[lug] Ubuntu 9.04 modem connect?

[David L. Anselmi]

Ernie Stiltner wrote:
> Speaking of Ubuntu's many deficiencies - how does one get online with a 56k
> modem? All their website says is subscribe to an email list which gets lots of
> opinions - that don't work. Even the 60 dollar books don't seem to know.

Did you bother to ask Google, and interpolate from directions that weren't written for Ubuntu?

A modem is a serial port.  Perhaps yours needs a proprietary driver to function as one.

Modems are operated by talking to them over the serial port in the language they understand.  A 
common command is to tell them to dial a phone number (which assumes a modem at the other end will 
answer).

Various kinds of software use the modem connection to do useful things.  Which you need depends on 
the system you connect to.  The other end should be able to tell you what sort of protocol you'll 
use over the modem, and the specific settings for it.

None of that is rocket science.  But it's another layer between the OS and the network that takes 
some learning--just like the OS and the network took some learning before you could use them.

Dave