Internet connection monitor

January 19, 2006 10:40 AM

Is there a simple app out there that will monitor when my Internet connection goes up and down? I've seen dozens of utilities out there that monitor a specific website, but I figure these utilities might just error out if my own connection is down. Besides I should be monitoring 2 or 3 sites rather than just one to get a true measure of whether the Internet is down.
posted by rolypolyman to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

See, for example, DSLR's paid service.
posted by aberrant at 10:49 AM on January 19, 2006

So you want a utility to monitor whether your computer can access the Internet? And you want to run this utility on said computer? Your question was confusing, just wanted to make sure I understand.
posted by deadfather at 10:52 AM on January 19, 2006

DynDns.org offers network monitoring for $100 a year but I imagine that's more than you want. Ask some perl hacker nicely and they'll write you something that will ping your DNS primary and secondary server once every 1 minute. If you can't get to either your connection is down. It would be a pretty simple task.
posted by phearlez at 10:53 AM on January 19, 2006

If you can't get to either your connection is down.

Not necessarily true, esp. if you're using a lame ISP whose DNS servers are on the same subnet. It could mean that the ISP's service network is having problems.
posted by aberrant at 11:08 AM on January 19, 2006

Response by poster: Some pertinent info I probably didn't make clear.
(1) I am not running a server.
(2) I'm trying to monitor details about the uptime of my DSL connection.
(3) I want to know what timespans that connection is down.
posted by rolypolyman at 11:13 AM on January 19, 2006

If you're using a router that can be pinged from the outside, then my first link above is a good way to go as it meets all your criteria. It costs money, though, and you didn't mention whether that was acceptable.
posted by aberrant at 11:19 AM on January 19, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks, that looks like one good option.. DSL Reports no less.
posted by rolypolyman at 11:23 AM on January 19, 2006

On Linux, I use the multiping extension for GKRellm to ping 4-5 sites every 5 minutes or so to make sure my connection is still working. I'm not sure what OS you're using, but, something similar should exist with logging. A google search for multiping might be helpful.
posted by JMOZ at 12:02 PM on January 19, 2006

i run nullsofts netmon all day everyday. great light little app.
posted by specialk420 at 5:36 PM on January 19, 2006