My laptop computer is connected directly to the internet by means of an ethernet cable. When I'm not using the computer, I like to disconnect it from the internet. I have been doing that by simply unplugging the ethernet cable but have found that doing this repeatedly causes the plastic clip securing the plug to the jack to break.

The article that I'm linking to describes using a SPST switch to make a break in the wire with solid orange insulation of the ethernet cable as a means to disconnecting from the internet. In anyone's opinion, would this be effective?

Thanks,
Pete

https://makezine.com/projects/internet-kill-switch

 

On your PC, go to Control Panel, Network Connections (or Network and Internet) and disable/enable from there.

 

Which OS are you using?

Why not just use the OS's network controls to disable the connection?

Unless you have one of the old, slow Ethernet connections, there are multiple TX/RX pairs. Interrupting one of of them may or may not bring the link down. It depends on which one you break and what the link's fallback options are.

While putting a SPST switch in the TX line of a slower connection might work, today's high-speed signaling rates are far more sensitive to signal integrity issues and introducing a SPST switch into a line might cause impedance mismatches and reflections that prevent it from working even when the switch is closed.

If you don't want to use a software solution, just get a cheap unmanaged switch and turn it off when you leave either by unplugging it (most don't have a power switch) or using a power supply for it that has a power switch, or putting your SPST switch in the power cable going to the ethernet switch. Not only is that a lot easier, it avoid the signal integrity issues.

 

On your PC, go to Control Panel, Network Connections (or Network and Internet) and disable/enable from there.

Thanks, that did work for me, although figuring out how to navigate to enable was more involved than disabling.

 

My laptop computer is connected directly to the internet by means of an ethernet cable. When I'm not using the computer, I like to disconnect it from the internet. I have been doing that by simply unplugging the ethernet cable but have found that doing this repeatedly causes the plastic clip securing the plug to the jack to break.

The article that I'm linking to describes using a SPST switch to make a break in the wire with solid orange insulation of the ethernet cable as a means to disconnecting from the internet. In anyone's opinion, would this be effective?

Thanks,
Pete

https://makezine.com/projects/internet-kill-switch

The link did not apear to work for me.
What will always work requires adding a D.P.D.T (Duoble Pole Double Throw) switch between the internet source and the computer port, which I am guessing is a USB connector. The two wires from the center two pins of the computer end USB connector go to the two wires that go to the center (wiper) terminals of the switch. The matching two wires from the internet source go to the corrosponding terminals at one end of the switch. At the other end of the switch, connect the two terminals together.
Now at one switch position the internet source is connected, while at the opposite switch position the internet source is disconnected and the computer input is electrically terminated. NO SIGNAL CAN ENTER!!
This is a simple and safe scheme that ia also not expensive.

 

My reason for suggesting a physical swiitch in the connection is that it is the only way to be 100% certain that some malware is not able to get past any software control scheme.
SOME of the "bad guys" are very skillful. And some malware is rather sneaky! Software can not bypass an external hardware switch!

 

In anyone's opinion, would this be effective?
https://makezine.com/projects/internet-kill-switch

physical switch that interrupts the cable is a way to go though that article shows switch only on one of 8 lines. i would rather kill all 8 or at least 4. also i like my things compact... instead of wiring something, with long wires in a bulky box, i would rather design PCB and have RJ45 and switch to fit on. but that is me.

 

would this be effective?

Yes.

There are 4 pairs of wires in an Ethernet cable. 100 Mbit uses two them, the orange and green pairs. Breaking any one (or more) of those wires will disable the connection.

Gigabit Ethernet uses all 4 pairs. Breaking any of the 8 wires will disable the connection.

ak

 

On your PC, go to Control Panel, Network Connections (or Network and Internet) and disable/enable from there.

software only solution is handy as it always with your computer. i would have make a batch scripts for ease of use.

 

There are 8 wires in an Ethernet cable, and all 8 of them are required. Breaking any one or more will disable the connection.

depending on which wire is cut, that will disable high speed connection. Ethernet will still happily work at 100mbps over 4 wires (pins 1,2,3 and 6). and even if the cut is on one those 4 wires, it will disable one way traffic. so UDP may continue streaming.... i'd say cut at least 4

 

I was working from distant memory and something didn't smell right, so I checked *after* I posted. Doh.

I've already updated my response.

ak

 

Yes.

There are 4 pairs of wires in an Ethernet cable. 100 Mbit uses two them, the orange and green pairs. Breaking any one (or more) of those wires will disable the connection.

Gigabit Ethernet uses all 4 pairs. Breaking any of the 8 wires will disable the connection.

ak

Breaking just one of the lanes in Gigibit Ethernet is NOT guaranteed to disable the connection. Most interfaces are capable of operating at lower speeds that use fewer lanes and so they can negotiate a slower connection if those lanes are intact.

 

My reason for suggesting a physical swiitch in the connection is that it is the only way to be 100% certain that some malware is not able to get past any software control scheme.
SOME of the "bad guys" are very skillful. And some malware is rather sneaky! Software can not bypass an external hardware switch!

Which is why I recommended buying a simple and stupid unmanaged Ethernet switch and simply switching it off. You can get a Netgear 5-port Gigibit Ethernet switch on Amazon for $16 and other brands for as low as $6.29.

Physically inserted a switch into a high-speed signal path risks introducing reflections and other signal degradations that can cause the link to fail. It might (probably would) work fine at 100Base-T, but becomes much more suspect at 1000Base-T or 10GBase-T.

 

OK, in my first post I was mistakenly thinking a USB cable. Since an 8-pole switch is unlikely to be found, a cheap alternative is to have an 8-pole coupler and a short extension. THEN the wear is on the cheap coupler, not on the computer. An added benefit is that the physical break also prtects against other voltage spikes that may arrive.

 

OK, in my first post I was mistakenly thinking a USB cable. Since an 8-pole switch is unlikely to be found, a cheap alternative is to have an 8-pole coupler and a short extension. THEN the wear is on the cheap coupler, not on the computer. An added benefit is that the physical break als prtects against other voltage spikes that may arrive.

And just how sure are you that putting such an 8-pole coupler is going to leave sufficient signal integrity so as to not compromise the eight differential signals at up to 800 Mbaud (for 10GBATE-T, 125 Mbaud for 1GBase-T) with sub-volt amplitudes and that are full-duplex?

What advantage does this have over a $7 Ethernet switch that is specifically designed for these signals?

Doing this for a modern USB connection would be, if anything, even less likely to work. The current version transmits data in each lane at 80 Gbps with voltage swings of around 400 mV.

Why even consider a kludge that may well end up costing more, takes far more time to implement, and may not work at all, compared to ordering a switch from Amazon that can be delivered tomorrow and installed in under a minute?

 

HOW can WB possibly think that opening all 8 circuits in the cable will not break the connection???

What certainly IS TRUE is that the garbage may already have been downloaded and is executing from RAM and is already in place.

The fact that somebody is not able to understand something does not make me wrong. The fact that another is not able to understand that somebody else is able to fabricate rather than "Kluge" is unfortunate.

In my area a purchased switch package to disconnect an ETHERNET cable would sell for a whole lot more than $7 USD. Prices may differ in other parts of the world. In my area $7 would get a package of two crimp-on Ethernet connectors, maybe.

BREAKING THE PHYSICAL LINK is a solid defense that no level of malware can penetrate!!
It might be too late, BUT it will certainly halt any download. AND I HAVE USED sxactly the coupler I described in several instances and they function very well to tthis day.

Please do us all a favor by providing a description of how to enter a command when the process has been taken over by some unwanted software. THAT INFORMATION WOULD BENEFIT A LARGE MULTITUDE OF US LESS EDUCATED FOLKS!!

I do take serious offense at the blast of words in post #15. If the intend was to offend, it certainly did OFFEND!

 

I never said said that breaking the connections wouldn't disable the link. I said -- if you had bothered to READ, say, Post #3 -- is that there is a good chance, particularly with today's high speed signaling, that there is a real likelihood that it the connection won't work at all. Just which cheap 8-pole coupler are you positive, based on your extensive experience with gigahertz physical hardware, will have no negative impact on signal integrity when an Ethernet cable is cut apart, the shielding compromised, the wires split apart to solder on to the connectors.

Unless you are talking about specifically an Ethernet coupler, which wouldn't have signal integrity issues (provided it is rated for the type of Ethernet speed that is needed), but I assumed that's not what you were talking about since I had assumed (possibly incorrectly) that you had actually read the problem that the TS is trying to solve, namely that constantly plugging and unplugging the Ethernet connect eventually breaks of the lock tab on the plug. It's the not the computer that is breaking, it's the plug. How is plugging and unplugging from an Ethernet coupler going to shift the wear from the plug to the jack?

What does it matter if the malware is already downloaded (in this context). How is the malware going to power up an unmanaged switch that has been turned off????

 

As for the malware part of the discussion, my experience is that it sits and waits until the computer is started the next time. Your experience may be different, possibly.
As for the plug having the lock tab broken off, I am quite experienced with that! !
My HP laptop has the connectors on the sides and so the simple "work-around" has always been to assure that the connector with the missing tab is fully inserted and that the cord has adequate slack so that it is not pulling on the cable. I have not experienced those "tabless" connectors disconnecting unless they are disturbed. A benefit of not being locked in is not having the equipment yanked off the table when somebody catches the cable with their foot. (Your experience may differ)

 

As for the malware part of the discussion, my experience is that it sits and waits until the computer is started the next time. Your experience may be different, possibly.
As for the plug having the lock tab broken off, I am quite experienced with that! !
My HP laptop has the connectors on the sides and so the simple "work-around" has always been to assure that the connector with the missing tab is fully inserted and that the cord has adequate slack so that it is not pulling on the cable. I have not experienced those "tabless" connectors disconnecting unless they are disturbed. A benefit of not being locked in is not having the equipment yanked off the table when somebody catches the cable with their foot. (Your experience may differ)

Whether the malware sits and waits is irrelevant to the discussion. Whether the network is physically broken via disconnecting a plug or turning of an unmanaged switch makes zero difference.

After my last post, I got to thinking if perhaps you had in mind a type of Ethernet coupler that is different that the ones I've always been familiar with.

If that's the case, please post a picture or a link to what you had in mind.

But from your last post it seems like you probably had this in mind and your suggestion to the TS is to forget about trying to avoid breaking off the lock tabs and just learn to live with it. In which case, why introduce the coupler at all? Though it might move it to a more convenient place to work with and/or make it easier to work the plug's tab to lessen the toll taken on it.

As an aside, when I did a quick search to snag a picture of the coupler, it brought up a site that is selling the one I pictured for $5.99 -- and touting how that is a $6 savings off the normal price! I thought, that can't be right, that's more than I found a five-port switch for. So I figured that it must be for a pack of ten or so. Nope. That's for one coupler! A quick search showed that you can get them for $1.60 each or, a pack of twenty for $0.65 each.

 

https://www.amazon.com/SinLoon-Ethernet-Extension-Internet-Network/dp/B0CR451WGF/