authenticating gateway

My present ISP just started using an authenticating gateway for some reason, meaning all internet protocols are blocked until I open a browser, try to go anywhere, get the prompt to authenticate, enter my username and password, and then I am allowed past the local net. Does anyone know of a way to automate this in Linux. From a boot, I have several things accessing the internet, i.e. xntpd, fetchmail, etc., that just fail til I authenticate. Any ideas? -- Joe Morris New Tribes Mission Email Address: Joe_Morris@ntm.org Registered Linux user 231871