Hotkey to toggle internet / network communication

I'm looking for a way to quickly toggle my wireless internet connection on and off (to prevent interference with a VOIP device on the network). Newer laptops have a dedicated button for this purpose, but mine unfortunately doesn't. As of now my only solution is to completely disable the connection by right-clicking the network icon, and re-enabling it thru Device Manager. There must be some other easier way to do this - like rerouting all traffic to a non-existent proxy, or something like that. Any ideas?

Dave

Posted 2012-02-22T05:38:22.157

Reputation: 185

What OS are you using? – quickcel – 2012-02-22T05:41:13.113

@quickcel - xp pro. – Dave – 2012-02-22T05:41:42.467

Answers

I don't have a copy of XP to test this out, but you could try this rather involved method using Autohotkey: http://soupytrumpet.com/toggle-your-wireless-card-with-autohotkey-win-xp/

quickcel

Posted 2012-02-22T05:38:22.157

Reputation: 4 203

just tried it, it wasn't too involved at all (I'm already a AutoHotkey user). It does exactly what it's supposed to: Toggling the wireless card. This has the disadvantage that when re-enabling, the card needs to re-establish its connection to the network, which takes about 20 seconds. I was hoping for a more basic software solution that would simply block all traffic from ever reaching the card. In the meantime, this will do quite nicely, thanks! – Dave – 2012-02-22T06:28:21.380

NetSetMan is an great program!!!, the free version does all that I ever needed.

you can setup multiple profiles for different networks (wired and wireless). Activate/deactivate a network interface, change virtually any setting associated with a network, run a script when you choose a profile. I used it taking my laptop back and forth from work to home.

it really fills a gap that MS Windows has always had in their networking (one of many in my opinion)... you will need to setup a shortcut, or autohotkey hotkey (which I recommend) to activate a particular profile....

EagleKen

Posted 2012-02-22T05:38:22.157

Reputation: 21

looks like it would be overkill for my needs. – Dave – 2012-02-22T06:29:06.667