[Merda]

Hi All

Does anyone know if there's such a thing as a little stand-alone application for switching the internet on and off?

Norton put an icon in the system tray which, with only two clicks, could block everything to and from the internet.

For reasons associated with this thread , I'm currently trying pc tools free firewall (man, it's a monster!!!) but it doesn't seem to give me the option to temporarily turn the connections off.

Any help would be gratefully received.

[SouthernMail]

Are you using a DSL modem? If you are, switch it off. Maybe I'm not understanding your question.

[DarqueMist]

Originally Posted by SouthernMail

Are you using a DSL modem? If you are, switch it off. Maybe I'm not understanding your question.

A small catch there is a lot of DSL modems have no on off switch. Mine is one such, however it is set up so I can disconnect with two mouse clicks (modem stays connected but because I'm on PPPoE the net can be easily disconnected / connected) no extra apps should be needed

[SouthernMail]

Originally Posted by DarqueMist

A small catch there is a lot of DSL modems have no on off switch. Mine is one such, however it is set up so I can disconnect with two mouse clicks (modem stays connected but because I'm on PPPoE the net can be easily disconnected / connected) no extra apps should be needed

Good point. I guess if they was just for temporary use a few times, one could just unplug the connection from the wall.

[Merda]

SothournMail, it says it is ADSL, I don't know the difference. If I switch it off (or disable via network connections) I cannot re-connect to the internet without having to restart my puter.

Yes, it is possible to unplug it from the wall, but that is a mighty pain in the wotsit compared to a couple of clicks .... :-/

What is PPPoE, please, DarqueMist?

Thanx for your replies

[SouthernMail]

ADSL just stands for Asymmetric DSL (which basically means you have the phone line and the Internet line running at the same time).

When I switched my modem off (which I do every time I do a cold boot until I'm sure the firewall is up), I can then just switch it back on. I can turn the modem on and off at any time without restarting my computer.

Your situation might be different, so I'm not sure I'm much help. I'm sure you can temporarily disable the connection from the computer; I just don't know offhand how to do it,

[SouthernMail]

Are you on Windows XP, or similar? If you are then you can go to Start > My Network Places > View Network Connections, and right click to disable the connection.

I had to look this up.

[DarqueMist]

PPoE = point to point protocol over ethernet and is used by a lot of ADSL suppliers. What SouthernMail said will work for disconnecting and reconnecting but typically you will see a network icon near your taskbar clock (in WinXP) that looks like 2 computes beside each other. If that is there just right click on it and choose disconnect to end your internet session. To reconnect look for "connect to" on your start menu and you will probably find the means there to do so without resorting to a restart

[Merda]

SouthernMail,
Yes, disabling/enabling via the network connections is usually OK for the lappy which connects via USB. However because that one has Norton's "Block/Allow traffic" in the system tray I don't need to use it.

The puter with the pc tools firewall has an ethernet connection to the router and the "enable/disable via network connections" usually gives the same problems as switching the modem off and on again (as mentioned in previous post). Usually I get a message that a cable is unplugged and the connection cannot be repaired. Requires restart.

DarqueMist
The same thing happens as outlined above :-(

Thank you both for your input.

I'm assuming nobody has heard of a stand-alone app for turning the net off and on again. I find it strange that the firewall doesn't have that facility....(and if it has and I haven't found it yet, it must be well hidden)

Thanx again