USING SINGNET MODEMWALL

SingNet ModemWall is loaded during startup of Windows. SingNet ModemWall should be left running to provide protection against malicious dialler software.

You can see if it is running by the presence of the ModemWall icon in the system tray area of the Windows task bar.

If you need to start SingNet ModemWall manually, use the Windows Start menu and click on
All Programs, SingNet, SingNet ModemWall.


To open SingNet ModemWall

• Double click on the system tray icon. or
• Right click on the SingNet ModemWall icon in the Windows system tray and click Show from the menu.

If SingNet ModemWall has a password set, then a dialog box will open at this point to request it before showing the main screen.


To close SingNet ModemWall

• Right click on the SingNet ModemWall icon in the Windows system tray and click Exit on the menu. or
• In the main window, click Exit on the File menu.

SingNet ModemWall will then ask for the current password (if set) before closing.

SINGNET MODEMWALL MAIN WINDOW

The main window shows a list of all the numbers that your computer has attempted to dial, with the action taken by SingNet ModemWall and the date and time of the attempt.
A status bar at the bottom of the main window shows whether or not SingNet ModemWall is running.

SINGNET MODEMWALL OPTIONS

The Options menu provides links to the different SingNet ModemWall configuration windows.

Options Menu

The "Dialling rules" window

Click on Dialling rules from the Options menu to display a window similar to the one below.

You can specify flexible dialling rules to allow or block the dialing of any number.

Whilst SingNet ModemWall allows you to configure many number based dialling rules, it requires you to select a single 'catch-all' default rule from either:-

• Allow all other numbers or
• Block all other numbers

The default rule is used to handle all the cases that aren't specified in the individual rules and is always the last rule to be processed by SingNet ModemWall.

Note
SingNet ModemWall uses the dialling rules, in order, from the top of the list down to the default rule at the bottom. The order of rules can be changed by selecting a rule and using the arrow buttons to change its position in the list.

Changing the default rule

To change the default rule, select it from the list of rules and click the Edit... button.
You will be shown the following window.

Change the selection in the Rule type drop down list and click OK.


Adding a dialling rule

The following steps are required to setup a dialling rule:

• Click the Add... button.
• Choose a rule type from the drop down list.
  - the action SingNet ModemWall takes on encountering a matching number.
• Specify a complete phone number, the start digits or the end digits of a phone number depending on the rule type chosen.
• Enter an optional description to remind yourself of the rule's purpose.
  E.g. "ISP", "Office fax", "Premium number block", "International block", etc.
• Click OK
  

A real life example.

A typical use for SingNet ModemWall is to allow your computer to dial-up to the Internet and to block the dialling of all other numbers.
This example runs through the steps required to do this.

On your first run of SingNet ModemWall, click Dialling rules from the Options menu to show the Dialling rules window below.

• Click on the Add... button.
  
  

• Select the Rule type "Allow the number".
• Enter the number dialled to connect to your Internet Service Provide (e.g. AOL, BT, Tiscali, Wanadoo, etc.)
• Add a description such as "Access to the web".
• Click OK.

The Dialling rules window should now look similar to this:

What happens when SingNet ModemWall blocks a number

When SingNet ModemWall encounters an attempt to dial a number that the dialling rules have told it to block, it will stop the modem and cause a Windows message similar to this to be displayed.

Click Close to remove the message.


Password protecting SingNet ModemWall

If you want to restrict the people who can modify your dialling rules, you can set a password that needs to be entered every time the main SingNet ModemWall window is shown.

Click Settings... on the Options menu to display the following window.

To set a password:-

• Click on Set Password to tick the check box.
• Type a password into the Enter password box.
• Re-enter the password in the Confirm password box.
• Click OK

Note
The password is case sensitive ('secret' is not the same as 'SECRET').

LOG FILE MANAGEMENT

The Log menu item contains options for clearing and saving log information generated by SingNet ModemWall as it operates. SingNet ModemWall's main window keeps a log of all numbers that the computer has attempted to dial with the action taken by it.