Problems with latest network manager

[Tim Hawkins <tim hawkins me com>]

GSM modems now seem to be completely broken and no longer function. I am
unable to make a connection 
on a previously functioning system. 

Hardware: Acer Aspire One. 
Modem: Huawei 169G ( very similar to 220 )
Provider: Three UK, Orange UK 
OS: Intrepid Alpha6, tracking changes in update manager. 
Version effected: 0.7~~svn20080927t101113.0-ubuntu1

symptoms are:

	1) The GSM modem connection now prompts for a password, even though the
password 
		is provided in the configuration for the connection, the password does
not 
		seem to do anything, if i enter a password, it is immediately
rejected, too 
		fast to have been used in a connection attempt. I have even tried
entering
		network password, admin password, keyring password, all to no avail. 

	2) The password above is shown on the entry dialogue in clear, so now
everybody on the 
		train next to me can see my password as I type it. Should show
shrouded and 
		have a "show password" check box under it as per all other dialogues. 

	3) The connection type (GPRS, UMTS etc ) is not retained in the
connection info screen, changing 
		it and then reentering the editor shows it was not saved, the default
however 
		is "UMTS", not "Any" which it should be. (side note, UMTS is not a
well understood term
		outside of the US, cant we just use simple terms like 2G, 3G , any).
Setting 
		this wrong seems to result in a "disconnect" message  immediately when
dialling, and since you 
		can no longer set it ... well ..... 

	4) Setting a connection to "system" is not saved, existing connections
i had set to "system"
		have mysteriously disappeared, i had a number of connections setup for
the multiple 
		testing accounts I have on this machine, now they are no longer
visible. How do I 
		get to my "system" connection definitions now.? 

	5) The connection configuration  editor dialog will often (most of the
time) under circumstances i cant yet pin down, not enable 
		the OK button on the conf dialog, leaving only Cancel there. This
happens no matter 
		what you change on the dialog. If its doing it for some reason, then
it should say that on the screen, something like "saving disabled
because ....." 

6) The dropdown menu with the connections listed, shows a "disconect"
entry under any 3g connection, which does nothing, you have to click on 
the actual connection menu entry to disconnect it. 

7) Not related to 3G, there does not seem to be any way to "disconnect"
a wifi connection, other than to connect another one., can we have the 
ability to disconnect a wifi connection like we have with the gsm
modems. 

8) I know its against HID design guidelines, but can we have all the
"action" buttons on the dialogue's moved to the top, network manager
will be used a lot on net-books etc which have small screens (480->600
pixels high), i quite often find i cant reach the buttons to action
dialogs on my net-book ( note there is a trick you can use, turn on
virtual desktops and arrange them in a 2x2 array) then drag your dialog
until it is half way between the two, then you can use the up and down
desktop move functions to reach the upper and lower halves of the
dialog, but its a pain to have to do this all the time). 

9) enhancement request... Most GSM modems have a network scanning mode
on the huawei's  you open minicom on /dev/ttyUSB2 at 115200 baud, and
issue. "AT+COPS=?", the modem will then rapid blink for a while and
respond with a list of available networks, with network names and
numbers. you can then issue AT+COPS=1,2,network_number to set the
network. for example AT+COPS=1,2,23400 will select "3 UK". This is a
life saver because the modems will often lock onto an alternative 
network that does not do 3G (blink blue), in the uk orange is the fall
back GPRS (blink green)
network for three's 3G network, once the modem gets locked onto that 
network its a bugger to get it off it as the signal strength is often
greater than the 3g one. Can we have a network browser, and the ability
to set the network for a connection?, i notice there is a network Field
in the config, but no indication as to what is supposed to be put there,
the full name , short name, network number ?... and no indication as to 
what it is supposed to do, does it force the modem to that network, or
abort the connection if the modem is not on that network, or is it just
for information?. 

As stated above, the 3g Modem side is now unusable, which is a shame as 
it was working very well only a few days ago.