Multidialnet 0.1.0 review

Multinet is a curses-based solution to sharing a dial-up Internet connection using IP masquerading

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Dominic Tristram

0

Multinet is a curses-based solution to sharing a dial-up Internet connection using IP masquerading. It keeps track of time spent online, billing information for each user, and user manangement (so that users cannot kill each others connection).

The program depends on two scripts that bring-up the ppp connection and shut it down again.See the multinet.c code for the NETSTART and NETSTOP defines which specify where these scripts are. In my case, the up script is basically a line that says:

/usr/sbin/pppd call freeserve

...with a few other misc. bits and pieces. The down script basically just has this line:

kill `cat /var/run/ppp0.pid`

Your scripts may be different, but if you use ppp and chat scripts they are going to be pretty similar.

Net activity is logged to a file (defined in multinet.c). This is a plain text file that shows the userid, time, duration and cost of each call.

When you want to start a net connection, simply type 'multinet'. If another user is currently using the Internet, you will be told as much and the program will exit. Lucky you - you can use the net and he'll pay for it! Be nice and don't use much bandwidth though, or he might
get upset.

When you make your own connection, don't quit the program! You must keep it running until you press D to disconnect, otherwise everything will go pear-shaped.

When you disconnect by pressing D, to program will calculate how long the call was and how much it cost. It will tell you this information as well as logging it to its log file.