wvdial - PPP dialer with built-in intelligence.


SYNOPSIS

       wvdial --help | --version | section...


DESCRIPTION

       wvdial  is  an intelligent PPP dialer, which means that it
       dials a modem and starts PPP in order to  connect  to  the
       Internet.   It  is  something  like  the  chat(8) program,
       except that it uses heuristics to guess how  to  dial  and
       log  into  your  server rather than forcing you to write a
       login script.

       When wvdial starts, it first loads its configuration  from
       /etc/wvdial.conf,  which  contains basic information about
       the modem port, speed, and init string, along with  infor­
       mation about your Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as
       the phone number, your username, and your password.

       Then it initializes your modem and dials  the  server  and
       waits  for a connection (a CONNECT string from the modem).
       It understands and responds to typical connection problems
       (like BUSY and NO DIALTONE).

       Any  time  after  connecting,  wvdial will start PPP if it
       sees a PPP sequence from the server.  Otherwise, it  tries
       to  convince  the server to start PPP by doing the follow­
       ing:

        - responding to any login/password prompts it sees;

        - interpreting "choose one of the following"-style menus;

        -  eventually,  sending the word "ppp" (a common terminal
              server command).

       If all of this fails, wvdial just runs pppd(8)  and  hopes
       for the best.


OPTIONS

       Three options are recognized by wvdial.

       --chat Run  wvdial as a chat replacement from within pppd,
              instead of the more normal method of having  wvdial
              negotiate the connection and then call pppd.

       --help Prints a short message describing how to use wvdial
              and exits.

              Displays wvdial's version number and exits.

       wvdial is normally run without command  line  options,  in
       which  case  it  reads  its configuration from the [Dialer
       Defaults] section of /etc/wvdial.conf.  (The configuration
       file is described in more detail later.)

       One  or more sections of /etc/wvdial.conf may be specified
       on the command line.   Settings  in  these  sections  will
       override settings in [Dialer Defaults].

       For example, the command:
              wvdial phone2

       will  read default options from the [Dialer Defaults] sec­
       tion, then override any or all of the options  with  those
       found in the [Dialer phone2] section.

       If  more than one section is specified, they are processed
       in the order they are given.  Each section  will  override
       all the sections that came before it.

       For example, the command:
              wvdial phone2 pulse shh

       will  read default options from the [Dialer Defaults] sec­
       tion, then override any or all of the options  with  those
       found  in  the  [Dialer  phone2]  section, followed by the
       [Dialer pulse] section, and lastly the [Dialer  shh]  sec­
       tion.

       Using  this  method,  it  is  possible to easily configure
       wvdial to switch  between  different  internet  providers,
       modem init strings, account names, and so on without spec­
       ifying the same configuration information over and over.


CONFIGURATION FILE

       The configuration  file  /etc/wvdial.conf  is  in  Windows
       "ini"  file format, with sections named in square brackets
       and a number of variable = value pairs  within  each  sec­
       tion.

       Here is a sample configuration file:

              [Dialer Defaults]
              Modem = /dev/ttyS2
              Baud = 57600
              Init = ATZ
              Init2 = AT S11=50
              Phone = 555-4242
              Username = apenwarr
              Password = my-password

              Phone = 555-4243

              [Dialer shh]
              Init3 = ATM0

              [Dialer pulse]
              Dial Command = ATDP

       The  sample  configuration  file above contains all of the
       options necessary to run  the  two  sample  command  lines
       given  above.   Here  is  a complete list of settings that
       wvdial understands:

       Inherits
              Normally, all sections  inherit  from  the  [Dialer
              Defaults]  section.  You can make a section explic­
              itly inherit from another section by naming it in a
              Inherits = InheritedSection line.

       Modem  The  location  of the device that wvdial should use
              as your modem.  The default is /dev/modem.

       Baud   The speed at which  wvdial  will  communicate  with
              your modem.  The default is 57600 baud.

       Init1 ... Init9
              wvdial can use up to nine initialization strings to
              set up your modem.  Before dialing,  these  strings
              are  sent  to  the modem in numerical order.  These
              are particularly useful  when  specifying  multiple
              sections.  See above for an example that uses Init3
              to turn the modem's speaker off.   The  default  is
              "ATZ" for Init1.

       Phone  The phone number you want wvdial to dial.

       Area Code
              wvdial  inserts the area code between the dial pre­
              fix and the phone number.   In  general,  you  will
              probably  wish  to  leave this out for dialing from
              home and put into a Area Code string any additional
              characters  you may need to dial remotely.  In most
              of North America, your Phone entry will be 7 digits
              (555-1234)  and  your  Area  Code  will be 4 digits
              (1-818).  In local areas with multiple area  codes,
              your  Phone  entry will be 10 digits (818-555-1234)
              and your Area Code will be 1 digit (1).  In most of
              europe, your Phone entry will not include your city
              code, and you might want several different sections
              with  different  "Area Code" entries; one with your
              city code, another with your country code and  city
              code, or whatever else you need to do.

              wvdial  will insert this string after the dial com­
              mand and before the phone  number  (including  area
              code,  if any).  For example, to disable call wait­
              ing (in North America, anyway) set this  to  "*70".
              Or  in a hotel, you might have to use "9" to get an
              outside line.  A  ","  character  is  automatically
              appended  to the dial prefix, which causes a slight
              pause in dialing.

       Dial Command
              wvdial will use this string to tell  the  modem  to
              dial.  The default is "ATDT".

       Login  You  must  set this to the username you use at your
              ISP.

       Login Prompt
              If your ISP has an  unusual  login  procedure  that
              wvdial  is  unable  to figure out, you can use this
              option to specify a login prompt.  When this prompt
              is  received  from  your  ISP, wvdial will send the
              Login string.

       Password
              You must set this to the password you use  at  your
              ISP.

       Password Prompt
              If  your  ISP  has  an unusual login procedure that
              wvdial is unable to figure out, you  can  use  this
              option  to  specify  a password prompt.   When this
              prompt is received from you ISP, wvdial  will  send
              the Password string.

       PPPD Path
              If  your  system  has  pppd  somewhere  other  than
              /usr/sbin/pppd, you will need to set this option.

       Force Address
              This option only applies if you have  a  static  IP
              address  at  your  ISP,  and even then you probably
              don't need  it.   Some  ISP's  don't  send  the  IP
              address  as  part  of  the  PPP  negotiation.  This
              option forces pppd to use the address you give  it.

       Remote Name
              If  your  ISP  uses PAP or CHAP authentication, you
              might need to change this to your ISP's authentica­
              tion  name.   In  most cases, however, it's safe to
              use the default value, "*".

       Carrier Check
              wvdial checks  your  modem  during  the  connection

              you have a weird modem  that  insists  its  carrier
              line  is  always  down, you can disable the carrier
              check by setting this option to "no".

       Stupid Mode
              When wvdial is in Stupid Mode, it does not  attempt
              to  interpret any prompts from the terminal server.
              It starts pppd immediately  after  the  modem  con­
              nects.   Apparently  there  are ISP's that actually
              give you a login prompt, but work only if you start
              PPP,  rather  than  logging in.  Go figure.  Stupid
              Mode is (naturally) disabled by default.

       New PPPD
              If you have pppd version  2.3.0  or  newer,  you'll
              need to enable this, because new versions require a
              file /etc/ppp/peers/wvdial.  Enabling this  options
              tells pppd to look for this file.

       Default Reply
              When  wvdial  detects  a prompt, and it hasn't seen
              any clues that indicate what it should  send  as  a
              response  to  the  prompt,  it  defaults to sending
              "ppp".  Sometimes this  is  inadequate.   Use  this
              option   to   override   wvdial's   default  prompt
              response.

       Auto Reconnect
              If enabled, wvdial will  attempt  to  automatically
              reestablish  a  connection if you are randomly dis­
              connected by the other side.  This option  is  "on"
              by default.

       The wvdialconf(1) program can be used to detect your modem
       and fill in the Modem, Baud, and Init/Init2 options  auto­
       matically.


BUGS

       "Intelligent"  programs  are  frustrating  when they don't
       work right.  This version of wvdial has only minimal  sup­
       port  for disabling or overriding its "intelligence", with
       the "Stupid Mode", "Login Prompt", and  "Password  Prompt"
       options.   So,  in general if you have a nice ISP, it will
       probably work, and if you have a weird ISP, it might  not.

       Still,  it's  not  much  good  if it doesn't work for you,
       right?  Don't be fooled by the fact  that  wvdial  finally
       made  it  to version 1.00; it could well contain many bugs
       and misfeatures.  Let us know  if  you  have  problems  by
       sending e-mail to <wvdial@worldvisions.ca>.

       Also,  there  is  now  a mailing list for discussion about

       to say, send e-mail to <wvdial-list@worldvisions.ca>.

       You  may  encounter  some error messages if you don't have
       write access to  /etc/ppp/pap-secrets  and  /etc/ppp/chap-
       secrets.  Unfortunately, there's really no nice way around
       this yet.


FILES

       /etc/wvdial.conf
              Configuration file which contains  modem,  dialing,
              and login information.

       /dev/ttyS*
              Serial port devices.

       /etc/ppp/peers/wvdial
              Required for correct authentication in pppd version
              2.3.0 or newer.

       /etc/ppp/{pap,chap}-secrets
              Contains a list of usernames and passwords used  by
              pppd  for  authentication.   wvdial  maintains this
              list automatically.


AUTHORS

       Dave Coombs and Avery Pennarun for  Worldvisions  Computer
       Technology, as part of the Worldvisions Weaver project.


SEE ALSO

       wvdialconf(1), pppd(8), chat(8)


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