[JeffZPgh]

I use DSL but am currently without a router (long story)...so my wife and I (both have iBooks running 10.1.4) take turns plugging ethernet cables straight into our DSL modem. This works fine - except that the person currently without the connection gets constant (every few minutes) messages from Internet Connect about a failure to establish a connection.

Some questions:
1) We're killing everything that might want to hit the 'net whenever we drop the connection and unplug the cable. Likely suspects for what's trying to connect?

2) Isn't there a preference somewhere that we can use to tell Internet Connect "don't do a damned thing unless I say so"? I was sure I'd seen something like this, and now can't find it in the System Preferences or in the options for Internet Connect itself.

I'd rather get a network connection error from an individual app if I was stupid enough to try to hit the 'net without a connection than have Internet Connect make a bad attempt at being intelligent. We're going to be switching to conventional dial-up in a few weeks (moving to an apartment with no other options) and I'm sure this is going to annoy the crap out of me going forward.

Thanks,
Jeff

[lookmark]

Originally posted by JeffZPgh:
<STRONG>I use DSL but am currently without a router (long story)...so my wife and I (both have iBooks running 10.1.4) take turns plugging ethernet cables straight into our DSL modem. This works fine - except that the person currently without the connection gets constant (every few minutes) messages from Internet Connect about a failure to establish a connection.

Some questions:
1) We're killing everything that might want to hit the 'net whenever we drop the connection and unplug the cable. Likely suspects for what's trying to connect?

2) Isn't there a preference somewhere that we can use to tell Internet Connect "don't do a damned thing unless I say so"? I was sure I'd seen something like this, and now can't find it in the System Preferences or in the options for Internet Connect itself.

I'd rather get a network connection error from an individual app if I was stupid enough to try to hit the 'net without a connection than have Internet Connect make a bad attempt at being intelligent. We're going to be switching to conventional dial-up in a few weeks (moving to an apartment with no other options) and I'm sure this is going to annoy the crap out of me going forward.

Thanks,
Jeff</STRONG>

You can do two things:

1. Turn off the option for TCP/IP applications to automatically connect to the internet.

I suppose this might cut down on amount of times Internet Connect attempting to manically, pointlessly go online.

or (what I do)

2. Create a new location; name it something like "Offline". For this location, edit your active ports and uncheck all of them. On this "Offline" setting, the machine will never attempt to go online, and you toggle between this and "Automatic" in the Apple menu very easily.