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-   Maemo 5 / Fremantle (https://talk.maemo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=40)
-   -   Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS? (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=38832)

Matan 2010-01-22 17:25
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
See here: http://wiki.maemo.org/User:Jebba/DBU...d-notification

Replace $1 with your message.

But this is the type that does not go automatically.
Replace SystemNoteDialog with SystemNoteInfoprint and don't include the last uint32:0 string:'NAO OK!'

stopgap 2010-01-23 03:06
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
I've spent some time on this script and refined it a little:

*It now only does anything if there's an active connection.
*It logs startup and disconnections to a file in mydocs/tmp
*It notifies you onscreen when disconnecting
*It distinguishes between wifi/cellular connections

I still cannot get it to autostart though - I don't get what I'm doing wrong. I have an entry in /etc/event.d as suggested and have tried everything I can see - to no avail. Ideally it needs to start once the desktop is up and loaded properly... any ideas anyone?

Here's my script for anyone who wants it :)

Code:
#!/bin/sh
logentry()
{
        #SEND A STRING TO THIS FUNCTION TO APPEND IT TO THE LOG FILE
        echo -e "$1" >> /home/user/MyDocs/tmp/autoDCscriptLOG.txt
}

osnotify()
{
        #SEND A STRING TO THIS FUNCTION TO GENERATE A SYSTEM POPUP
        run-standalone.sh dbus-send --type=method_call --dest=org.freedesktop.Notifications /org/freedesktop/Notifications org.freedesktop.Notifications.SystemNoteInfoprint string:"$1"
}

#PREPARE INITIAL VARIABLES FOR TEMPORAL MONITORING OF NETWORK INTERFACES
getcell=`ifconfig phonet0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
getwifi=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
bakcell=$getcell
bakwifi=$getwifi

getcellup=`ifconfig | grep gprs0 | cut -d: -f0`
getwifiup=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep inet.addr | cut -d: -f2`

#LOG MONITOR STARTUP TO FILE & NOTIFY USER VIA POPUP
logentry "\nIdle Monitor Startup $(date)\nEVENTS:\n"
osnotify "Automatic internet disconnection monitor has started"

#PERFORM MAIN MONITORING LOOPS
while true ;
do
        #CHANGE THE NUMBER AFTER SLEEP TO SET THE NUMBER OF SECONDS BEFORE
        #THE INTERNET IS DISCONNECTED IF NO INTERNET ACTIVITY IS DETECTED
        sleep 300

        getcell=`ifconfig phonet0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
        getwifi=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
        getcellup=`ifconfig | grep gprs0 | cut -d: -f0`
        getwifiup=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep inet.addr | cut -d: -f1`

        if [ -n "$getcellup" -o -n "$getwifiup" ]; then
                #IF EITHER NETWORK INTERFACE HAS AN IP PROCEED WITH INACTIVITY TEST

                if [ "$getcell" == "$bakcell" -a "$getwifi" == "$bakwifi" ]; then
                        #IF NO PACKETS WERE RECEIVED SINCE LAST RECORDING THEN SHUTDOWN INTERFACES

                        dbus-send --system --dest=com.nokia.icd /com/nokia/icd_ui com.nokia.icd_ui.disconnect boolean:true
                       
                        if [ -n "$getcellup" ]; then
                                osnotify "The 2G/3G internet connection has been closed due to inactivity"
                                logentry " - 2G/3G DISCONNECTED @ $(date)"

                        elif [ -n "$getwifiup" ]; then
                                osnotify "The WI-FI internet connection has been closed due to inactivity"
                                logentry " - WI-FI DISCONNECTED @ $(date)"

                        else
                                osnotify "The internet connection has been closed due to inactivity"
                                logentry " - ????? DISCONNECTED @ $(date)"
                       
                        fi


                fi

                bakcell=$getcell
                bakwifi=$getwifi

        fi

done

exit

Matan 2010-01-23 09:08
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Add an echo into some file to the event.d file, so you can know if the commands in this file run at startup.

msnger 2010-01-24 04:35
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
appreciate your effort please let us know when your done :D

farmatito 2010-01-24 10:01
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stopgap (Post 489974)
I've spent some time on this script and refined it a little:

*It now only does anything if there's an active connection.
*It logs startup and disconnections to a file in mydocs/tmp
*It notifies you onscreen when disconnecting
*It distinguishes between wifi/cellular connections

I still cannot get it to autostart though - I don't get what I'm doing wrong. I have an entry in /etc/event.d as suggested and have tried everything I can see - to no avail. Ideally it needs to start once the desktop is up and loaded properly... any ideas anyone?

Here's my script for anyone who wants it :)

Code:
#!/bin/sh
logentry()
{
        #SEND A STRING TO THIS FUNCTION TO APPEND IT TO THE LOG FILE
        echo -e "$1" >> /home/user/MyDocs/tmp/autoDCscriptLOG.txt
}

osnotify()
{
        #SEND A STRING TO THIS FUNCTION TO GENERATE A SYSTEM POPUP
        run-standalone.sh dbus-send --type=method_call --dest=org.freedesktop.Notifications /org/freedesktop/Notifications org.freedesktop.Notifications.SystemNoteInfoprint string:"$1"
}

#PREPARE INITIAL VARIABLES FOR TEMPORAL MONITORING OF NETWORK INTERFACES
getcell=`ifconfig phonet0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
getwifi=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
bakcell=$getcell
bakwifi=$getwifi

getcellup=`ifconfig | grep gprs0 | cut -d: -f0`
getwifiup=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep inet.addr | cut -d: -f2`

#LOG MONITOR STARTUP TO FILE & NOTIFY USER VIA POPUP
logentry "\nIdle Monitor Startup $(date)\nEVENTS:\n"
osnotify "Automatic internet disconnection monitor has started"

#PERFORM MAIN MONITORING LOOPS
while true ;
do
        #CHANGE THE NUMBER AFTER SLEEP TO SET THE NUMBER OF SECONDS BEFORE
        #THE INTERNET IS DISCONNECTED IF NO INTERNET ACTIVITY IS DETECTED
        sleep 300

        getcell=`ifconfig phonet0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
        getwifi=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep RX.p | cut -d: -f2`
        getcellup=`ifconfig | grep gprs0 | cut -d: -f0`
        getwifiup=`ifconfig wlan0 | grep inet.addr | cut -d: -f1`

        if [ -n "$getcellup" -o -n "$getwifiup" ]; then
                #IF EITHER NETWORK INTERFACE HAS AN IP PROCEED WITH INACTIVITY TEST

                if [ "$getcell" == "$bakcell" -a "$getwifi" == "$bakwifi" ]; then
                        #IF NO PACKETS WERE RECEIVED SINCE LAST RECORDING THEN SHUTDOWN INTERFACES

                        dbus-send --system --dest=com.nokia.icd /com/nokia/icd_ui com.nokia.icd_ui.disconnect boolean:true
                       
                        if [ -n "$getcellup" ]; then
                                osnotify "The 2G/3G internet connection has been closed due to inactivity"
                                logentry " - 2G/3G DISCONNECTED @ $(date)"

                        elif [ -n "$getwifiup" ]; then
                                osnotify "The WI-FI internet connection has been closed due to inactivity"
                                logentry " - WI-FI DISCONNECTED @ $(date)"

                        else
                                osnotify "The internet connection has been closed due to inactivity"
                                logentry " - ????? DISCONNECTED @ $(date)"
                       
                        fi


                fi

                bakcell=$getcell
                bakwifi=$getwifi

        fi

done

exit
Maybe you need to run the script as a service (daemon) through upstart
or add the script to /etc/networks/if-pre-up.d/ or /etc/networks/if-up.d/
to start every time a network interface is upped.

stopgap 2010-01-24 15:16
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Yeah, that'd be ideal to launch it when the network starts but I'm way out of my limited knowledge of linux here...

I took a look in if-up.d and saw there were some scripts in there. I tried to put my own in but it didn't seem to run. The others were named 00_something - maybe my test had a malformed naming for execution within that folder or perhaps I'm misunderstanding how that works... I can't find anything clear on this area on the web... What is there is linux specific - I'm not even sure if thats completely appropriate for all versions of linux, let alone maemo... I'm a Windows programmer so this is all rather unfamiliar to me to say the least!

Ideally I'd launch the monitor script with some handle, upon network up and then use the handle to terminate on network down (with the handle - if that's even how linux works?)

Any idea how, or does anyone know of any useful guides on this sort of stuff?

I sort of got it to auto-run on startup but something is not right and the script seems to freeze up or something, it stops working anyhow. I can see it running in HTOP still just doesn't seem to do anything.

Incidentally does anyone know how to use HTOP?... its functions use Fx keys and I'm not sure how you do that in a maemo console...

farnwomt 2010-01-28 10:25
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
You would probably do better to use transmitted rather than received packets because most networks will have some general chatter on them even if they are only occasional broadcast messages and those packet could keep your network connection up even if you aren't responding to them.

Perhaps the best solution is actually to check if both RX and TX have changed?

stopgap 2010-01-28 11:08
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by farnwomt (Post 499114)
You would probably do better to use transmitted rather than received packets because most networks will have some general chatter on them even if they are only occasional broadcast messages and those packet could keep your network connection up even if you aren't responding to them.

Perhaps the best solution is actually to check if both RX and TX have changed?
Yeah, I am doing that now... just refining the script to work on connection up and down, as well as disconnecting when network is idle. A bit of a steep learning curve all this, but I'm quite enjoying it. I think I've worked out how to make it (optionally) disconnect if battery hits a certain level too.

I'll post it when I have a proper working script here for people to test :)

farnwomt 2010-01-28 14:49
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Just a couple of other points

1) phonet is interesting, but I am not entirely sure if it is the best device to check for activity. In my experience it handles packets even when there is no connection in place. It may be that it is better to look at something like gprs0 (or whatever device is created when you are connected) as that will definitely relate to genuine traffic.

2) Using ifconfig is ok, but it is probably slightly more demanding than it needs to be. You can get the same result from the file /proc/net/dev, using something like

c=`grep wlan0 /proc/net/dev | awk '{ print $10 }'`

One of the joys of this option is that if you want to look for something like gprs devices it doesn't matter if they don't exist as you won't get an error.

3) The original script attempted to disconnect even if there was no current connection. I would consequently suggest that you could find out how you are currently connected by doing this ...

connection=`tail -1 /proc/net/route | cut -f1`

This would set the variable connection to be 'wlan0' or 'gprs0' or whatever you are using, or 'Iface' if you aren't connected. You could use this information to only look at the live connection for new packets. I am assuming in writing this that only one interface will be active at a time, so if you use something like 'openvpn' you would have an issue. Having said that products like openvpn tend to send regular packets anyway so you wouldn't be able to close your connection very easily.

Hopefully this information will be of help?

h4w4ii4n 2010-01-28 18:58
Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Every phone I used somewhat disconnected from the web/wi-fi when I close the browser, email, or whatever app that was using internet connection but the N900 doesn't. For example, if I used 3g to browse then close the browser it takes hours to disconnect from tmobile 3g by itself. If I used wi-fi to browse or check emails, it doesn't disconnect when I'm done with email app. 3G disconnects after a while I guess but wi-fi never disconnects and drains the battery. Anybody else notice this?

RevdKathy 2010-01-28 19:02
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
It's not supposed to disconnect. That's why they marketed it as an 'always on' device with the slogan 'online as it happens' and provide widgets that are dependent on a constant connection. :)

fatalsaint 2010-01-28 19:03
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
I'm not quite sure what you mean.. and I don't know about the N900 .. but on my G1 (android) if I am connected to WiFi it stays connected until I actually tell it to disconnect.....same for 3G.. it's "always on" 3G unless I tell it to use the smaller Edge network..

Otherwise.. it would have to constantly connect/disconnect every time I open up a new app that requires internet.. which would slow me down..

I would personally be kind of annoyed if my phone kept "guessing" for me when i wanted and didn't want the internet.... what if you have a widget or email app that updates a lot?

schettj 2010-01-28 19:03
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Wow, I've NEVER had a phone do that. Android, WinMo, iPhone/Touch/iPad? nope. They have inactivity timeouts, possibly, but instantly? Nope. Not for cellular data, and not for wifi.

Which device do you have that does that?

h4w4ii4n 2010-01-28 19:09
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
my most recent phone iphone 3gs disconnects from wifi as soon as I put it into standby. If you have a 3gs you can do this by putting it in standby/sleep while connected to wifi then wake it up. You'll see 3g for few seconds before reconnecting to available wifi thus saving battery.

I also had a N97 before the N900 and 3g connection would disconnect when I close the browser. While I was browsing I see a circular symbol with arrow indicating that I was using 3g/3.5g connection but as soon as I close the browser that symbol goes away but on the N900 it doesn't.

Does this make sense? I'm trying to find a way to automatically connect to network when I need but disconnect when I don't to optimize my battery life. I don't want a phone that is constantly connected and draining battery when I don't need to.

egoshin 2010-01-28 19:13
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Your most recent phone iphone 3gs doesn't support Skype, Google Talk or you didn't switch it on. It is just one example why idea of automatic disconnection doesn't fly here.

schettj 2010-01-28 19:15
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
When you put the iPhone into standby, it's far more powered down then the n900. This is a "feature" in apple marketing speak.

You can leave the 3g connected all the time, I do. No battery issues. Wifi, I'd go ahead and turn on/off as needed.

fatalsaint 2010-01-28 19:15
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by h4w4ii4n (Post 499845)
I also had a N97 before the N900 and 3g connection would disconnect when I close the browser. While I was browsing I see a circular symbol with arrow indicating that I was using 3g/3.5g connection but as soon as I close the browser that symbol goes away but on the N900 it doesn't.
This would indicate activity.. not connection. Just like on my Android I get two little arrows, one up and one down, next to the 3G letters. When those are lit, I'm actually sending/transmitting data... when not it's idle.

The N900 would work this same way.. it just may not change the icon to show actual activity. In either case, you're always connected to the 3G, you're just not always sending and receiving data...

Never used an iPhone to know "standby" is... do you get phone calls in that mode? You'd have to be on 3G or EDGE to at least get phone calls.... a connection simply has to be maintained somewhere..

RevdKathy 2010-01-28 19:16
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
My n95 used to ask me whether I wanted to disconnect whenever I closed whatever was connected, so I wasn't 'online as it happens'. That's part of what I love about the n900 - no scrubbling for a connection. Just open the email/browser/app and I'm online. The n95 used to ask me which connection to use as soon as I opened something, which was a pain.

droitwichgas 2010-01-28 19:20
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
As a Nokia 5800 owner I have also noticed the same problem, the only option I have found is to disconnect wi-fi/3g each time I have finished using the web/email etc a bit time consuming/annoying but at least it means my battery lasts a full day now, rather than just until the late afternoon. I have also noticed all the apps on the phone continuously check the internet and so eat into my internet usage when I am away from my wi-fi connection.

Surely somebody could produce a simple app to disconnect when each app using the wi-fi/3g is closed?

schettj 2010-01-28 19:26
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by droitwichgas (Post 499863)
Surely somebody could produce a simple app to disconnect when each app using the wi-fi/3g is closed?
Yuck, that's not what an always connected device is supposed to do though.

h4w4ii4n 2010-01-28 19:27
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by droitwichgas (Post 499863)
As a Nokia 5800 owner I have also noticed the same problem, the only option I have found is to disconnect wi-fi/3g each time I have finished using the web/email etc a bit time consuming/annoying but at least it means my battery lasts a full day now, rather than just until the late afternoon. I have also noticed all the apps on the phone continuously check the internet and so eat into my internet usage when I am away from my wi-fi connection.

Surely somebody could produce a simple app to disconnect when each app using the wi-fi/3g is closed?
This is exactly what I meant. I'm having to manually disconnect the wifi to save my battery so I can last the entire day without the charger. I have my connection set to auto connect using any means but search interval to never so only when I need to use the internet my phone looks for wifi/3g and connects without asking me if it should connect but doesn't disconnect when I'm dont thus wasting battery when I don't need it connected.

egoshin 2010-01-28 19:28
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Actually, if discard some bugs, there is no sense in disconnection 3G. it was designed for low-powered devices in mind and it doesn't consume real energy while not transmitting. Moreover, IPv4 infrastructure for 3G was also redesigned a little to prevent some excessive packets.

It is an application activity which consumes a battery but cutting it off is your deliberate decision. Besides browser there are many applications in full-powered Linux which talks to world. If you think about battery it has sense to consider minimization of that activity.

WiFi is a little different, it has some excessive traffic from router (depends from network) and that stuff is absolutely useless. Moreover, there is bug related with it then wifi chip or driver doesn't recognize some chip feature then periodic beacon signal can be handled by chipset. That forces a periodic wifi rescan and reconnection and it consumes a lot of energy.

But it is a bug and can be fixed.

h4w4ii4n 2010-01-28 19:33
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Thanks egoshin for that explanation. I also would like to have an "always connected" device but I also want a device that will last me the entire day. Hopefully these bugs can be worked out so I don't have to monitor my network activities throughout the day.

fatalsaint 2010-01-28 19:41
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Upon searching I did find this brainstorm... and also several references to a "2g/3g switch toggle" app that should already be out there.

phreck 2010-01-28 19:47
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
I think that there should be an option for the user to set so that the phone can be "always connected" or "connected while using web browser" Functionality like this could both be helpfull for users who are battery consupmtion nazis, and for people who simply dont want to always be connected, lets face it, even though it has the advantages of being "always on/connected" not everyone utilizes the device to that extent. Thats just IMO though =D

raddg 2010-01-28 19:53
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
I added a desktop app that shows your ip, its a simple way to let you know you are disconnected if there is no ip addresses. And manually selecting network connection before doing any online stuff.

sjgadsby 2010-01-28 20:56
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
The thread "Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?" with seventeen posts has been merged into this thread.

fnordianslip 2010-01-28 21:22
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by droitwichgas (Post 499863)
I have also noticed all the apps on the phone continuously check the internet and so eat into my internet usage when I am away from my wi-fi connection.
What apps are they?

Since I stopped routinely leaving Skype, SIP and YahooIM accounts active throughout the whole day whilst using a 3G connection, my battery life has improved significantly.

droitwichgas 2010-01-28 21:34
Re: Why N900 doesn't automatically disconnect when I'm done?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fnordianslip (Post 500053)
What apps are they?

Since I stopped routinely leaving Skype, SIP and YahooIM accounts active throughout the whole day whilst using a 3G connection, my battery life has improved significantly.



The weather widget and email account - it seems pointless having an always connected device when the battery can't cope unless it's plug into the charger - I assume this is why Nokia are aleady releasing a new version with a bigger battery?

My Nokia 5800 will check the internet at reguler intervals and then disconnect automatically but as far better battery life anyway.

jmk 2010-01-28 21:38
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
I can get 3-4 day battery life when using 2g/3g switcher and wifi-switcher on/off.'

So stop this ******** talk and just code disconnect automatically applet and make me really happy. Could be done very easily maybe in one day.

fatalsaint 2010-01-28 22:16
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmk (Post 500077)
So stop this ******** talk and just code disconnect automatically applet and make me really happy. Could be done very easily maybe in one day.
So why haven't you done it yet?

stopgap 2010-01-29 13:28
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
In my opinion the N900 should offer the best of both worlds, not force "always on" as the only option.

I don't use Skype; it's not crazy to think people might only wish to initiate a call out on Skype and never receive incoming calls (from their mobile at least). I have a Skype account and I know that there's the odd friend who one day I might want to call via it, but even having it on sending minimal data and using battery however small is still a waste.

I don't have any live widgets that use the net - tried Foreca and Facebook but took them off when they proved not to be that useful. As such, I just don't need a connection there for that.

Here however is where my problem actually lies and stops me from just being a run-of-the-mill "battery Nazi" ;) The main thing I use it for, apart from web browsing is email. The email client has no options for "download headers only" or really any options of any sort that a modern email client should feature. I get sometimes 100 emails a day with big attachments from clients. Last week alone I was sent nearly 800MB in attachments which is 300 more than my allowance for a month. Because the N900 downloads these without asking first, I can't leave it on mobile data because it'd cost me a fortune in data charges (for no good reason!). I still want and need my emails on auto-check (as my N95 managed perfectly) so it has to be wifi - which does use a lot of power when idling. It also annoyingly means I can't get email automatically when out and about - grr!

So here is at least one good reason for auto disconnecting after use. I don't need my connection on always, only when I'm using it and Nokia should never have provided this phone with its limited power without at least the option to be sometimes on".

Someone mentioned Nokia are releasing a version of N900 with bigger battery - is there any repeatable evidence for this or is it just from one of the numerous speculation sites around the net?

Finally - I've nearly finished my disconnect script... just been too busy this week to work on it properly - as almost everything I'm doing is new (I'm a PC programmer... just getting in to linux due to this phone) so it takes longer. At the moment I'm just overcoming problems of too many instances of the script being loaded and delaying of a connection being made due to stuff I was doing (wrong no doubt!) :)

slender 2010-01-29 13:40
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmk (Post 500077)
I can get 3-4 day battery life when using 2g/3g switcher and wifi-switcher on/off.'

So stop this ******** talk and just code disconnect automatically applet and make me really happy. Could be done very easily maybe in one day.
Things like $, £, € will probably help.

stopgap 2010-01-29 14:00
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by farnwomt (Post 499471)
Just a couple of other points

1) phonet is interesting, but I am not entirely sure if it is the best device to check for activity. In my experience it handles packets even when there is no connection in place. It may be that it is better to look at something like gprs0 (or whatever device is created when you are connected) as that will definitely relate to genuine traffic.

2) Using ifconfig is ok, but it is probably slightly more demanding than it needs to be. You can get the same result from the file /proc/net/dev, using something like

c=`grep wlan0 /proc/net/dev | awk '{ print $10 }'`

One of the joys of this option is that if you want to look for something like gprs devices it doesn't matter if they don't exist as you won't get an error.

3) The original script attempted to disconnect even if there was no current connection. I would consequently suggest that you could find out how you are currently connected by doing this ...

connection=`tail -1 /proc/net/route | cut -f1`

This would set the variable connection to be 'wlan0' or 'gprs0' or whatever you are using, or 'Iface' if you aren't connected. You could use this information to only look at the live connection for new packets. I am assuming in writing this that only one interface will be active at a time, so if you use something like 'openvpn' you would have an issue. Having said that products like openvpn tend to send regular packets anyway so you wouldn't be able to close your connection very easily.

Hopefully this information will be of help?
Thanks farnwomt, that looks very helpful indeed. I'm taking a look at those things now - cheers :D

jmk 2010-01-29 21:12
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
So anyone working on this idle disconnect applet now really hard? That should not be really hard to do.

Just simple shell script and control panel applet that can turn off/on 3G/WIFI idle disconnect script.

Everybody needs this feature and no one wants always online device so hurry up!

fatalsaint 2010-01-29 21:25
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmk (Post 501646)
So anyone working on this idle disconnect applet now really hard? That should not be really hard to do.

Just simple shell script and control panel applet that can turn off/on 3G/WIFI idle disconnect script.

Everybody needs this feature and no one wants always online device so hurry up!
And I'm still waiting for your app.... once it's in extras-devel I'll be sure to paste it anywhere I see people ask.

stopgap 2010-01-29 23:29
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmk (Post 501646)
So anyone working on this idle disconnect applet now really hard? That should not be really hard to do.

Just simple shell script and control panel applet that can turn off/on 3G/WIFI idle disconnect script.

Everybody needs this feature and no one wants always online device so hurry up!
You know what to do then... if it's so quick and easy to do why not do it yourself rather than wasting time here complaining.

pillar 2010-01-30 08:05
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Of course it would be nice to have 'always online' device, but with this kind of battery and for some the costs, it's not feasible option. If it works for you - then be happy. If not - let us figure out another way to use this great device. Isn't that the idea of an open device anyhow?

This is the functionality that would fit me the best:

- If the device is not connected to 3G / Wlan and some application requests a connection - instead of popping up a dialog, it would automatically look for 1) Wlan connections already setup and working 2) 3G and activate the either one - Wlan preferably.

- If the device is connected, it would look for a setting, which would define an idle time limit and disconnect after the said time limit has been reached. This idle limit could be different for Wlan and 3G.

This way - I can be 'online when it matters' but not worry that my battery is wasted and then when I really need to go online, I cannot since the battery has died on me.

I don't see any drawbacks in this kind of behavior either. If you want to be always online, fine. If you want to connect and disconnect after 5 minutes, fine. If you want to disconnect after 30 minutes, fine too. Each for his/her own.

Thanks to all of you that are working towards making these kind of use cases possible.

egoshin 2010-01-30 23:12
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
The problem is an incoming traffic. For exam - somebody calls YOU via skype. If device shut down connection then... well, Telco can do it for MMS, but they don't like Skype/SIP/GTALK/etc - you don't pay THEM.

So, if you want to have connection to world, you can't disconnect from it.

pillar 2010-01-31 14:00
Re: Connect to Internet on demand & disconnect automatically, particularly for GPRS?
 
Well, if I want to be available in skype then I put that online and the idle timeout never occurs. I don't see the problem. And again, if you want to be online all the time, be my guest. All I'm saying is that there might be other use cases and a support for those would be nice as well.


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