I probably have the wrong idea for NetworkManager...

["Rick Beldin" <rick beldin gmail com>]

Ubuntu 8.04

I'll have to admit that I am rather old school when it comes to administering
my machines.   I usually like to take a more active approach than
letting a daemon make decisions for me.   I used to hack on
/etc/network/interfaces and /etc/resolv.conf to get what I wanted
done, and in some ways I am missing that level of control...

I have an HP laptop with a wired and a wireless interface.   My
network usage falls into three models:

- wireless,  no VPN, roaming
- wired, no wireless (in the office) DHCP on wired
- wireless, VPN, dhcp, no wired (tun0 interface created)

I run into several issues with NetworkManager:

- if I have been working at home, (wireless, WEP, VPN) and transition to
  the office,  I have to manually enable the wired interface.

- if I have been working in the office (wired, no VPN) and come home,
  I generally have to fiddle with enabling/disabling wireless and wired
  interfaces until I get a DHCP address from the wireless router.  I
  sometimes have to kill dhclient and clear out /var/lib/dhcp3 in order
  for NetworkManager to realize it has to go get a new ip.  The
  interface will be 'up' but no.  No errors from dhcp on router.

- if am working with the VPN (tun0) wireless and the little checkbox
  is ON next to the wired interface, I am *assured* that my connection
  will drop periodically.  Usually 5-10 minutes.  If I manage to get
NetworkManager to leave off the little checkbox, then it will stay up
indefinitely.

I've tried setting up profiles for this and this sometimes works.  I
still have to 'bounce' between profiles at time to get it to trigger
dhclient properly.   I typically NEVER suspend and resume - these are
cold boots.

What is strange is if I revert to manual management of
/etc/network/interfaces, I get a high level of stability - switching
between wired and wireless is swift and certain.   I can control
whether dhcp runs or not on the wired interface.

All this leads me to think that I am not using this in the right way.
I think my needs are:

- if I am wired, I don't care about the wireless interface
- if I am wireless, I don't want the wired interface to even be probed

Am I missing something critical in my use model?   Any pointers are
much appreciated.

Rick

-- 
Rick Beldin
Marietta, GA
rick beldin gmail com