Limit Broadband DSL usage at home

Hello - I have a question regarding how to control broadband internet
usage. I have a DSL connection (256Kpbs speed), the day time download
limit is 1Gb per month and the nightime limit is unlimited download
( nightime is 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM).

I want to know if there is any way by which i can shut off/on my
broadband connection automatically between these times, My computer is
on for most of the time, except for occasional maintenance.

As i will be away from my home for 2 days, i want to ensure that the
downloads are uninterrupted and also that by 8:00 AM in the morning,
it gets switched off and activated on again at 9:00 PM in the night,
till the next day 8:00 AM. Is there some sort of timer software etc to
do this, or will it have to be some hardwarde interface?

If the question seems silly, am new to this.

-Thanks in advance-

reg:
S

you dont explain what these downloads are, but i guess its using some peer 2
peer software. using something like utorrent (utorrent.com - free) allows
you to easily set a schedule, so the software wont work at certain times and
you wont exceed your limits.

On Mar 8, 4:01 pm, "tony h" <m...@home.com> wrote:
> you dont explain what these downloads are, but i guess its using some peer 2
> peer software. using something like utorrent (utorrent.com - free) allows
> you to easily set a schedule, so the software wont work at certain times and
> you wont exceed your limits.

tony - thanks for your response.

your right, its actually utorrent software. but i am more interested
in shutting on/off the broadband connection itself. so that timing of
usage will not show up as daytime usage on my bill.

Here is the scenario.

i leave utorrent on throughout the day
The broadband connection is on from 9:00 Pm to 8:00 am [i make this a
manual connection in the aspect that, i have an icon on the desktop,
which i click when i want to connect and disconnect by clicking
against the "two computers" icon on the lower right side of the
screen, when i am done]
Inherently, what i wish to know is, how can i automate the above said
manual connection process. as it will automatically disconnect by 8:00
AM and reconnect by 9:00 PM.
I will leave my p2p software like utorrent/emule on throughout.


Thanks again for your response
S

i cannot think of a way of scheduling a network connection within xp, but
unless i'm missing the point, if you turn off automatic updates and have
utorrent running on a shedule then there's no way youre going to get
anywhere near your limit for the month as the only traffic should be
antivirus updates.
as you connect via the 'two computers' icon, i assume you connect through a
router, maybe this is wireless and your concern is others using the
connection? if this is the case be sure to turn on encryption to prevent
neighbours using your connection and bandwidth.
be sure to turn encrypition on in utorrent, as this to some extent hides the
connection from your isp in relation to traffic shaping.
i agree that there must be some way to automate the connection, but
sometimes the simple solutions are the best.

On 08/03/2007 at 11:17:12 (E-Mail Removed) wrote :
> On Mar 8, 4:01 pm, "tony h" <m...@home.com> wrote:
>> you dont explain what these downloads are, but i guess its using some peer 2
>> peer software. using something like utorrent (utorrent.com - free) allows
>> you to easily set a schedule, so the software wont work at certain times and
>> you wont exceed your limits.

> tony - thanks for your response.

> your right, its actually utorrent software. but i am more interested
> in shutting on/off the broadband connection itself. so that timing of
> usage will not show up as daytime usage on my bill.

> Here is the scenario.

> i leave utorrent on throughout the day
> The broadband connection is on from 9:00 Pm to 8:00 am [i make this a
> manual connection in the aspect that, i have an icon on the desktop,
> which i click when i want to connect and disconnect by clicking
> against the "two computers" icon on the lower right side of the
> screen, when i am done]
> Inherently, what i wish to know is, how can i automate the above said
> manual connection process. as it will automatically disconnect by 8:00
> AM and reconnect by 9:00 PM.
> I will leave my p2p software like utorrent/emule on throughout.


> Thanks again for your response
> S

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/S...own_Timer.html

http://tinyurl.com/3allzf

--
Pick up the receiver, I will make you a believer.
[ entanet/UKFSN - Office Max 45 ]

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> Hello - I have a question regarding how to control broadband internet
> usage. I have a DSL connection (256Kpbs speed), the day time download
> limit is 1Gb per month and the nightime limit is unlimited download
> ( nightime is 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM).
>
> I want to know if there is any way by which i can shut off/on my
> broadband connection automatically between these times, My computer is
> on for most of the time, except for occasional maintenance.
>
> As i will be away from my home for 2 days, i want to ensure that the
> downloads are uninterrupted and also that by 8:00 AM in the morning,
> it gets switched off and activated on again at 9:00 PM in the night,
> till the next day 8:00 AM. Is there some sort of timer software etc to
> do this, or will it have to be some hardwarde interface?
>
> If the question seems silly, am new to this.
>
> -Thanks in advance-
>
> reg:
> S
>

I take it that you are using an ADSL modem (like the standard USB ones) to
connect.

What I would do is this:

- Change the ADSL modem for a combined ADSL modem/router
- Invest in an old PC (or laptop) with two NIC cards and install IPCOP on it
(can download it for free from http://www.ipcop.org)
- Install some add-ons for the IPCOP server.
- Install the IPCOP between the PC and the router
- Configure IPCOP to shut off the internet between the specified hours.

On Mar 8, 4:40 pm, "tony h" <m...@home.com> wrote:
> i cannot think of a way of scheduling a network connection within xp, but
> unless i'm missing the point, if you turn off automatic updates and have
> utorrent running on a shedule then there's no way youre going to get
> anywhere near your limit for the month as the only traffic should be
> antivirus updates.
> as you connect via the 'two computers' icon, i assume you connect through a
> router, maybe this is wireless and your concern is others using the
> connection? if this is the case be sure to turn on encryption to prevent
> neighbours using your connection and bandwidth.
> be sure to turn encrypition on in utorrent, as this to some extent hides the
> connection from your isp in relation to traffic shaping.
> i agree that there must be some way to automate the connection, but
> sometimes the simple solutions are the best.

hmmm, you do have a point. but the irritating part is, i have observed
is, i keep lot of files on upload and keep a limit on my download. the
end result being, even though most of my 'download' files are low,
since my upload files are constant and high, it works out to much more
than my allocated limit of 1GB per month for daytime usage.

My setup is a dsl router. single user connection from my home. there
are a few softwares out there, but most for the better part are only
broadband timers/ statistics etc. they don't like you say 'Have
network management via xp' as a feature.

the search continues, i guess.

Thank you for your time on this and appreciate your response.

- have a nice day ahead -

S

On Mar 8, 4:50 pm, "ABC" <simonb...@nospamemail.afraid.org> wrote:
> <shya...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hello - I have a question regarding how to control broadband internet
> > usage. I have a DSL connection (256Kpbs speed), the day time download
> > limit is 1Gb per month and the nightime limit is unlimited download
> > ( nightime is 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM).
>
> > I want to know if there is any way by which i can shut off/on my
> > broadband connection automatically between these times, My computer is
> > on for most of the time, except for occasional maintenance.
>
> > As i will be away from my home for 2 days, i want to ensure that the
> > downloads are uninterrupted and also that by 8:00 AM in the morning,
> > it gets switched off and activated on again at 9:00 PM in the night,
> > till the next day 8:00 AM. Is there some sort of timer software etc to
> > do this, or will it have to be some hardwarde interface?
>
> > If the question seems silly, am new to this.
>
> > -Thanks in advance-
>
> > reg:
> > S
>
> I take it that you are using an ADSL modem (like the standard USB ones) to
> connect.
>
> What I would do is this:
>
> - Change the ADSL modem for a combined ADSL modem/router
> - Invest in an old PC (or laptop) with two NIC cards and install IPCOP on it
> (can download it for free fromhttp://www.ipcop.org)
> - Install some add-ons for the IPCOP server.
> - Install the IPCOP between the PC and the router
> - Configure IPCOP to shut off the internet between the specified hours.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

abc - i guess it seems like a good option, but it looks a bit
cumbersome and requires some investment.
My adsl modem goes through the ethernet (NIC) card in my PC and not
through my USB, as when i had installed broadband in my home, the USB
was not working properly.

Just for the sake of argument, if i install this ipcop on my current
setup, will it be useful for the intent i am looking for?

Ideally, it would be a simple matter of automatically activating/
deactivating the internet connection during a certain time period in
the day.

Thanks for your reply, will look into it.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ps.com...
> On Mar 8, 4:50 pm, "ABC" <simonb...@nospamemail.afraid.org> wrote:
>> <shya...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Hello - I have a question regarding how to control broadband internet
>> > usage. I have a DSL connection (256Kpbs speed), the day time download
>> > limit is 1Gb per month and the nightime limit is unlimited download
>> > ( nightime is 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM).
>>
>> > I want to know if there is any way by which i can shut off/on my
>> > broadband connection automatically between these times, My computer is
>> > on for most of the time, except for occasional maintenance.
>>
>> > As i will be away from my home for 2 days, i want to ensure that the
>> > downloads are uninterrupted and also that by 8:00 AM in the morning,
>> > it gets switched off and activated on again at 9:00 PM in the night,
>> > till the next day 8:00 AM. Is there some sort of timer software etc to
>> > do this, or will it have to be some hardwarde interface?
>>
>> > If the question seems silly, am new to this.
>>
>> > -Thanks in advance-
>>
>> > reg:
>> > S
>>
>> I take it that you are using an ADSL modem (like the standard USB ones)
>> to
>> connect.
>>
>> What I would do is this:
>>
>> - Change the ADSL modem for a combined ADSL modem/router
>> - Invest in an old PC (or laptop) with two NIC cards and install IPCOP on
>> it
>> (can download it for free fromhttp://www.ipcop.org)
>> - Install some add-ons for the IPCOP server.
>> - Install the IPCOP between the PC and the router
>> - Configure IPCOP to shut off the internet between the specified hours.-
>> Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> abc - i guess it seems like a good option, but it looks a bit
> cumbersome and requires some investment.
> My adsl modem goes through the ethernet (NIC) card in my PC and not
> through my USB, as when i had installed broadband in my home, the USB
> was not working properly.
>
> Just for the sake of argument, if i install this ipcop on my current
> setup, will it be useful for the intent i am looking for?
>
> Ideally, it would be a simple matter of automatically activating/
> deactivating the internet connection during a certain time period in
> the day.
>
> Thanks for your reply, will look into it.
>

Sorry, I must have jumped to the wrong conclusion when you said about
connecting and disconnecting.

Installing IPCOP will wipe the entire contents on your drive. IPCOP is a
linux distribution and can not be used for browsing. The IPCOP server can
also act as a firewall and also can log all sites visited and report back
via online reports or emailed reports.

You can set time limits on internet access.

However, if you require an easy solution, a timer on the router's power
cable would suffice.

ABC "> However, if you require an easy solution, a timer on the router's
power
> cable would suffice. "


ABC, that is an inspired solution, simple, cheap and elegant!