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I have problems with Internet connection with most Ubuntu DEs, except KDE - network managers don't allow me to establish a DSL PPPoE connection.

So I'm thinking to buy a router - conventional, I don't want a WiFi router, to take the task of performing the PPPoE connection away from the desktop.

My Internet cable which goes into my apartment has RJ-45 connector, which I plug in right into Ethernet port of my PC, no other devices being used.

I used to do it by creating DSL connection with 'pppoe' in the service field, typing password and login. Also I could use pppoeconf command for that isn't available anymore for last *buntu releases.

Such issue with DSL ppoeconf is in: *buntu (GNOME3,XFCE,Ubuntu Mate) (except KDE) 16.04/18.04/18.04.1/18.04.2/18.04.3, though it works from live-usb.

R S
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    It seems it's more about hardware/software not related to Ubuntu. – R S Dec 05 '19 at 08:17
  • The question contains multiple misconceptions: 1. As K7AAY noted, the router type (and its OS) is unrelated to PC’s OS – the protocol is important, see vidarlo’s asnwer. 2. DE should not affect connectivity. The configuration might be more complicated using other DE’s tools but should be always possible to achieve – even with the basic CLI tools. 3. The routers you mentioned don’t have a DSL port. How should they help you with your DSL PPPoE connection? – Melebius Dec 05 '19 at 08:54
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    @Melebius my cable has RJ-45 connector. I plug it into network card of laptop. My idea was that instead of establishing DSL pppoe connection in Ubuntu, I could select wired ethernet and let router deal with DSL pppoe. As one guy on superuser told me: "take it away from OS". Come on people, is it gonna work or not, decide already ) ? – R S Dec 05 '19 at 10:35
  • @Melebius comment updated. – R S Dec 05 '19 at 10:40
  • You have accepted an answer. If your problem is not solved yet, you should keep the question “unanswered”. However, your actual question seems to be: “Can those MikroTik routers handle a DSL PPPoE connection?” Such a question is off-topic on Ask Ubuntu. – Melebius Dec 05 '19 at 10:42
  • @Melebius I thought it solved until you made a comment. So do you think it's gonna work? – R S Dec 05 '19 at 10:43
  • @Melebius I changed title of the question. – R S Dec 05 '19 at 10:44
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    @Melebius I established connection with the same DE's, but noticed that one buntu release does it, next doesn't, next again allows me to do it, next doesn't and so on, but nowadays it seems they firmly decided to make it bad ). So DE does affect it, it's a bug - there connection appears that I didn't established - autoethernet instead of what I were setting up. In the old days that wasn't big issue as I could use pppoeconf. But console doesn't help anymore - there is no pppoeconf package anymore for last versions of buntu's. – R S Dec 05 '19 at 16:50
  • @K7AAY I only use cable with RJ-45 and PC, no other devices. Turned out there is Wi-Fi internal antennas in those MIKROTIK. Now I wonder if Wi-Fi routers can work as conventional ones - as they have serveral Ethernet ports. – R S Dec 05 '19 at 17:02
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    So, your connection is not DSL, it is Ethernet,. Who is the ISP providing your Internet connection? If you don't know, if that's hidden from you, please go to http://ipchicken.com and tell us the external IP address if finds. Which releases of Ubuntu have you used with which DEs? Please don't respond with Add Comment as those will overflow soon; instead, please respond by clicking edit and put your response in the question itself. TY. – K7AAY Dec 05 '19 at 17:14
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    @Pilot6 The OP has a genuine need for help with an unusual Internet configuration which requires PPPoE even though he connects his Ubuntu PC by Ethernet directly to the wall jack in his apartment by RJ-45 cable. – K7AAY Dec 05 '19 at 18:38
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    “Now I wonder if Wi-Fi routers can work as conventional ones” Of course, they can! Wi-Fi is an additional feature (and can be turned off), not conflicting with the ability to route Ethernet. Anyway, if you want to help with the configuration in *buntu, please [edit] your question to add the information about what exactly you set and where. If there are commands, paste the text directly to your question and apply code formatting. If it‘s a GUI tool, you can use screenshots. And to be completely clear: You don’t have a DSL modem, just Ethernet? – Melebius Dec 06 '19 at 05:40

2 Answers2

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It's possible to bypass this problem using nmcli command.
Create connection:

nmcli con edit type pppoe con-name "Connection name"

Set a username:

set pppoe.username <username>

Set a password:

set pppoe.password <password>

Save and quit:

save
quit

And this connection going to appear in the Network Manager.

R S
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  • You can also do this in the Network Manager GUI, which can be started with one of the following commands: network-manager-applet , nm-applet , nm-connection-editor – David Balažic Jun 15 '20 at 12:04
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    @David Balažic I tried, GUI wouldn't help, only nmcli was the solution. – R S Jun 15 '20 at 18:10
  • Thanks, helped me a lot. – Mejan Jul 16 '21 at 14:04
  • What is missing here is how to bind these pppoe configurations to an interface. While the information is superficially correct, one could assume that if we are trying to use nmcli, we do not have the UI up and we need to find out how to bind pppoe configuration to a network interface, since it apparently does not happen automatically. In my case I got a warning that a suitable interface is not available and the loopback interface is not available because it is strictly unmanaged. Interestingly, the nmcli commands that work from the cli do not work from the interactive prompt in the same way ei – Greg Christopher May 26 '22 at 01:52
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Operating systems doesn't care what operating system the router uses. The standards are open and vendor-neutral. In general the relevant standards are:

  • Ethernet for providing physical connectivity. The NIC in your computer has to be supported by the OS you're using, but every Ethernet card can talk to all other Ethernet devices, generally speaking.
  • IPv4, the most-common protocol today on the internet. This is well supported by Linux, and most other modern operating systems.
  • IPv6, the next generation Internet Protocol, with increased address space to accommodate more devices on the Internet.

When it comes to configuration, the software used by Mikrotik, winbox, is only supported on Windows. It is purported to be well supported in Wine. I also believe mikrotik devices have a command line interface which can be used.

vidarlo
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  • Or I could boot in Windows set it up and switch to Ubuntu. – R S Dec 04 '19 at 19:34
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    Yes, MikroTik devices can be controlled by command line interface via SSH and they also offer a web interface called WebFig, visually similar to Winbox. – Melebius Dec 05 '19 at 08:45
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    Naah most of the times all you need is a browser and a utp connection. The latter is only for the initial setup – Rinzwind Dec 05 '19 at 12:34
  • @Melebius Ok, thanks. I have only used winbox with Mikrotik at work, so I decided to add that I was not certain about this aspect :) – vidarlo Dec 05 '19 at 18:06
  • Though why would I use router to get connection into one PC? Cheaper would buy switch. Right? – R S Dec 05 '19 at 18:29
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    @RS Switches can't do PPPoE for you, typically. As you want it to terminate a PPPoE connection, you'll need a device which speaks PPPoE. – vidarlo Dec 05 '19 at 18:30
  • K7AAY wrote a comment (last one under my question), I think you should take a look and may be cast a reopen vote. – R S Dec 05 '19 at 19:01
  • I voted it as off topic, and I still believe it is; it is not about Ubuntu. A question on how you could connect PPPoE on Ubuntu is on topic however :) If you edit your question to fit, I'll of course vote reopen :) – vidarlo Dec 05 '19 at 19:06
  • I've found the solution - below. – R S Jan 26 '20 at 14:35