Here's what I found out last night. If you use linuxconf to configure your system, it doesn't enter the FQDN in the hosts file. So, when pppd starts, it tries to reach a nameserver to do (I believe) an address query on your FQDN to determine your hostname for authentication purposes(?). If you're not connected to a network that has DNS, this is a problem. Default hosts: Ice ice.localdomain.?? Changing it to read: Ice ice.mydomain.com Fixed my problem completely.
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