And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

So I have this friend who was a new Ubuntu user who wanted to connect to the internet using a broadband BSNL connection.

She asked me how. I told her to use pppoeconf ( which another friend suggested ). Unfortunately it didn’t quite work. She had this broadband modem which was connected to her box via USB. I still haven’t figured out how to connect via the USB interface ( you are welcome to enlighten me ) but if you have access to a LAN Cable and can connect it to your modem then follow these steps :

go to your terminal and run the following command :

$ pppoeconf

its probably found by default in most Ubuntu installations. Install it from your synaptic package manager if you don’t have it. You will get a screen that looks like this :

From here you just press the Enter key at all screens ( just like in Windows, eh? ) until you get to this screen :

You have to choose the <No> option there. You have to remember that pppoeconf is written to configure DSL providers all over the world and their authentication protocols and formats in which you enter the username or password can be different. Once this is done you will have to give the <Yes> option at a few more screens and viola ! you are done.

If you lose your connection at any time just run

$ pon dsl-provider

and you’ll come back online.