by @Macarlo
Windows 2000 Professional Beta Tester
(Screenshots by Namo Capture)

 Folks,
the free Internet Service Provider is now a nice reality, including in the Third World, but people have some problems. The principal is just the greater number of these free ISPs have a limited number of IP addresses. In second people complain of the ability of all ISP to disconnect the user if transmission packet activity is not detected during 21 seconds, or disconnect the user if he are using the connection during more of four hours. Well, for hackers, crackers, couriers and some programmers have not problem, because simply telnet the ISP server at port 25 or at another hole, using Nuckit 4.0: quickly dozens of users are immediately disconnected and the expert get easy an IP address...

But you are a normal computer use also for you exist solutions (decent and legal). You can dial to the free ISP at 04:00 GMT, perform the connection and grip it using an appropriate application. Several apps for this task are available today on the Net and I recently referred in this web site to Ping feature of iNTERNET Turbo. INTERNET Turbo actually is one of the most cracked softs of the world and the developer, Clasys, changed its keycheck algo and modified the size of the .exe (but not the version number, at this time 4.3) in order to disarray crackers and warez users. In first I recommend that you buy the application you need, just in order to support its continuous development; in second I recommend that you use a specific application for a specific task and because this concept I recommend Stay Connected! Here is the correct soft for the right action! Get it, use it and register it! It is the best for prevent accidental or intentional disconnection.

I just tested here on my Windows 2000 Professional, the workstation of the a.k.a. operating system Windows NT 5.0, one of most recent releases of StayConnected!, this award winning Internet application (shareware). It is running just fine here and I gripped for 20 hours the Brazilian free ISP Super11.Net (with free telephone line!) in order to test this nice soft. With this soft you can grip or ungrip all connections (http, ftp etc) with a simple click on a little icon that the program creates on the Windows taskbar. In the photo below you can see the StayConnected! notebook for connections configuration and you can see also the little icon, just below the NetMedic icon (the green cross in my Taskbar):

I tested Stay Connected! 2.3 for Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT Release Date: September 6, 1999 (sconn23.zip, 1.07MB), downloaded from a shareware distributor web site; the latest release at this time (February 27, 2000) is version 2.5, available in the developers web site; to download it jump the developers web site clicking the logo below:
 

RELATED REPORTS
 SpeedNet 3.0 Accelerates Win 2000 Pro Internet Connections!
 iNTERNET Turbo 4.3 Tested on NT4 Server

New in this release

New! Ability to handle AOL 5.0 Browser's new timer

New! Ability to handle yet another new timer for AOL 4.0 170.24 Browser

New! This release allows AOL users to sign-on using a specific Screen Name

New! After signing on to AOL, users now have the ability to go to a
designated AOL site automatically

New! A new AOL Gadget section is created in this version to handle AOL's
not-so-welcomed login procedure. Many AOL users have requested us to turn off those pesky, unwanted windows like "AOL Search" window, "Buddy List" window,"Channels" window, "Welcome" window as well as unsolicited "Advertisement"window while they login. We have implemented these features in this version upon users' requests to allow AOL users a smooth and hassle-free login

New! Ability to handle both NetØ version 1.6 as well as the latest release,
version 2.0

Changed: The tabbed dialog box "America Online" no longer existed as it was
replaced by "AOL Options" caption.

Changed: Previous AOL options allow the launch of an external browser like
Internet Explorer or Netscape with one designated URL only. We have enhanced current version of Stay Connected! to add and delete an unlimited list of URLs as well as the ability to set a default URL to visit everytime when an external browser is launched

Fixed: When AOL browser is minimized, Stay Connected! frequently pops up a dialog box informing users that Stay Connected! will not be actively
scanning for AOL disconnection timer due to AOL browser limitation. This
release we added an option to prevent the popup dialog box from showing up
in the future.

Fixed: If you are using Stay Connected! with AOL option checked, the "Exit"
menu isn't too responsive occasionally, causing delayed response

Fixed: "Port already open" problem showed up if users have a version older
than 1.2 of Microsoft Dial-Up Networking

Fixed: The Settings tabbed dialog's Connection Check option was disabled even though user did not choose to use NetZero or Modem Dialer

Photo above shows the StayConnected! Wizard on @Macarlo's Win 2000

Stay Connected! Overview
(by the developer)

Unlimited Internet Access? Not!
Many netizens, including myself, subscribed to a so-called “Unlimited Internet Access” modem dial-up plan provided by many local or national Internet Service Providers (ISP). However, such advertisement is often misleading. Every time I left my modem connection unattended for a certain period of time (roughly 15 minutes) and walked away from my computer, the moment when I was back to my desk to get ready to surf the net, I found that the modem connection is dropped. Bad phone-line? Maybe, but how it occurred so frequently with such a consistent timing?

I decided to find out what has actually gone wrong with my phone line by experimenting with extended period of non-stop net surfing. To my amazement, never once I had a bad phone-line connection.

Another problem is even more irritating to me: trying to dial-up my ISP just to get a repeated busy modem signal. Once I got a connection, I don’t want to be disconnected. Ok I’m selfish, but I’ve already paid my subscription fee!

The Truth Is …

Ok, it’s time to check the Internet newsgroup for such weird behavior. After posting a mail to the newsgroup, I got a few responses. Many told me this was not the fault of my phone line though sometimes it might happen. The problem is mainly due to my Internet Service Provider (ISP). They have limited modem port, ranging from a ratio of 1:20 to 1:40, i.e. 1 modem serves 20 to 40 subscribers. During the peak hours, many subscribers have extreme difficulties trying to get connected: either the line is busy, or the TCP/IP protocol is not being established even after being connected.

Remedies
Now I got the whole picture. Immediately I thought about remedies. A sudden inspiration came to me one night: why not write a "hassle-free" program, place it in the startup folder every time the computer starts, and have it automatically placed in the taskbar (or tray notification area)? Spice it up with some animation to tell me the status of the connection, I’ll never have to see a dropped modem connection anymore! I can now surf with impunity with the utility working in the background to ensure I never lose a connection.

I have tested the program countless times running continuously for more than 24 hours without a dropped connection. A user even reported more than 300 hours continuous online without a dropped connection! Of course this program will not help if a bad phone line occurs or if you lose power, but this is rare, according to my experience.

I hope that you find this utility as useful as I do. Just a friendly reminder, please register this program if you do. Thank you for your registration support!

About The Company
inKline Global, Inc. started as a sole proprietorship in 1993 and was incorporated in 1996. With this move, inKline Global, Inc. aims to provide a wider array of quality products and better service, and build on the strong support inKline Global, Inc. has had from users. To-date, inKline Global, Inc. has registrations from both hemispheres with 'new' countries coming in every few weeks.

Its popular line of  planners, Visual Calendar PlannerTM and Visual Day PlannerTM  have claimed PC Magazine Award for Shareware, AOL Editors' Choice, Ziffnet Reviewer's Pick, PC World Editors' Choice and other notables. Another utility, Stay Connected!TM  was Microsoft Network Pick of the Week, WUGNET Pick of the Week (3 times), tucows.com 5 cows rating and many more!

inKline Global, Inc. is committed to bringing out quality software for the horizontal market, the largest pool of users. The strong technology plan, with its array of powerful products, will augment its position in this segment and take the company to greater heights.

CONTACT AUTHOR

inKline Global, Inc

http://www.inklineglobal.com
support@inklineglobal.com

PO Box 5479
Reno, NV 89513
USA

@Macarlo, Inc.
@Macarlo's Shareware & Web
OS/2
Java Lobby Member
Java Site Accredited

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