Tips for maximising a BSNL Dataone(Broadband) connection.

Note: even if you aren't an Indian BSNL Dataone customer, you may find a thing or two of interest in this post.

I'm writing this post because:-

Reason 1. Murali wanted me to mail him few links for the softwares( auto-dialer, Datafox plug-in etc.) for his new Data-One 500C package.

Reason 2. The post may help some out there, who want to download Gigs of movies, mp3s, games, porn from the net but don't have the time or the patience to sit in front of their computer the whole day.

Reason 3. Last but not the least, I'm a blogger and my blog has a post more than it did before.


So going into the post itself, the things I'll be talking about in this post are

a) How to check your BSNL Broadband usage in the lower right corner of your firefox browser (sorry I don't know the plug-in for other browsers) instead of the boring routine of going to http://dataone.in/ everytime you want to know your usage (here again, while this link can be used for checking the usage of both limited and the unlimited usage packages, I don't find a reason why some unlimited package user is prompted to check his usage unless he's half as inquisitive as me). The plug-in is called Datafox. As the name itself tells you, a plug-in for Dataone made for the browser Firefox. All you have to do is go HERE, download the plug-in and open the xpi file (the extension of the file you just downloaded is .xpi, the format for firefox plug-ins) with firefox explorer or just drag the 80 kb file into an open firefox tab. After installing, you need to restart the browser when prompted (the firefox browser, not windows) and configure the plug-in straight away. Double-click on the "X" marked Datafox icon in the lower-right most corner of the browser and select "BSNL" for the ISP, enter your password and username for your connection (believe me, no harm here because no one can use your connection details for any other purpose on an outsider BSNL connection save for checking your usage details, the fact is that only you may connect to internet with those details only on your phone number's connection), tick "save password", "override default domain" and login. One last configuration, right-click on the Datafox icon, go into preferences, tick "login on startup", "display data in Gib", "upto 3 decimal places", "Bandwidth limit (according to your package, if you're not sure go HERE )", in the statusbar string input "{cX}/{tX}". If you're only interested in your usage excluding the happy hours(2:00-8:00 am), just go for {cX}.

b) How to get your system to start up on it's own, download your files and shutdown when done. Many of the motherboards today come with a built-in RTC(Real-Time Clock, the time set in your Motherboard's BIOS) wake up alarm, meaning that you can set them to start on their own at a pre-desired time on a single day or the same time everyday, the whole month. My motherboard is configured to power up every night at 2:05 am and shutdown at 7:55 am in the morning (making the most of Happy Hours excluding 10 minutes right?). In my next post, which I insist you shouldn't miss by any chance, I'll let you know a major flaw in the Happy Hours browsing system which can practically doom you and the reason why I power up my system only after 2:00 am and not before. Also, one thing I should remind you here is that while I use an RTC alarm on the motherboard to start the pc, in order to shutdown the system, a 600 kb software "Autoshutdown" is used. Once the system is up and working, you need a dial-up software to establish the connection (luckily, if you asked your technician to setup your connection to be on always, I mean without having to dial a connection, you don't need to do this part at all). This software is "Winpoet", you may download it HERE. After installing the software, you may configure it to connect on system start-up. This much said, you're able to get the system up and connected to the internet but who'll take care of the downloads? Just setup your utorrent or other clients or Download managers to start with system startup. Happy Downloading. BUT don't forget leaving your UPS and BSNL Modem switched on or configuring your Autoshutdown to shutdown at 7:55 am everyday.


Checklist:-

1) Download Datafox plugin HERE.

datafox-1_0_1.xpi

Hosted by eSnips

2) Download Winpoet HERE.

WinPoET403.zip

Hosted by eSnips

3) Download Autoshutdown HERE.

AutoShutdown.zip

Hosted by eSnips

4) Configure Autoshutdown to shutdown at 7:55 am everyday (contact me/ comment back for detailed instructions on the same).

5) Configure BIOS to start up at 2:05 am in the night (search a bit for this option in your BIOS, it almost always exists).

6) Configure Winpoet to startup and use auto-connect.

7) Configure your Download Manager or torrent client to auto-start with system startup.

8) Don't forget leaving your UPS and Modem switched on and your Monitor switched off and CPU shutdown.

Happy Downloading, and make the most of BSNL Broadband. If you think all these steps are a pain, consider the 138 GB(yeah that's right, 138 Gigabytes) that I downloaded last month, or rather that my system downloaded :). Comments are welcome and suggestions are valued. Queries are answered at the earliest.