Scheduling a RAS Connection Using the AT Command

This article discusses a method for automatically dialing a Remote Access Service (RAS) phonebook entry at a scheduled time.

To configure the automatic dialing of one of your RAS phonebook entries, perform the following steps as appropriate to your operating system:

Create a batch file using Edit.com that contains the following:
Where <phonebook entry name> is the name of the phonebook entry that you want to automatically dial. If your phonebook entry contains spaces, you must enclose it in quotations, such as "My Phonebook Entry".

NOTE: Using Edit.com will ensure that Unicode characters are not embedded within the batch file that you create.

For Windows NT 3.5, 3.51, and 4.0:

Type the following at a command prompt and press Enter:
AT <time of day> /interactive <file name>

Where <time of day> is the time that you would like this command to run and where <file name> is the path to and the name of the batch file that you created in step 1 above. NOTE: The first time the batch file is run using the AT command, Rasphone.exe will request the user name, password, and domain name. This is because the AT command uses the Windows NT System account and not a user account. Because the System account has not performed the dial-up previously, you will be prompted for logon information. If you save the password during the first dial-up, the System account will not prompt you again.

If the steps above are not followed correctly, you may see the following event log message in Event Viewer:


Where <file name> is the same as that specified above.

For Windows 2000 add a Scheduled Task using the following steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and click Scheduled Tasks.
2. Double-click on Add Scheduled Task to start the Scheduled Task Wizard.
3. Click on Next, then click Browse and select the batch file created above, click OK, then click Next.
4. Type a name for the scheduled task, choose when to perform the task, and click Next.
5. Enter the starting date and time and click Next.
6. Enter the user name and password of the account that will run the task and click Next.
7. Click Finish.

Scheduled Tasks in Windows 2000 act as a replacement for the AT command. The AT command can still be used, but it will run the batch file in the wrong user account, and will not be able to access the phonebook entry. Specifying the user account in which to run the batch file avoids this problem.