Hi, I have a SmartAX MT882 adsl modem on a 256K connection. After intalling the modem, windows xp downloaded an update and installed "VIA Rhine II fast Ethernet" drivers. Everything is working fine and there are no problems, however I find that even though my comp is off the modem will continue to conduct some traffic for which I get billed. To the best of my knowledge, this cannot be prevented. The only option I have is to manually switch off the power to the modem. However, I would like to confirm this from you guys. Is there any tool, software, trick, etc by which I can stop my modem from conducting any traffic once my pc is shut down? Or any software using which I can instruct the modem to stop conducting or disconnect from the net at a predefined time. In my modem properties I have a "max idle time" setting, but that does not seem to make any difference in my situation. Any help about how to turn this modem off automatically at a pre-defined time will be really appreciated. Thanks, Sarosh

How is it you come to the conclusion you are getting billed for downloads on adsl? You should be paying a flat monthly rate. Give a person a fish you feed them for a day. Ask a person to internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.

As wanderer says you should be paying a flat rate for your adsl connection. If your PC is switched off it is not possible for it to have any traffic with the network and if you were charged for how much you download there would be no data passing down the line as the PC is off, only network traffic which wouldnt be even slightly significant. What ISP are you with, do you have download limits? Even if it was the case were you got charged, if you wanted a software solution the PC would have to be swicthed on for the software to execute. How about just removing the power from the ADSL modem?

Not to be contrary gentlemen but there are ISP's out there that charge a small flat fee and then ding you for usage as well. It's simple enough for this poster to find out, check the bills you've been recieving. Check the contract you signed. however I find that even though my comp is off the modem will continue to conduct some traffic for which I get billed. The traffic you're seeing when your PC is off is traffic coming into your modem from the ISP's side of things (ie: broadcast/multicast etc). You can't legally be billed for it as it doesn't originate from you. In the case of ISP's that do bill for usage, you're normally allowed X amount a month (covered by the monthly fee) and then billed Y amount (per GB or MB or whatever is in the contract you signed) for any data over the specified X amount used in a month. Regardless, you should not be billed for your modem lights blinking due to broadcasts of whatever type that originate from the ISP's network.

CurtR, you are right, You can check out my ISP tarrifs at http://www.bsnl.co.in/service/dataone_tariff.htm I get only 1GB per month and have to pay an additional 1.2Rs per MB downloaded over that. However, I also have free downloads from 2am to 8am. I am awake at 2am to start the downloads, but I am not awake at 8am to stop the downloads. Thats why I used a software to automatically shut down my pc at 7:45am. The pc went off, but my isp usage records show that I was online till 9:30am (which is when I woke up and manually switched off the modem) and 8am to 9:30 am there was quite some MB traffic although the computer was off and it has gone into the record. Thats why I was wondering if there is some way to get the modem to stop conducting traffic after the pc is off. Sarosh

connect the modems power to a light timer. Set the light timer to when you want the power to go off and on the modem. Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.

Hey wanderer, Thanks a lot, this looks like something that might work. However, I have no idea what a light timer is. Is it expensive? I plug in my modem into a socket. Will the light timer be connected between the plug and the modem? I hope I can find this part somewhere locally. Sarosh. Sarosh