Re: USB DSL modem

[Ray Olszewski <ray@comarre.com>]

At 11:33 AM 12/10/2003 +0000, Paul Furness wrote:
>Hello.
>
>Can anyone point me at some useful information about setting up a DSL
>modem connected to a linux box via USB?
>
>What happened here is that I recently got a DSL connection set up at
>home. Part of the sign up package included an Alcatel 'Speedtouch' USB
>connected modem and some filters. I plugged it all in and set it up
>under windows without a hitch, and it's working beautifully. However, I
>want to connect when I'm booted into linux (currently RedHat 9 although
>probably Fedora soon).
>
>I spent an age hunting around for HOWTOs and so on, and while there are
>a few things written about how to configure the networking so it will
>connect to a DHCP/DSL router and such like, I can't find anything at all
>about how to make a USB modem wake up and connect.
>
>I know that the kernel supports USB fine, and when I do 'lsusb' the
>modem appears in the list, so that's working. But I don't know what to
>do next.
>
>I know that I could buy a router with a modem built in, and I may end up
>doing that if I have to. But it needs to include a wireless connection
>to my PC, so would cost £70 plus and I'd like to try and avoid spending
>any money on it if I possibly can; I already own the modem I have, since
>it was 'free'.
>
>Oh, when it's connected in Windows, the modem shows up as using PPPoA,
>which I think means that roaring penguin won't help.
>
>Can anyone give me any leads?


Paul -- Like Richard, I have no experience with this hardware. (When I got 
DSL several years ago, my local carrier was trying to push USB-based 
hardware, but I successfully demanded Ethernet equipment. So did a lot of 
its customers, apparently, since it reverted to Ethernet for all customers 
soon after.) I have seen references to it on the leaf-users mailing list 
(leaf.sourceforge.net), so you might want to take a look at the archive of 
that list for leads.

I did want to point out, in case it is not already clear to you, that your 
message describes two separate and distinct problems:

1. You need to get the USB modem itself working with the Linux kernel.

2. You need to get PPPoA working.

The second would remain a problem even if you replaced the hardware with an 
Ethernet-based DSL modem.

That said, the Debian package "speedtouch" appears to provide both the 
needed userspace driver for hardware connectivity and a PPPoA daemon. You 
might see if your distro has this package in its packaging system.



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