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[Gretha <796872@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

NOTE as regards the need repeatedly physically to unplug and reconnect
the 3G USB dongle before a functioning internet connection is
established:


As noted in #1, one of the issues with 3G USB dongles under Ubuntu is the erratic and unpredictable need physically to unplug the dongle and to plug it back in several times (sometimes more than ten times, rather than just up to five as noted earlier) before Network Manager finally establishes a successful internet connection.  These 3G dongles have no hardware reset switch, and Network Manager has no option to reset the recognition and handshake sequence after a failed connection attempt.

However, these dongles generally work flawlessly under Microsoft
Windows, connecting routinely on the first attempt.

This suggests that some of the problems may be due not merely to Network
Manager alone, but to an interplay under Ubuntu between

(1) Network Manager itself,  (2) the mode-switch tool for controlling
flip-flop 3G USB modem dongles,  and/or  (3) the data provided by
"mobile-broadband-provider-info".  Failures at the Network Manager -
mode-switch tool level appear the most likely.

As regards (2), the mode-switch tool provided under Ubuntu is "usb-
modeswitch" together with "usb-modeswitch-data".  Perhaps the
alternative tool "ozerocdoff" (not in the Ubuntu repos, and not tested,
but available at www.pharscape.org) might be a useful source and
inspiration for improvement here.

However, clearly, addressing the mode-switching of flip-flop 3G USB
dongles is likely to resolve at best only a part of the issues regarding
Network Manager raised under #1.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/796872

Title:
  Serious Network Manager Issues with Mobile Broadband

Status in “network-manager-applet” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in “network-manager-applet” package in Debian:
  New

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: network-manager-gnome

  Serious Network Manager Issues with Mobile Broadband

  
  There are several serious (and partially related) issues regarding the Network Manager Applet and Mobile Broadband using a USB Mobile Broadband dongle.  They occur on a netbook with Ubuntu 11.04 (fully updated, Gnome desktop).

  1/  The attached image shows the "Enable Mobile Broadband" option NOT
  ticked in the Network Manager Pull-Down Menu.  Yet there is a fully
  working connection via "Vodafone UK UMTS" Mobile Broadband.  Clearly,
  this cannot be correct.  But, furthermore, when ticking "Enable Mobile
  Broadband", then establishing a Mobile Broadband connection routinely
  (but not always) fails.

  2/  It is unclear which settings are required to smoothly establish a
  Mobile Broadband connection.  In the "Edit Connections" panel there
  are two options, "Connect Automatically" and "Available to All Users".
  In the Taskbar Pull-Down Menu, there is the option "Enable Mobile
  Broadband" and there is the possibility to click "Mobile Broadband >
  Connect".  It appears that selecting "Available to All Users" and
  ticking "Enable Mobile Broadband" give rise to major problems to
  establish a connection.  However, the behaviour of Network Manager in
  this regard is erratic, unpredictable and lacks consistency (see also
  3/).

  3/  When restarting the netbook -- both after a full "Shut Down" and after a "Suspend", and leaving the Mobile Broadband dongle in its USB port --, three scenarios may variously occur:
    (1) a connection is automatically established;
    (2) a connection is established only after clicking "Mobile Broadband > Connect";
    (3) Network Manager switches off the dongle, and the dongle needs to be physically unplugged and re-inserted after a pause, followed by either (1) or (2) or (3).  Unplugging may be necessary up to five times.
  Which of these three scenarios actually materializes is unpredictable and varies, even though no configuration settings have been altered.

  4/  When the netbook is also within range of a Wi-Fi network, then
  Network Manager will make a second simultaneous connection (that is.
  not only via Mobile Broadband but also via Wi-Fi).  It is entirely
  unclear whether traffic is then routed via Mobile Broadband or via Wi-
  Fi.  The "Resources" tab of System Monitor also makes no distinction.
  Clearly, as Mobile Broadband comes with strict data limits, the
  ability to choose to direct traffic through Wi-Fi is elementary.

  5/  Network Manager lacks any accounting tools.  Because Mobile
  Broadband comes with strict data limits, it is elementary that both
  real time data consumption and cumulative data consumption can be
  monitored.  (System Monitor enables current data traffic monitoring,
  but it fails to differentiate between wired, Wi-Fi and Mobile
  Broadband; and it resets traffic to zero when a connection is
  interrupted.)  A simple task bar utility applet displaying current and
  cumulative Mobile Broadband data consumption (rather than a full-blown
  desktop application) is the obvious approach.  There is, however,
  nothing to this effect in the Ubuntu repos.

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