Control a DSL line via a switch?

L

Loony

Hello Experts,

A few weeks ago I felt that my computer was becoming a meeting house for
program pushers - Avira, McAffee, Ask, Babylon, etc. To keep these out I
would feel safer if I had one very effective program, and something like
a switch in my DSL line. I don't need to keep that DSL line open except
occasionally for sending/receiving emails, and some short browsing
periods, etc.

The control of the DSL line via a switch on the computer screen would be
very useful. Suggestions appreciated.

TIA
 
P

Paul in Houston TX

Loony said:
Hello Experts,

A few weeks ago I felt that my computer was becoming a meeting house for
program pushers - Avira, McAffee, Ask, Babylon, etc. To keep these out I
would feel safer if I had one very effective program, and something like
a switch in my DSL line. I don't need to keep that DSL line open except
occasionally for sending/receiving emails, and some short browsing
periods, etc.

The control of the DSL line via a switch on the computer screen would be
very useful. Suggestions appreciated.

TIA
Click to expand...

Zone Alarm Fire Wall.
Block and unblock your connection at will.
 
S

SC Tom

Loony said:
Hello Experts,

A few weeks ago I felt that my computer was becoming a meeting house for program pushers - Avira, McAffee, Ask,
Babylon, etc. To keep these out I would feel safer if I had one very effective program, and something like a switch in
my DSL line. I don't need to keep that DSL line open except occasionally for sending/receiving emails, and some short
browsing periods, etc.

The control of the DSL line via a switch on the computer screen would be very useful. Suggestions appreciated.

TIA
Click to expand...

You could use the "devcon" command to stop and start your NIC:
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/1886-enable-disable-a-device-from-the-command-line

Make one desktop shortcut to stop it, and another to start it back up again when you're ready to browse or check your
email.
 
P

Paul

Loony said:
Hello Experts,

A few weeks ago I felt that my computer was becoming a meeting house for
program pushers - Avira, McAffee, Ask, Babylon, etc. To keep these out I
would feel safer if I had one very effective program, and something like
a switch in my DSL line. I don't need to keep that DSL line open except
occasionally for sending/receiving emails, and some short browsing
periods, etc.

The control of the DSL line via a switch on the computer screen would be
very useful. Suggestions appreciated.

TIA
Click to expand...

ADSL lines use PPP (point to point protocol). Part of the
protocol includes a "username" and "password". This is very similar
to how dialup networking worked at one time.

Something has to send the username and password. Let's take a
few examples.

1) You buy a modern ADSL modem, including router, four LAN connectors,
Wifi for additional wireless LAN connections and so on. To get into
the setup screen, there might be a username of "Admin" and a password.

Once you're in there, is a separate screen for the ADSL setup. The
username might be [email protected] and the password might be xeivrhcyd.
Notice you're onto the right thing, if the username is not "Admin". The
username is related to your account with the phone company/reseller.

So the setup screen you want, is for the single networking box, with the
RJ-11 phone connector on it. Options in the username/password screen will
include "automatically connector", "dial on demand", or "manual". If manual
is selected, there should be buttons labeled "Connect" and "Disconnect".
Those two buttons, would be your controls.

RJ-11 ----- all-in-one-modem-router ----- Your_computer

2) On an older setup, the ADSL modem is "just a modem". It's relatively
brainless. The "PPPOE" part, is in a separate router box. And the separate
router box has a PPP screen in its web based setup. It will have room
for the [email protected] and password thing. And "Connect" and "Disconnect"
buttons. So the setup screen for the "Router_box" is what you want in this case.

RJ-11 ------- Modem_box ----- Router_box ----- Your_computer

3) It's also possible to connect a "Modem_box" directly to the computer.
Then, a PPP dialog in the *OS*, does the connections. And then there will be
a button available in the OS, for disconnecting the PPP session. Not all
OSes can natively terminate PPP. For example, my first Macintosh computer,
could not do this. I had to add third party software to make this kind of
setup work. And it crashed the computer so much, I had to switch to the
setup used in (2). But Windows does this OK, because I've tested it.

RJ-11 ------- Modem_box ----- Your_computer

So the answer depends on the equipment and setup. But there's a good
chance, a web interface has the Connect and Disconnect buttons.

HTH,
Paul
 
L

Loony

Zone Alarm Fire Wall.
Block and unblock your connection at will.
Click to expand...

Hello Paul :)

I did look into this "Free" Fire Wall and found that they have multiple
Non-Free choices. Screw 'em I say :-(
 
L

Loony

You could use the "devcon" command to stop and start your NIC:
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/1886-enable-disable-a-device-from-the-command-line


Make one desktop shortcut to stop it, and another to start it back up
again when you're ready to browse or check your email.
Click to expand...

Thank you SC Tom,

Unfortunately Devcon would not like my Win 7 computer. I have tried a
few times to put my Win2K prog onto the same HD as Win 7 but I had
problems, as usual. They always seem to seek ME out.
Hope you're having a good weekend :)
 
P

Philip Herlihy

Hello Experts,

A few weeks ago I felt that my computer was becoming a meeting house for
program pushers - Avira, McAffee, Ask, Babylon, etc. To keep these out I
would feel safer if I had one very effective program, and something like
a switch in my DSL line. I don't need to keep that DSL line open except
occasionally for sending/receiving emails, and some short browsing
periods, etc.

The control of the DSL line via a switch on the computer screen would be
very useful. Suggestions appreciated.

TIA
Click to expand...

One option might be to investigate the Telnet capabilities of your
router. I had one which needed rebooting frequently, so I set up a
script which sent Telnet commands using tst10 "Telnet Scripting Tool",
which I found difficult to get right. It can be tough to figure out
what the right Telnet commands are, as manufacturers tend not to offer
much support. This approach addresses your specific question - it's not
how I'd approach the overall problem: I'd get rid of the 'chatty'
software!
 
S

Stephen Wolstenholme

Hello Paul :)

I did look into this "Free" Fire Wall and found that they have multiple
Non-Free choices. Screw 'em I say :-(
Click to expand...

The W7 built in firewall is excellent providing that it is configured
for both inbound and outbound connections. I think that is the default
now.

Steve
 
D

DanS

Hello Experts,

A few weeks ago I felt that my computer was becoming a
meeting house for program pushers - Avira, McAffee, Ask,
Babylon, etc.
To keep these out
I would feel safer if I had
one very effective program, and something like a switch in
my DSL line. I don't need to keep that DSL line open except
occasionally for sending/receiving emails, and some short
browsing periods, etc.

The control of the DSL line via a switch on the computer
screen would be very useful. Suggestions appreciated.
Click to expand...


It's nice to see people answering the ultimate question on how
to "turn on" or "turn off" your DSL connection, but what you've
written above makes little-to-no sense.

Based on your reply about ZoneAlarm, I think it's best if you
just shutdownt the PC, and don't look back.
 
P

Paul in Houston TX

Loony said:
Hello Paul :)

I did look into this "Free" Fire Wall and found that they have multiple
Non-Free choices. Screw 'em I say :-(
Click to expand...

So don't buy the non free ones. Use the free one like I do.
It has lights in the task bar for traffic. Right click on
it and "Engage Internet Lock" solves your problem.
 
T

TLC

Hello Experts,

A few weeks ago I felt that my computer was becoming a meeting house for
program pushers - Avira, McAffee, Ask, Babylon, etc. To keep these out I
would feel safer if I had one very effective program, and something like
a switch in my DSL line. I don't need to keep that DSL line open except
occasionally for sending/receiving emails, and some short browsing
periods, etc.

The control of the DSL line via a switch on the computer screen would be
very useful. Suggestions appreciated.

TIA
Click to expand...
I use the netsh command from a .bat file as follows:

To disanle the interface:
@echo off
netsh interface set interface "Local Area Connection" disable

Save the file as Disable_LAN.bat and creat a desktop shortcut for it.

To enable the interface:
@echo off
netsh interface set interface "Local Area Connection" enable

Save the file as Enable_LAN.bat and create a desktop shortcut for it.
 
S

SC Tom

TLC said:
I use the netsh command from a .bat file as follows:

To disanle the interface:
@echo off
netsh interface set interface "Local Area Connection" disable

Save the file as Disable_LAN.bat and creat a desktop shortcut for it.

To enable the interface:
@echo off
netsh interface set interface "Local Area Connection" enable

Save the file as Enable_LAN.bat and create a desktop shortcut for it.
Click to expand...

You know, I saw that when I was looking for a way to do it, but also saw a lot of instances where it didn't work on all
versions of Win7. But I have to tell you, it works on my Win7 HP 32-bit just fine. It doesn't disable/enable my wireless
connection, but it did shut down/restart my NIC.
Thanks, I had to try it. . . (can't help myself :) That's another reason I keep recent disk images, IYKWIM. )
 
T

TLC

You know, I saw that when I was looking for a way to do it, but also saw
a lot of instances where it didn't work on all versions of Win7. But I
have to tell you, it works on my Win7 HP 32-bit just fine. It doesn't
disable/enable my wireless connection, but it did shut down/restart my NIC.
Thanks, I had to try it. . . (can't help myself :) That's another
reason I keep recent disk images, IYKWIM. )
Click to expand...

It also works fine on my WIN 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
 
L

Loony

ADSL lines use PPP (point to point protocol). Part of the
protocol includes a "username" and "password". This is very similar
to how dialup networking worked at one time.

Something has to send the username and password. Let's take a
few examples.

1) You buy a modern ADSL modem, including router, four LAN connectors,
Wifi for additional wireless LAN connections and so on. To get into
the setup screen, there might be a username of "Admin" and a password.

Once you're in there, is a separate screen for the ADSL setup. The
username might be [email protected] and the password might be xeivrhcyd.
Notice you're onto the right thing, if the username is not "Admin". The
username is related to your account with the phone company/reseller.

So the setup screen you want, is for the single networking box, with the
RJ-11 phone connector on it. Options in the username/password screen will
include "automatically connector", "dial on demand", or "manual". If manual
is selected, there should be buttons labeled "Connect" and "Disconnect".
Those two buttons, would be your controls.

RJ-11 ----- all-in-one-modem-router ----- Your_computer

2) On an older setup, the ADSL modem is "just a modem". It's relatively
brainless. The "PPPOE" part, is in a separate router box. And the separate
router box has a PPP screen in its web based setup. It will have room
for the [email protected] and password thing. And "Connect" and "Disconnect"
buttons. So the setup screen for the "Router_box" is what you want in
this case.

RJ-11 ------- Modem_box ----- Router_box ----- Your_computer

3) It's also possible to connect a "Modem_box" directly to the computer.
Then, a PPP dialog in the *OS*, does the connections. And then there
will be
a button available in the OS, for disconnecting the PPP session. Not all
OSes can natively terminate PPP. For example, my first Macintosh computer,
could not do this. I had to add third party software to make this kind of
setup work. And it crashed the computer so much, I had to switch to the
setup used in (2). But Windows does this OK, because I've tested it.

RJ-11 ------- Modem_box ----- Your_computer

So the answer depends on the equipment and setup. But there's a good
chance, a web interface has the Connect and Disconnect buttons.

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks again Paul for your efforts.

I have 3 modems with DSL :

Eircom - DSL, 5 Ethernet connections, On-Off Switch
D-Link - DSL, LAN, USB, On/Off switch
BT - ADSL, 4 Ethernets, USB, On/Off switch

The Eircom is the oldest and the BT is only about 6 months old.
I can take BT to my computer and switch it off when I want to but
I do have to reboot the computer to get back online.

At least that is a start.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday :)
 
P

Paul

Loony said:
Thanks again Paul for your efforts.

I have 3 modems with DSL :

Eircom - DSL, 5 Ethernet connections, On-Off Switch
D-Link - DSL, LAN, USB, On/Off switch
BT - ADSL, 4 Ethernets, USB, On/Off switch

The Eircom is the oldest and the BT is only about 6 months old.
I can take BT to my computer and switch it off when I want to but
I do have to reboot the computer to get back online.

At least that is a start.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday :)
Click to expand...

Are you sure there isn't some alternative to rebooting ?

All that's needed, is to send username/password again.

The thing is, I kill and restart my IP address multiple
times, with the computer running. There must be a way to
do that on your machine, too.

It really depends on whether the BT is in "bridged" or
"routed" mode. Given the presence of 4 Ethernets on it,
if they lock it down, it should be locked down in routed
mode. And they're more likely to set it up to "auto-login"
as soon as the thing connects. In routed mode, the PPPOE protocol
is handled inside the box, and not on your computer.

If it was locked down in "bridged" mode (the way I run mine),
and you connected it directly to the computer, then the computer
could be doing the PPPOE thing for you. (In Europe, they may
be using PPPOA while PPPOE is used in North America. There is
little practical difference, in terms of getting it working.)

This is what you'd see in WinXP, if the computer was connected
to a "bridged" modem directly. The "Connect" button allows
re-establishing networking, without rebooting. The IP address
and DNS server information, is acquired from the ISP via DHCP
protocol.

http://www.petri.co.il/images/xpdialer9.jpg

RJ-11 ---- BT_Modem --- computer
(PPPOE login box)

HTH,
Paul
 
T

TLC

It also works fine on my WIN 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
Click to expand...
I neglected to mention that I use a Netgear N300 Wireless ADSL2 + Modem
Router for WI-FI. Its web based router manager supports MAC address
filtering via the Wireless Card Access List. Only the MAC addresses
specified in the list can gain access via WI-FI. Other routers will
probably provide similar functionality.
 
C

Char Jackson

I neglected to mention that I use a Netgear N300 Wireless ADSL2 + Modem
Router for WI-FI. Its web based router manager supports MAC address
filtering via the Wireless Card Access List. Only the MAC addresses
specified in the list can gain access via WI-FI. Other routers will
probably provide similar functionality.
Click to expand...

Bad guys like it when people use MAC filtering. It gives the owner a
false sense of security while doing little to slow down the hacker.
 
M

Mortimer

Char Jackson said:
Bad guys like it when people use MAC filtering. It gives the owner a
false sense of security while doing little to slow down the hacker.
Click to expand...

A PC installation and repair company recommended that its employees (I was
one) set up wireless networks with only MAC address filtering and
suppression of SSID broadcast, and with *no encryption*. I forget the logic
but I think the phrase "MAC address filtering and no broadcast are perfectly
secure" was mentioned. This was around the year 2003. I doubt it was that
much harder even in those days to crack MAC filtering and lack of SSID
broadcast.
 
C

Char Jackson

A PC installation and repair company recommended that its employees (I was
one) set up wireless networks with only MAC address filtering and
suppression of SSID broadcast, and with *no encryption*. I forget the logic
but I think the phrase "MAC address filtering and no broadcast are perfectly
secure" was mentioned. This was around the year 2003. I doubt it was that
much harder even in those days to crack MAC filtering and lack of SSID
broadcast.
Click to expand...

There's been a lot of bad advice freely given out over the years.
Hopefully they have wised up a bit by now. ;-)
 
T

TLC

Bad guys like it when people use MAC filtering. It gives the owner a
false sense of security while doing little to slow down the hacker.
Click to expand...
In addition to MAC address filtering I also have disabled SSID Broadcast
and use WPA2-PSK(AES) with a Pass Phrase.
 
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