Privacy/Security: How to change my IP address daily or weekly on DSL

No worries.

You may want to increase the Max Idle Time a bit. It's pretty simple to be idle for one minute while you read a web page, news article, if you answer the phone etc. You don't want to be hammering your ISPs authentication server everytime you're idle for 1 min.

No it has nothing to do with powering down the modem, you can leave the modem up. Your router will only be assigned a IP address by your ISP when it has a valid PPPoE connection. The "Connect On Demand" and "Max Idle Time" settings tell the router to well simply connect when there is demand (ie: PPPoE connect/authenticate....which results in you getting an IP) and then drop the connection (ie: PPPoE disconnect) after your connection has been idle for x number of minutes. Everything can remain powered on, if you have no "demand" overnight then you should exceed the time you've observed and when you establish "connect on demand" in the morning should attain a different IP. Make sense?

No, Max Idle Time is going to be the time the router takes before dropping the connection. Like this:

1) Set down at your computer, open IE and try to hit the router sees this as a request for something outside of your local network and therefore initiates your PPPoE connection to your ISP and gets you a public IP address. 2) You can now surf, email, etc at your leasure. 3) Once you stop surfing etc (no further request to things outside your local network) the router will wait for a full minute of inactivity and then disconnect (drop your PPPoE connection).

Note: Windows Update, MSN Messenger (any instand messenging program) etc will likely cause a steady stream of traffic and never let you become "Idle", you'll need to make sure they are disabled when you're done online or configured so that they aren't doing their own 'keep alive' functions, etc....

Thats EASY ! Change your gateway's IP address, as that is what your NTTP server see as your NNTP posting host. The gateway IP, will be your "point of contact" IP address, for the device terminating your ISP to yourself.

End of discussion! ;-)

/HC

btw: I assume your ISP provides you with a dynamic IP, using DHCP. Most DHCP servers will remember your MACadress, and offer you tha same IP adress again if you simply switch off/on, you will have to _release _ your current IP, and /request/ a new IP for it to change.

No.

Yes, you are.

You don't read them correctly. A MAC address is just a 6 byte (octet, to be precise) number. If you manually assign a MAC address you can assign any number you want, with or without the "globally unique" bit (which is probably what you are referring to) set. There's nothing hidden about it.

And will you please stop the crossposting?

cu

59cobalt

Hi Harald Andersen,

If by "gateway", you mean "modem" (I have DHCP DSL PPPoE), then that is what we were doing all along way before this thread ever started.

I have a new IP address today but the last test didn't work (changing the "connect on demand" setting. But, I might have performed the test wrong so I'll try again tonight.

If you know how to "change your gateway's address" without powering down the router ... that would answer the original question nicely.

Hi kingthorin,

I love the fact that you are helping to answer the original technical question (instead of getting into an endless & useless theoretical debate about paranoia). Thank you for sticking to the topic and for knowing enough to do so.

My test failed. Obviously I have a new IP address but that was never the problem. The problem was getting the new IP address (aka NNTP posting host) without having to power down the router (and the modem, if possible). I had to power the router off and then back on to get it to initiate the PPPoE DHCP DSL connection to the ISP.

However, you have told me that I performed the test wrong as I had powered down the modem (but not the router) in my successful attempt to get the modem to release its assigned IP address. Releasing the IP address isn't the problem ... it's getting a new IP address without having to power down the Linksys router that is the problem.

After reading your post just now, I will try a NEW test. I just took your suggestion and increased the maximum idle time to 5 minutes (the default).

DOES THIS look like a definitive MAX-IDLE-TIME test procedure?

a. Connect to the Internet, e.g.,

(to ascertain connection) b. Determine my modem's current IP address (by querying the router) c. Wait five minute inactive (assume no keep-alive programs are running) d. The 5-inactive minutes should disconnect me from the PPPoE connection e. Test the PPPoE connection by again querying the router on port 80 f. At this point, there should be no assigned IP address showing up g. WAIT FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIKE (but more than the Max Idle Time) h. Repeat step a above to connect to the Internet by going to google i. This should "wake up" the router & tell it to dial back into PPPoE j. Within a few secs, the PPPoE connection should be re-established k. The proof will be that the google web page reappears in the browser

Is this a valid test procedure to prove whether the PPPoE connection is being dropped and then reconnected on demand after waiting for more than the max idle time?

Hi Warren Oates, What are you trying to say?

Are you saying that every single person who used the same ISP as I do will have a DIFFERENT nntp posting host because the ISP is using the IP addressed assigned to the subscriber as the nntp posting host?

If you're not saying that, then what you say doesn't jive with the actual results (notice my nntp posting host is again changed as I change my IP address daily and my nntp posting host follows suit).

Hi Balp (Anders Arnholm),

I thank you for trying to help ... but ...

As I have exasperatingly said time and time again, I'm not worried about the very many methods a person can track me down to find out who I am (I pay my ISP bill every month for Christ sake).

All I'm asking in this thread is how to release and renew the IP address that is assigned to my (PPPoE DSL DHCP) modem without having to power down the linksys router.

If you don't know the answer to that question, then all you are doing is contributing to the noise level.

Hi Mak,

I thank you for trying to help ... but ...

Only about three people have actually added value to this simple technical request. If you add up their posts, that's about five responses, in toto, that were germane to the original request.

All I'm asking in this thread is how to release and renew the IP address that is assigned to my (PPPoE DSL DHCP) modem without having to power down the linksys router.

I'm trying faithfully to respond to each and every concern (since you took the time to voice them, it is my responsibility to return the favor) but if you don't actually know the answer to that question, then all you are doing is contributing to the noise level.

Hi Greg Hennessy, I do appreciate your trying to add value and that is why I take the common courtesy and decency to respond to your kind posting ... but ... this is exasperating so I'll be a bit curt ...

Pleeeasssse ... if you don't really know the answer to the question ... you are just adding to the noise level in this thread.

Please do respond if you truly know how to force the router to initiate the PPPoE connection to the ISP without having to power down the router.

Yes.

Also, I checked my router's settings, and yes, one can set one's router to "On Demand" connection (mine's a Dlink) _IF_ one's using PPPoE to connect to one's ISP, but not with DHCP; I'm not sure which you're using.

Umm. Router's talk about WAN and LAN. The WAN is your connection via your ISP to the Internet (to the router); the LAN is everything connected to the router in your house. Your router gives out DHCP addresses, your ISP may or may not. Mine doesn't, it's PPPoE.

Anyway, look into your router's settings. It won't guarantee a change of IP address every time you wake your service up (that's my way of saying it, it's not "jargon"), but it will increase your chances of getting a different one. I don't think there's any way to guarantee that you won't ever get the same IP address - there was a court case that revolved around this in Canada.

Hi Warren Oates, Thank you for the response to the question.

Yes, I am using PPPoE and DHCP on DSL with a Linksys router and a DSL modem (if that helps narrow down the conversation).

I have set my on-demand max-idle-time setting to 5 minutes.

Are you saying that because I am both PPPoE and DHCP, that this setting won't actually work?

Please do ask if (and when) you know whether you connect to your ISP with DHCP or PPPoE. Hint: do you have to enter a username and password to connect?

It's actually your router that gets the IP address from your ISP not the modem. Think of it like you didn't have multiple systems (and therefore no router) your lone computer would initiate the PPPoE connection and get the IP address.

Yes if you check the router after 5.5 minutes (er whatever) then it should have dropped your connection and it should no longer have a public IP.

Once you're sure you've been disconnected there's no reason to wait longer. (Though this would usually be your overnight period which would exceed the hour or two you previously noted it takes for you to reconnect and attain a different IP then your previous connections. Make sense?)

or that you check the router again and the PPPoE connection is established and you have a public IP again.

Ya I think that'll work for you. Just remember that "Max Idle Time" is just for dropping the connection, you'll still have to wait the hour or two (between drop and establish) you previously observed to keep yourself from getting the same address twice in a row.

No. My guess is that your router's connected to your ISP via PPPoE, and that you're getting addresses from your router via DHCP. Does the router show an "on demand" setting?

Hi Warren Oates,

Thank you for the response to the question.

Yes, I am using PPPoE & DHCP on DSL with a Linksys router and a DSL modem (the router enters the username and password for me).

I have set my on-demand max-idle-time setting to 5 minutes.

The current hypothesis is that I will get a new IP address (hence NNTP posting host) every night as long as the connection is idle for a few hours (long enough for the ISP to give up the lease).

Hopefully this will work as it is indeed an elegant solution (if it works).

Thank you for asking questions that help flesh out the answers to the questions!

Hi Warren Oates, Thanks again for asking the right questions.

Are you asking about the IP address that the COMPUTER has? I'm not. I'm talking only about the one unique address (on the Internet) that my ISP has assigned to my account at that time.

There is some debate here whether it's the router or the dsl modem that is getting assigned the address via DHCP ... but let me answer your questions:

QUESTION: Is your router connected to your ISP by PPPoE? ANSWER: yes.

QUESTION: Are you getting addresses from your ISP via DHCP? ANSWER: yes

QUESTION: Does the linksys router show an "on demand" setting? ANSWER: I have set my on-demand max-idle-time setting to 5 minutes as per kingthorin's helpful suggestions.

Thank you for helping us out. Hopefully these latest settings will cause the ISP to give up my IP address when the computers are idle for a few hours and then hopefully (this is the clincher) the PPPoE connection will be AUTOMATICALLY established to the ISP (without having to reboot the router) so that a new IP address is obtained automatically.

Hi Warren Oates,

I would love to respond to technical questions related to the question! (Have I not shown a willingness to respond to posters?)

QUESTION: Do I have to enter a username & password to connect? ANSWER: Yes.

I long ago set the PPPoE username and password in the linksys router. Apparently the router initiates that logon as I never manually type the username or password to connect to the ISP.

I did have to reboot the router in order to force it to dial in to the ISP after leaving the dsl modem off for hours overnight ... but I am hoping (by this question) to learn how to re-establish the PPPoE connection without having to reboot the router!

Thank you for asking questions that are helpful to the end result of learning how to reestablish a PPPoE connection after hours of downtime without having to actually reboot the router to force it to dial in with the username and password.

If you *really* want to change/remove your NNTP posting host, then get yourself a linux server and a real netnews connection and a cooperative site that will forward your newsfeed into the usenet stream. That's the underlying technology, and if you do that, you can spoof any news connection you like. In the "old" days, that's the way we all needed to get our news into the queue. The only difference is that most posters worked for companies or went to schools who did that step for them (i.e. that was part of the system administrator's job). In recent years, ISPs have taken up that role. So, when you buy an AOL or NetZero or Charter or Verizon account, they have the System Administrator that does that job. Moreover, things like POP3 and NNTP have allowed them to easily extend that access onto the typical users Windows desktop. However, the old way, didn't go away. It's still there.

However, you are not likely to get the privacy desire both for free and with almost no effort. that's why people have been so "down" on your idea of changing your IP. The system isn't setup to do that. It doesn't provide any real value.

I don't know what you have posted on alt.personals and am not interested enough to find out. Moreover, if I did find something interesting you posted on alt.personals, I wouldn't go looking for other postings on the internet to locate more information about you. That would be slow inefficient amd mostly pointless.

In particular, I wouldn't look by IP address, because most IP addresses are not specific to one person, most of them are connected to large sites with lots of users. The fact that yours happens to be your router (are you sure of that? and certain that there is not one NNTP host for your entire ISP--that's how my ISP works), is just an artifact that is at most mildly interesting.

If you want more privacy and more security, you can get it by paying for it or by doing "hard work" and learning the way the network actually works. And to do so, you really should get yourself an "open source" platform (e.g. linux or netbsd or ...) and configure it yourself.

I have done both. I don't read news or mail on my own computer, but instead login to a machine with professional administrators that take care of the security. That way, I don't get viruses (at least not by that avenue). I also have my own linux box where I can actually study how things work, and change them to work the way I want. If I wanted to masquerade at someone else at some other site, having my own box and understanding it, would allow me to do it. However, I can't imagine why I would want to be someone else (or even be anonymous). The only people who I don't want contacting me, don't contact me by knowing who I am, they are telemarketeers and spammers, who are simply sending bulk junk to everyone. Those who know who I am rarely send me useless stuff.

That being said, if you really do post on alt.personals (seeking some sort of relationship I would presume), then you would be much better paying more money (or doing more work) and getting some real anonimity. You are not going to get enough anonymity from changing your IP to make it worthwhile. That's like taking a shower in a public square fountain and then deciding that the next public square over is "more private". Yeah, right....

By the way, changing your MAC address at a public hotspot isn't going to add that much to your privacy--especially if you go to the same hotspot all the time. Most hotspots don't preserve MAC address information over extended periods of time--it isn't useful information to keep. No one cares that it is you posting something, unless you are "important" in your own right (or what you are posting is important in its own right). And, in either of those cases, the interested people will come after YOU, not after some MAC or IP address.

If you haven't noticed, most of the technical content in this thread, has not been about giving you ways to achieve what you want, but instead trying to explain why what you think you want is not worth having, because it doesn't get you what you really want.

So, if you want to change your MAC address and post from a hot-spot thinking you will be more anonymous, go ahead. If you give me reason to track you down, it won't even slow me down. The real information to find you isn't there (even if it is a posting that gets me first interested), and I wouldn't bother looking there.

If you are posting on the internet, presumably you want to be read. If you want to be read, then you do things that make you easy to find. Trying to be anonymous and public at the same time is an oxymoron.

Hope this helps,

-Chris

***************************************************************************** Chris Clark Internet : snipped-for-privacy@world.std.com Compiler Resources, Inc. Web Site : 23 Bailey Rd voice : (508) 435-5016 Berlin, MA 01503 USA fax : (978) 838-0263 (24 hours)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very well said Chris.

**************************************************************************** *