Hi, First, the mandatory "great product"-line. It really is, your work is most apprreciated.
Second, I would like to share some thoughts that arrived after fiddleing with a 3g datacards during the last couple of days. It all started with me getting a HSDPA high-speed 3g data card from a friend to try out this monday. While the card itself worked like a charm, we're planning to purchase some of these and use for a bunch of users with varying skills in Linux. It's pretty vital to us to have a simple click-n-connect feature, and so far I've found no such thing for 3g under Linux. For us, we'll probably solve our immediate need through a simple connect-script on the desktop of each machine, but as a more permanent solution, is started looking at extending NetworkManager with these capabilities. I immediately discovered the pptp/ppp plugin, (which for some reason is limited to only pptp by default in Ubuntu Feisty?), and found it to be rather close to my functional needs. However, i were a bit puzzled by the approach to hook up PPP-connections under the VPN framework. While I realize that this is the result of a natural evolution from the pptp-plugin first being a plain VPN-solution, I started thinking a little on how exactly I would like it to be solved. Here's what I've worked up so far, please dig in with your immediate feedback and let's see what we can iron out. * PPP-connections should be visualized pretty much like any connection. For HSDPA and GPRS-connections, signal strength could be visualized just like the signal strength in wifi-connections. * PPP-connections should not be automatic fallback-connections, at least not by default. Many forms of PPP is still charged either by bandwidth or by connection-time, thus should be a manual choice. * Some PPP-connections will be only be available when certain hardware is plugged in, such as a PCMCIA datacard, or an USB-modem. NetworkManager should be aware of this. * All PPP-connections require some kind of configuration. In some cases, the configuration will be dynamic and not possible to determine before actually trying. For instance PIN-code won't be possible to forsee without actually asking the card. Also, PIN-code is tied to the SIM-card, not the datacard, so coupling with the device-identifier is dangerous. (3 failed attempts and the SIM is locked) * Here one thought hit me, most distributions have some kind of built-in support for network-configuration. Re-using this configuration, if possible, would avoid duplicating some effort. Also, I see many bug-report complaining about the lack of support for static IP:s. There might be an opportunity here. * There are many kinds of PPP-connections; (not counting PPTP, which is a VPN-connection and not a base-connection) - Plain modem connections, with built-in or hot-attached modems - GPRS-connections + Through a cellphones, where the mobile unlocks the SIM, connected either through USB or Bluetooth + Through modems, both USB and PCMCIA, here the computer needs to deal with PIN-codes - PPPoE (not sure about how these work, perhaps more tied into the Ethernet-devices than PPP) There are a LOT of things to consider with regards to all this, and I suspect that's why no one have dared to open this can of worms yet. However, I think at least the GPRS-connections are crucial to make NetworkManager the swiss army-knife of roadwarriors it's designed to be. Please jump in with your thoughts and ideas. I'm planning to attempt hacking some of this together, but I'd like to get some feedback first, to ensure I'm right on track. Also, if you're hacking on something related, please let me know so we don't waste a lot of good effort. Regards / Ulrik _______________________________________________ NetworkManager-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/networkmanager-list
