sandipb.net

After Hotwire Internet, my ISP in Delhi, shifted to a new web based login and a good bandwidth management solution, their uptime dramatically improved.

After a while, the web login began to irritate me. I couldnt any more do the first thing I normally do in the morning - stretch my hands out underneath the rajai(warm blanket), grope for the power button, switch on the computer and squirm back into the cozy blanket waiting for the mails to get downloaded by the time I really get out of bed.

I needed an automated CLI login that doesnt require me to login to my account, fire a browser .. and only then login and download my mails. What a waste of quality early morning sleeping time in winter!
So here is an attempt to save myself from this misery. This is a small script that I wrote today afternoon which will, for now, login and logout from the Hotwire web based login system. I plan to also add functionality in the future to renew the account ( a monthly PITA) and to display a summary of my usage.

Update: I have added the summary feature too. The client now shows you your usage summary in a far more informative manner than hotwire itself! IOW, Usage durations are displayed, instead of just login and logout time.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Uses Python (standard libs) , works for me on Fedora Core 3, should probably work on other *nix with Python too.

LICENCE

GPL

INSTALLATION

1. Download the program from the link below, make it executable and put it somewhere in your path e.g. /usr/local/bin
2. Create a configuration file in /etc/hotclient.conf (or ~/.hotclientrc if you are going to run it using your id) with the following text:
   
[HOTWIRE]
server=210.x.xxx.xx
username=yourusername
password=your password


USAGE

1. Run the program hotclient without any arguments to see the syntax.
2. You should now be able to login by using the command hotclient --login or just hotclient -i.
3. You should be able to logout by using the command hotclient --logout or just hotclient -o.

DOWNLOAD

Download hotclient (Rev 7 - 2005-01-24 13:28:05 +0530)
Also, a sample configuration file, and a convenient initscript to login automatically on bootup

CONTACT

Please send feedback/brickbats/flowers/fecalgrams to (sandip AT lug - delhi DOT ORG)

Note

This page can also be accessed using the url http://tinyurl.com/6d6fh.