when plugging in new modem mobile connection wizard does less then it seems to

[Wolfgang Kufner]

Binary package hint: network-manager

This is a usability issue.

When plugging in a new modem the mobile connection wizard asks for some data (like APN) to configure it. It then looks to the user like it is ready to connect. When the user then tries to connect it fails, repeatedly. I assume that this issue only appears if the provider/APN is not found in the modem manager list, but I have not tested this.

When the user then begins to suspect something is amiss and opens the network manager to edit the preconfigured new connection the user notices that there is vital configuration data still to be filled in (username and password ((PUK)). The user does so and can now connect successfully.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam/Specs/Karmic/NetworkUI seems to touch on the issue

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

Just tested my bob modem under lucid iso 20100113 64bit loopback booted from hd via grub2. It basically works, but has a number of peculiarities that make the whole experience much less smooth than it could be:
1) This bug here: This only is an issue when configuring a new modem and I think it also needs to be a provider/APN that is not stored in the modem manager list. Maybe there could at least be some text at the end of the new modem wizard that tells the user that more has to be configured in "edit connections". Or the wizard has to ask for more data (username and password).
2) Wording of notification: When plugging in the (already configured) modem it takes a while till it shows up in the list of available connections of the nm-applet. When it does so there is a notification saying the connection has been disconnected. It would be nicer if it said that a new connection is available now.
3) What is meant with "password": I am still not sure. bob (Austria) has a publicly known password "ppp". And I was given a private 8 digit number called PUK by my provider. I have only been able to get a fully working connection when putting this PUK into the password field (in networkmanager edit connections). But I have been given a connection with ppp that was enough to ping 8.8.8.8. I did not get a nameserver, however, like I usually do. I do not know whether this was just coincidence.
4) The sporadic asking for a password in a password box that displays the password always in the clear. It looks similar to the box asking for the PIN when configuring the modem for the first time, only it asks for "password" and has a longer input field. Whenever this box shows up I am only able to get a working connection by rebooting. Nothing else has helped so far.

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 12d1:1001 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. E620 USB Modem

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

I did some more testing with the same configuration. It looks quite a bit different now:
The wizard does in fact ask for enough to get a working connection with bob. This public username/password combination (<email address hidden>/ppp) is not necessary to get a connection working at full speed and with nameservers. It is possibly a provider specific problem that I am not always given a nameserver. The other problem that misled me is that it just does never work the first 2 or three tries (after a totally new configuration via the new device wizard). This migth have something to do with time. I had the feeling it connected after less attempts when I waited some time (minutes) before trying to connect. Anyway those connection failings at the beginning had me searching for a problem with the password, which is not even strictly necessary and possibly works with whatever is put there (including the PUK which does not belong there at all and is in fact not necessary anywhere at anytime in normal operation).
What the username/password connection really does would be good to know. It is (for bob) stored in the upstream mobile-broadband-provider-info that has not yet been pulled into ubuntu. Maybe there are some kind of billing trouble if a connection is used without this information, at least under some circumstances?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for network-manager (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

 affects network-manager
 status incomplete

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

 affects network-manager
 status invalid

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

 affects ubuntu/network-manager
 status incomplete

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)]

Wolfgang,

Please test with Ubuntu Natty if possible to see if you see the same issues in the current development release.

Since we don't know which release you're using, there is currently little we can do -- please run 'apport-collect 500378' to add the information to this bug report so that we can look into the issue.

Thanks!

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for network-manager (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]