Rasdial Syntax

• The correct syntax for the rasdial command is the following: rasdial ConnectionName [UserName [{Password | *}]] [/domain:Domain] [/phone:PhoneNumber] [/callback:CallbackNumber] [/phonebook:PhonebookPath] [/prefixsuffix] . With this syntax, you can use any dial-up connection already created on your computer or you can dial out on the fly as long as you know the username, password and phone number you are dialing to. In either case, you need to set up a dial up connection in the "Network Settings" portion of the control panel. This connection doesn't need to have any real information in it; its purpose is to reference the modem you are using so that the rasdial command knows which modem to dial out on.
  
  

Connecting with Rasdial

• An example command that would let you dial out to a specific number would be the following: rasdial MyConnection username@isp.com:mypassword /phone:15551234567. This command would tell the computer to use the modem that the phone book entry "MyConnection" uses to initiate a connection to the phone number "15551234567" and, when the server on the other end requests a username and password, to give it the username of "username@isp.com" and the password "mypassword." If you want to just use the default settings that are assigned to your phone book connection, then you can leave off the username, password and phone number entries and just use the command "rasdial MyConnection."
  
  

Disconnecting with Rasdial

• Once you have established a dial-up connection, you'll probably want to disconnect at some point. To do this, you can use rasdial in the following way: rasdial MyConnection/disconnect. This will force the modem to disconnect from the server, freeing up your phone line and allowing you to connect to a different number if you wish to do so. While you're connected, you won't be able to make any changes to the connection or use that modem to initiate another connection until the current connection has been disconnected.