Schedule Automatic Unattended Night Downloads [BSNL/MTNL/Others]

Recently, I changed my broadband plan to BSNL’s Home 500C. The advantage is of 2Mbps speeds and unlimited usage at night between 2am to 8am. Not many would want to stay awake at 2am to switch on the computer and start the downloads, not to mention (in some cases) rebooting the router or modem, and then turning off the router and computer before 8am. Here’s an easy method to automate the whole process of scheduling night unlimited downloads, right from restarting the router at 2am to switching off the computer at 8am. This is for people running Windows. I’m yet to check whether the same can be done on Linux.

Part 1: To Automatically Reboot The Router At 2.10 AM

1. Please make sure to install Firefox if you already haven’t. Not only is it the best browser, but we need it for this article.
   
2. Install it in C:\Software\Firefox. (choose “custom” while installing and give the directory I mentioned). This is for convenience. If not, don’t worry, we’ll do the required modifications later.
3. Download this file: [right-click link -> Save As..] Reboot.bat
4. Move it to C:\
5. Add a new Scheduled Task (learn how to here). When it asks you to choose a program, choose the “reboot.bat” file under C:\ that you just downloaded. Give it a name (say “reboot”), assign it to run everyday, specify the time (maybe 2.10am), enter your password (if any), and specify it to open the advanced tasks.
6. Under the “Start In” box, type: C:\Software\Firefox



7. Follow steps 5 and 6 to create ANOTHER task with the run time as 7.49 AM. This is more of a precaution than a necessity.

Part 2: To Automatically Shutdown The Computer Before 8 AM:

1. Create a new Scheduled Task, only this time do it by the File -> New method.
2. Rename it if you’d like, to maybe “shutdown”. Open it.
   Copy and paste the following into the RUN box:

   C:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe -s

   Copy and paste the following into the Start In box:

   C:\WINDOWS\system32

3. Set the password (if any).
4. Under the “Schedule” tab, change the time to 7.50 AM.

Additional Points

• Firefox HAS to be running prior to the 2 AM mark AND you need to be logged in to your router’s admin page (http://192.168.1.1). This is because Firefox has an annoying security feature where it asks you to confirm logging in to the site. If you know any work around to this, please leave a comment and you’ll get credit.
• Don’t forget to create a Scheduled Task for uTorrent to start! I’d suggest running it at 2.12 AM. Also, learn how to make uTorrent download only between 2am and 8am. So even if the computer fails to shutdown for some reason, uTorrent won’t download past the 8 AM mark.
• If you installed Firefox in it’s default directory, change the path in Part 1: Step 6 to C:\Progra~1\Mozilla or what ever it is. Also, edit the reboot.bat file (right-click -> edit) that you downloaded in Step 3 to highlight the necessary changes.
• The reboot.bat file contains the default password of most routers (ie. “admin” as username and password). If yours has a different username/password combination, don’t forget to edit the file. Example, admin:password instead of admin:admin.
• If Windows does not shutdown automatically because of an annoying “End Task” alert, you might want to read this article on how you can disable that.
• P.S. – I’ve been following this method for about 3 weeks now. It’s never failed. BUT, I am not to be held responsible if anything goes wrong, you get billed for excess usage, or ANY other incidence. This is just a guide, and is not definitive. Do so at your own risk. (I stayed up 3 nights to see if this works, and for me, it did work.)