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Wvdial
FromArchWiki
WvDialisaPointtoPointProtocoldialer:itdialsamodemandstartspppdinordertoconnecttothe
Internet.

Contents
1Configuration
2Usingwvdial
2.1Usingsuid
2.2Usingadialoutgroup
2.3Usingsudo
3TipsandTricks
3.1Lowconnectionspeed
3.1.1QoSparameter
3.1.2Baudparameter
3.2AutoReconnect
3.3Multipledevices

Configuration
WhenWvDialstarts,itfirstloadsitsconfigurationfrom /etc/wvdial.conf and ~/.wvdialrc .If
/etc/wvdial.conf isnotpresent,theeasiestwaytocreateitistousetheprovidedconfigurationutility
wvdialconf.
wvdialconf/etc/wvdial.conf

IthelpsingeneratingtheconfigurationfileneededbyWvDial.wvdialconfdetectsyourmodem,andfills
inautomaticallytheModem,maximumBaudrate,andagoodinitializationstring(Initoptions)and
generatesorupdatestheWvDialconfigurationfile( /etc/wvdial.conf )basedonthisinformation.
Itissafetorunwvdialconfifaconfigurationfilealreadyexists.Inthatcase,onlytheModem,Baud,
Init,andInit2optionsarechangedinthe[DialerDefaults]section,andonlyifautodetectionis
successful.
Note:Wvdialconfdoesnotautomaticallyfillinyourlogininformation.Youneedtoedit
/etc/wvdial.conf andspecifythephonenumber,loginname,andpasswordofyourinternetaccount
inorderforWvDialtowork.
Afteryouhavefilledinyourlogininformation,wvdialoughttowork.Youcanmovetothenextsection.
HoweverforprovidersofUSBmodemsthatrequireaspecificInitstringanduser/password
combination,mkwvconfgit(https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/mkwvconfgit/)AURinAURcan

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helpgenerateawvdialconfiguration(basedonthemobilebroadbandproviderinfogit
(https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/mobilebroadbandproviderinfogit/)AURpackage).

Atypical /etc/wvdial.conf lookslikethisaftermanualconfiguration:

[DialerDefaults]
Init1=ATZ
Init2=ATQ0V1E1S0=0&C1&D2+FCLASS=0
ModemType=AnalogModem
ISDN=0
Modem=/dev/ttyUSB2
Baud=9600
[Dialerthenet]
Phone=*99***1#
Username=thenetuser
Password=thenetpw
;Username=9180******(IfyourproviderusewithoutUsername)
;Password=9180******(IfyourproviderusewithoutPassword)
StupidMode=1
Baud=460800
Init3=AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","apn.thenet.net"
[Dialermypin]
Init4=AT+CPIN=1234

Usingwvdial
Thereareafewdifferentwaysofgivingregularuserstheabilitytousewvdialtodialapppconnection.
Thisdocumentdescribesthreedifferentways,eachofthemdifferindifficultytosetupandthe
implicationonsecurity.
wvdialistoberunasrootwiththefollowingcommand:
#wvdial<section>

Leave<section>blankifyouhavenotaddedasectionorif /etc/wvdial.conf isautogenerated.

#wvdial

Usingsuid
Thisisarguabletheeasiestsetupbuthasmajorimpactonsystemsecuritysinceitmeansthateveryuser
canrunwvdialasroot.Pleaseconsiderusingoneoftheothersolutionsinstead.
Asnormaluserscannotusewvdialtodialapppconnectionbydefault,changepermissions:
#chmodu+s/usr/bin/wvdial

Youshouldseethefollowingpermissions:
#lsl/usr/bin/wvdial
rwsrxrx1rootroot1143682005120719:21/usr/bin/wvdial

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Usingadialoutgroup
Another,slightlymoresecurewayistosetupagroupcalleddialout(callthegroupasprefered)and
givemembersofthisgrouppermissiontorun wvdial asroot.
Firstcreatethegroupandaddtheuserstoit:
#groupadddialout
#gpasswdausernamedialout

Note:Youneedtologoutandlogbackinforthecurrentuser'sgrouplisttobeupdated.
Thensetthegroupandadjustthepermissionson wvdial :
#chgrpdialout/usr/bin/wvdial
#chmodu+s,o=/usr/bin/wvdial

Thefilesshouldhavethefollowingpermissions:
$lsl/usr/bin/wvdial
rwsrx1rootdialout1143682005120719:21/usr/bin/wvdial

Usingsudo
Seemainarticle:sudo
sudoarguablyoffersthemostsecureoptiontoallowregularuserstoestablishdialupconnectionsusing
wvdial .Itcanbeusedtogivepermissionbothonaperuserandgroupbasis.Anotherbenefitofusing
sudo isthatitisonlyneededtodothesetuponcebothprevioussolutionswillbe"undone"whenanew
packageof wvdial isinstalled.
Use visudo toeditthefile /etc/sudoers :
#visudo

Togiveaspecificuserpermissiontorun wvdial asroot,addthefollowingline(changingthe

username):
usernamelocalhost=/usr/bin/wvdial

Togiveallmembersofagroup( dialout inthiscase)thesamepermission:

%dialoutlocalhost=/usr/bin/wvdial

If ipaddr showsapppdentry,itmeansthatthesessionisready.

TipsandTricks
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ThefollowingareapplicabletoUSBmodems.

Lowconnectionspeed
SomeoneclaimsthattheconnectionspeedunderlinuxislowerthanWindows.
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=111513
Ashortsummaryforpossiblesolutionswhicharenotfullyverified.Inmostofconditions,thelowspeed
iscausedbybadreceiversignalsandtoomanypeopleincell.Butyoustillcouldusethefollowing
methodtotrytoimprovetheconnectionspeed.
QoSparameter
AT+CGEQMINandAT+CGEQREQcommandcouldusedtosettheQoscommand.Andalsoitshould
bepossibletousedtodecreaseandlimittheconnectspeed.AddthefollowingInitcommandin
/etc/wvdial.conf .
Init6=AT+CGEQMIN=1,4,64,640,64,640
Init7=AT+CGEQREQ=1,4,64,640,64,640

Baudparameter
Baudparameterin /etc/wvdial.conf couldbeusedtoincreasetheconnectionspeed.
Baud=460800

ItisadvisabletoseethebaudratesetbytheofficialmodemapplicationunderWindows.

AutoReconnect
Ifwvdialrandomlydropsconnectionyoucanusescriptbelow.
#!/bin/bash
(
while:;do
wvdial
sleep10
done
)&

Multipledevices
Oftentherewillbeseveraldevices(at/dev/ttyUSB0,/dev/ttyUSB1,/dev/ttyUSB2forexample).Ifin
doubtaboutwhichtouse,tryeachoftheminturnoruse/dev/gsmmodem(alinksetupby
usb_modeswitch)whichshouldpointtothecorrectone.Oncetheconfigurationfilesareprepared,the
internetconnectionisestablishedbyrunning
$wvdial<section>

Ifnecessaryadditionalsetupcommandscanbeplacedinasimplescriptlikethis:
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usb_modeswitch
sleep2
modprobeusbserialvendor=0xVVVVproduct=0xMMMMmaxSize=4096
sleep2
wvdialthenet

whereVVVVisthehexadecimalvendorIDfromlsusb,MMMMisthehexadecimalproductIDwhenin
modemmode,and"thenet"isthenameofthesectioninwvdial.confwhichyouwishtouse.The
maxSizeoptionmayormaynotbenecessary.ItsimplifiesmattersifyoudisabletheSIMPIN,butif
yourequireit,run"wvdialmypin"before"wvdialthenet".
ThefinalwvdialcommandshouldstartpppdandtheobainedIPaddressshouldbevisibleintheterminal
output.Atthatpointtheinternetconnectionshouldbelive,whichcanbeeasilycheckedwithaweb
browserorbypinginganexternalIPaddress.
Retrievedfrom"https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?title=Wvdial&oldid=353392"
Category: Networking
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon26December2014,at20:46.
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