I understand that I must now log on,
and pasting your password can no longer be done,
but why does it have to take me all day,
to reach what could have been one click away?

The fact that the invoice is live generated,
is clever technology, though that could be debated,
but would it not be easier all round,
if the invoice was sitting ready to bring down

I would not mind if the system was quick,
but I click and I wait and I wait and I click.
So next time you think of a clever solution,
think, will it be quick and will it be easy?

Unable to succesfully[sic] process request.
ERR-010: Request timeout.
Contact the application system administrator or Help Desk.
Sigh.

Introduction

Following a failure of our Internet connection, I hastily cobbled together a new proxy server using my 3G modem. The reason I did not simply add the modem to our existing IPCop solution, was because IPCop currently only supports a single Red/WAN interface. The IPCop FAQs specifically warn against attempting multiple interfaces.

There were many instructions on the Internet, but in reality it proved to be quite straightforward. I followed these instructions, varying them slightly for Vodafone:

• http://www.richs.me.uk/content/view/132/51/

This was tested on IPCOP version 1.4.18, older versions may not work.

Warning

These are my own personal notes, they relate to a UK Vodafone install, you would need to alter instructions for your location and telco.

Configure Kernel modules

When building your IPCOP, you need to set the IPCOP to use a network adaptor for the Green Interface and a Modem to use as the Red Interface.

From the command prompt logged on as root on the IPCOP you need to edit the /etc/modules.conf file.

# nano /etc/modules.conf

Add the following lines at the bottom:

alias char-major-188 usbserial
options usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1003 maxSize=4096

Then save the file and access (Press CTRL + O and press enter then press CTRL + X).

Web Console - Modem

Log onto the web console and choose the Network menu and Modems. Change INIT to:

AT+CGDCONT=16,"IP","internet"

Web Console - Dial-up

Now select Dial-Up.

Interface = "Modem on USB0"
Enter Number = "*99#"
Username = internet
Password = internet
Authentication method = PAP
DNS = Automatic
Profile name = Vodafone

Press “Save”.

Test

Connect your 3G modem into the IPCOP box and reboot.

You should now be able to connect to the net using your 3G dongle.

References

• http://www.richs.me.uk/content/view/132/51/

Conclusion

Amazingly it only took a couple of hours, including building a new PC, and it worked beautifully. Unfortunately, or perhaps that’s fortunately, no-one will ever know how good it was, because our Internet connection started working again about 15-minutes after I had completed it!

Our ADSL connection went down yesterday morning, taking with it our websites, email and browsing. It is amazing how cut-off you feel without Internet access. We have a fully-managed service, so Clara.net sent out a replacement router, only to find that the problem was elsewhere and that they had to log the fault with BT.

Thinking that our Internet access could be out for days, I decided to try and utilise my laptop’s Vodafone 3G modem. After a little research on my Eee PC I discovered that IPCop firewall can only handle a single WAN interface, so I decided to build a temporary IPCop firewall for the purpose:

• Install IPCop Firewall