dial up and linux

i got a dell d510 laptop. lets see if the modem will work so i can go anywhere. wooooaa look at all that geek stuff to set up the winmodem. NO thanks. So i connected a US Robotics via the port on the back of the laptop, added my account details in /etc/wvdial.conf, created a link in /dev/ for modem (ln -s sttyS0 modem) and then types wvdial. It connected and here i am typing this post!!!. at last something simple in linux land.