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Scope: This tip tells how to use standard components of OS X for manual control of connection to and disconnection from the Internet via software, as a graceful alternative to hardware disconnection. This method has been tested on OS X 10.2.3, but may have wider usefulness. It applies to a modem connection or a direct DSL connection from a single machine using PPPoE; it does not apply to a DSL connection through a hardware firewall or router where the latter controls the PPPoE link.
Background: OS X documention explains how to connect to the Internet, but does not explain how to end that connection. There are several possible reasons for wanting to do so--speed up Help by preventing it from looking for updates whenever you invoke it; privacy concerns; &c.
Method:
1) In System Preferences, click Network, click the PPP or PPPoE tab, click the PPP or PPPoE Options button, then make sure that the checkbox "Connect automatically when needed" is NOT checked. (This step may have to be done using an account which has Admin privileges.) This prevents applications such as Help from dynamically starting your Internet connection. Click OK, which returns you to the Network preferences panel.
2) If using DSL, make sure to check the box "Show PPPoE status in menu bar"; this will give you quick access to a Connect/Disconnect option whenever you wish.
3 - optional for DSL users) To use the Internet Connect application for visible monitoring of the connection, do this:
a) Open System Preferences > Login Items. Click the Add button, which opens a navigation pane; the Applications folder should already be selected. Scroll down the right side of the window to find the Internet Connect application, click it, then click the Add button. Now Internet Connect will start automatically whenever you login. (Make sure the Hide box is NOT checked, so the application will be visible while it's running.)
b) From Finder, select Go > Applications, then drag the Internet Connection icon to the Dock. This will enable you to reopen the I.C. application easily if you happen to exit from it.
Note: The Internet Connection application and the PPPoE menu item work cooperatively. You can use either one to connect to or disconnect from the Internet, and the other will reflect the change of status appropriately.
The price you will pay for having full manual control over your Internet connection is that you can get error messages from applications such as Mail or a Web browser if you try to do something which requires Internet access when you haven't made the connection. (If that happens, make the connection and then retry.) Whether you want to pay that price is your decision; but now you have the information with which to make it wisely.
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