Setting Up Security On The Dongle....

[Jonboy2000]

Hello I suspect someone in my apartment block of latching onto my dongle when I log on. When I plug in the dongle I have to connect to the internet via Internet Connections in Vista and not via the Vodafone screen that pops up (as it no longer works and is just greyed out). How do I set up the dongle so that it asks me (or someone else) for a password before I log on? I have tried inputting one on internet connections but every time I restart the dongle it doesnt ask me for a password.

Thanks

[DPH]

The dongle will only work on the device it's plugged into - in this case your computer. Providing you don't have the internet sharing facility enabled nobody should be able to latch onto your mobile broadband connection. It may be worth switching your wi-fi off though as this will stop your machine hunting for wi-fi networks.

[Jonboy2000]

Sweet, tried to download a file in rapidshare and it advised me my IP address was already downloading. Deleted my history etc, still couldnt download which caused my suspicions. Thanks

[DPH]

Your IP address will change every time you connect, to show that you can open a command window (Start, Run and type CMD then click ok), then type IPCONFIG and you will see your IP address. If you were to disconnect and reconnect, repeat the process you would pick up an entirely different IP address. This is due to the way addresses are allocated in a mobile network, there is an element called the GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) which is responsible for allocating IP addresses and connections to the internet, as you can imagine there are more than 1 of these for such an important job.

On download sites it is possible to "spoof" an IP address using something called a proxy which could be why Rapidshare sayiong you already have a download running. Try disconnecting, reconnecting and trying again.

[Retired-Jon_V]

Sweet, tried to download a file in rapidshare and it advised me my IP address was already downloading. Deleted my history etc, still couldnt download which caused my suspicions. Thanks

Hi JJW,

This is a common problem, and affects most UK ISP's unfortunately. This is because we tend to share a single IP address among multiple customers. The end result is that other Vodafone customers have been using Rapidshare on the same IP as you, and therefore used up your free allowance. This often affects landline ISP's as well as us, so it's not unusual - and is more of a problem with the way Rapidshare limits its bandwidth than anything else.

I'm afraid the only sure-fire way around this problem, if you use Rapidshare a lot, is to switch to a Premium Rapidshare account, whcih will then authenticate you by username and password cookies, instead of IP address.

Jon

eForum Team

[vodabusiness]

Your IP address will change every time you connect, to show that you can open a command window (Start, Run and type CMD then click ok), then type IPCONFIG and you will see your IP address. If you were to disconnect and reconnect, repeat the process you would pick up an entirely different IP address. This is due to the way addresses are allocated in a mobile network, there is an element called the GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) which is responsible for allocating IP addresses and connections to the internet, as you can imagine there are more than 1 of these for such an important job.

On download sites it is possible to "spoof" an IP address using something called a proxy which could be why Rapidshare sayiong you already have a download running. Try disconnecting, reconnecting and trying again.

The IP address that is presented to the internet by the Vodafone network could well have been used to access something at rapidshare by other users.
As there are somewhere in the region of 80 IP addresses (public facing through internet APN) then we all share IP addresses from time to time which is an unfortunate drawback when it comes to such sites that monitor the number of requests made such as rapidshare.
Nobody is likely to be hijacking your dongle but if the connect buton is not available then you will most likely find that there is an application on your PC that like the look of the modem or drive letter the software runs from and is preventing access to it hence the greyed out Connect button.
Look for backup software, CD writing apps as the main culprits, Anti Virus is also another potnetial issue, corporate Symantec is the biggest pain for this and as Symantec are linked with Norton, the problems tend to appear in Norton packags too from time to time.

[vodaphony]

Sweet, tried to download a file in rapidshare and it advised me my IP address was already downloading. Deleted my history etc, still couldnt download which caused my suspicions. Thanks

Have you tried using Firefox with Foxyproxy?

vodaphony