Can you tell me of a way that I can stop internet activity on a computer? I am an American living in Russia and I have ADSL but they charge me by my traffic. Norton Internet Security has a feature to "block internet activity" which stops all in and out traffic. That way I am assured that nothing is going on over the web. But, we have three computers networked and I do not have Norton on each because of cost.
I would like to be able to either: 1) stop internet activity per computer (like a turn off switch for Internet), or 2) stop any activity at the modem level
Do you know of a way? I know I could turn off the modem, but looking for something a bit more practical at the user level.
I have a few ideas, but to me none of them are really any more practical than turning off the modem. Let me throw those ideas out, and perhaps they'll be appropriate for your situation, or perhaps a reader will suggest a more elegant solution.
•
If you don't mind turning off all network activity, local or internet, then my approach would be to disable and reenable your network adapter as needed. Right click on the network connection (usually "Local Area Connection") in Control Panel's Network Connection section, and select Disable to turn off network activity, or Enable to restore it. I often do this with my wireless connection to avoid accidental connections in public areas.
Along those same lines, you could pull the network cable from each of the computers, or from your switch or router and achieve the same effect.
If you want to maintain a local area network while still disabling the internet, but without pulling cables, disabling network adapters or turning off power switches, another even less simple approach, would be to:
-
Install an additional network protocol on all machines, such as SPX/IPX
-
Enable or disable TCP/IP on the network adapters as needed to restrict, or allow, internet traffic. Right click on the network connection in Control Panel's Network Connection section, click on Properties and enable or disable the TCP/IP item.
This relies on the fact that only TCP/IP traffic travels on the internet. If you have no TCP/IP traffic, you'll not be communicating on the internet. Other protocols remain only on your local network, and support most normal file sharing operations.
Yet another approach would be to reconfigure your router or DLS modem on the fly. Using their web interface, presumably you could "break" it's configuration to communicate on the internet, or "fix" it when you need to resume internet access.
To be honest I don't like any of these solutions, and would probably end up pulling the plug on the modem, as you've been doing.
Perhaps a reader will suggest a solution I haven't thought of.
Related:
-
Ask Leo! - Can I monitor, or control, the bandwidth used on my home network?
-
Ask Leo! - How can I tell what internet activity is happening on my machine?
-
Ask Leo! - How do I install additional network protocols like IPX or Netbeui?
Article C2616 - April 8, 2006
If the ADSL connection is uses PPPoE, you can disable it on the modem/router, and then create a PPPoE connection on each of your computers, you can choose to have a shortcut on the desktop for the PPPoE connection. It may sound like dial up where you manually connect before to be able to get online. WinXP comes with an inbuilt PPPoE client, refer to link for walkthrough for creating a PPPoE connectoid on WinXP
http://www.sbcis.com/article.php?item=21&f_os=winxp&action=Refresh
If you use other Windows versions try installing a free PPPoE client like RASPPPOE(http://www.raspppoe.com/).
Please note that PPPoE requires a user name and a password, most ISPs have the user name as an email id (for example: vikram@bellsouth.net) and the password would be the password for that email address.
The tech support for the ADSL ISP would be able to assist you in disabling PPPoE on the modem/router, and also on the PPPoE authentication(user name/pwd) details.
This way the Local Area Network would remain functional, and you would be able to control network traffic to the internet.
Posted by: Vikram at April 10, 2006 10:29 AMgo to SurfControl.com
Posted by: Tony at April 15, 2006 2:45 AMBoy!
I can see how this could pose serious problems for somebody using those applications (such as, I think, Dreamweaver MX 2004) that continuously "phone home" to verify ownership of the software!
Take care!
Cliff
Posted by: Cliff at April 15, 2006 11:03 AMI just want to endorse Alan's ZoneAlarm suggestion above. From www.zonelabs.com it sits quietly in the system tray using next to no resources and a simple right click brings up the menu with 'stop all internet activity' ready for action (or no action) in all of about a second and a half. ZoneAlarm can also control individual programs' access to the net so you can, for example, shut down your browsers access but still collect email. AND it's free for personal use!
Posted by: Stuart at April 16, 2006 4:26 AMSome DSL modems (like D-Link) have a feature to auto disconnect the modem
Posted by: ankit thukral at April 18, 2006 12:48 AMfrom the internet if there has been no internet activity for,say 2 minutes.And it
would automatically connect to the internet in case someone needs to access the
internet.While this does not (and probably shouldn't) stop the computer programs
from accessing the internet,what it does to help is to stop accounting for "proxy"
traffic on the line once it is auto disconnected.I myself received my first internet
bill charging me for 350 MB usage,which was reduced to 220 MB next month after i
changed this setting.
http://www.canadiancontent.net/tech/download/Agnitum_Outpost_Free.html
Posted by: ifran at April 18, 2006 10:24 PM"Agnitum Outpost free firewall" is another firewall software you can use to stop internet activity.
An easy way to switch off all external activity is to buy a multiswitch from your electronics supplyshop , cut the wire that connects your pc with the modem and solder the multiswitch in between.
Posted by: Adrian Waalwijk at February 17, 2007 7:03 AMNow you can cut yor pc off by simply pushing the switchbutton. I have the switch tyripped to the monitorstand and that's about it.
Everytime i feel 'hold' by whatever website I visit I simply cut them off, shut them windows and turn the switch back on.
It works for me so maybe it works for you too.
good luck!
how can i solve a problem that comes like this:
Posted by: qazeem at December 21, 2007 7:12 AMlocal area networkingdeleted from the system or disabled by mistakes
how can i stop access to internet but need email fasility it is only for one computer and it is for business
Posted by: roland at March 5, 2008 12:55 AMthanks
In XP, go into Control Panel > Network Connections - find the connection that you want to disable. While holding the Control key, drag it onto the desktop. You'll get a shortcut to that connection. You can right-click the shortcut & select Disable to stop traffic. When you want it back, right-click again & select Enable.
Posted by: bob at September 12, 2009 12:15 AM