No way to use ModLoader if it can't phone home

I'm suffering the infamous "Time Out" from the updater. While going through the troubleshooting process I notice there's a) no way to manually download the latest build from the main website b) no way to have the ModLoader go ahead without successfully phoning home.

When playing a single-player offline game, it seems wonky to need to have the modloader contact the website to work. Obviously I wouldn't get the latest versions of things, and I wouldn't be notified about mod updates, but if your services go down or if I'm offline, being able to limp along with my current working versions of mods and modloader would be nice.

We get erratic network service here, so I've always got an eye out for "What happens if I'm offline".