Ok.
--> Connected... Press Ctrl-C to disconnect
*************** end

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