Reliably disabling internet access on Windows 7 and up - windows

Question

I'm trying to write a script that requires turning off the Internet entirely and then turning it back on. I'd like it to work in as many cases as possible...
support for Window 7 and up
if multiple Internet connections are on (like WiFi and LAN)
regardless of how these connections are named
limited user account, UAC?
ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew, as suggested in this answer, do not work with 2 internet connections. /release disables the active connection (say WLAN) but the computer falls back on the LAN connection and you're still online.
$connectedAdapters = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter -Filter "NetConnectionStatus = 2"
$connectedAdapters | Invoke-WmiMethod -Name disable
My questions are:
Is NetConnectionStatus = 2 a reliable proxy for internet access, and is it available on Windows 7 and up, regardless of the brand of your NIC?
Is this compatible with a limited user account with UAC on? I think so...
On my machine this query also catches VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter. Is it a problem if I disable/enable it too?
Are Get-WmiObject and Invoke-WmiMethod are available on Windows 7 and up, right?

Answer 1

The questions are not entirely settled, but I've developed a script that works:
PowerShell Internet Connection helper functions: Go-Offline, Go-Online, Test-InternetAccess
#Requires -Version 2.0
function Test-InternetAccess {
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Tests connectivity by pinging Google DNS servers once
.DESCRIPTION
Uses Test-Connection to ping a host, with -Quiet for returning a boolean. The default is a highly available Google DNS server (8.8.4.4)
.EXAMPLE
Test-InternetAccess
.EXAMPLE
Test-InternetAccess example.com
.INPUTS
None.
.OUTPUTS
Boolean
#>
param (
[String]
$RemoteHost = "google-public-dns-b.google.com"
)
Test-Connection -Computer $RemoteHost -BufferSize 16 -Count 1 -Quiet
}
function Go-Offline {
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Disables your internet connection
.DESCRIPTION
Finds all network adapters that appear connected and disables them, taking you offline. Later on you can re-enable just those adapters, because they've been stored in an XML file. Connected adapters are detected through WMI. A NetConnectionStatus value of 2 means Connected. 7 means Media Disconnected.
.EXAMPLE
Go-Offline
.INPUTS
None.
.OUTPUTS
None.
.LINK
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/heyscriptingguy/2011/10/07/use-powershell-to-identify-your-real-network-adapter/
.LINK
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394216(v=vs.85).aspx
#>
[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$True)]
param()
$XMLLocation = "$env:TEMP\Disabled-NICs.xml"
if (Test-InternetAccess) {
$connectedAdapters = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter -Filter "NetConnectionStatus = 2"
# Go offline
$connectedAdapters | Invoke-WMIMethod -Name disable 1>$null
# Save which adapters were connected at the time
$connectedAdapters | Select Name, DeviceID | Export-Clixml -Path $XMLLocation -Force
Write-Output "You've been taken offline!"
Sleep 1
} else {
Write-Output "Connection already down..."
Sleep 1
}
}
function Go-Online {
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Re-enables your internet connection
.DESCRIPTION
Finds all network adapters that were previously disabled by Go-Offline and enables them. This information is persisted in a temp file.
.EXAMPLE
Go-Online
.INPUTS
None.
.OUTPUTS
None.
.LINK
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/heyscriptingguy/2011/10/07/use-powershell-to-identify-your-real-network-adapter/
#>
[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$True)]
param()
$XMLLocation = "$env:TEMP\Disabled-NICs.xml"
if (!(Test-InternetAccess)) {
# Get the NICs that have been previously disabled
$connectedAdapters = Import-Clixml "$env:TEMP\Disabled-NICs.xml" | Select -ExpandProperty DeviceID | ForEach {Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter -Filter "DeviceID = $_"}
# Get back online
$connectedAdapters | Invoke-WMIMethod -Name enable | Out-Null
Write-Output "Internet access restored!" # Triggers early, before actual re-connection
Sleep 1
}
}
Tested on Windows 7.