[X-Unix] Need to log internet connectivity

[William H. Magill]

On 27 Jun, 2004, at 15:27, Jerry Krinock wrote:
> Thanks, William.  These details would be nice, but I just want to show 
> my
> ISP that is failed.  They should have a log of failures at the higher
> levels.

Yeah, maybe. But with "big" ISP's like Earthlink, they are not much 
different from TPC (The phone company) ... things get magically fixed 
even though their logs show no problems.

>> In my case, with my DSL line I have a real ISP and static addresses,
>> don't have to use PPPOE and DHCP. I have a script which runs
>> periodically on one of my systems which uses ping to determine if
>> certain portions of the network are reachable.
>
> I do not have static IP with Earthlink, but I don't think that 
> matters.  I
> think that pinging their POP server, or, say, yahoo.com would be 
> sufficient.
> I presume your script is a cron job?

Correct.

The only trick/problem with PPOE based ISPs is that they frequently 
block ping (ICMP) traffic.

>> I have had DSL since the beginning, so I have a seriously dumb and
>> non-manageable DSL modem.
>
> Mine may be more manageable but you have to connect a Windows PC with 
> and
> old-fashioned RS232 to the "comm" port.  I don't think it is "web
> addressable."

That's probably only for the pretty GUI. It probably has an 
"undocumented" command line interface. Try simply connecting the serial 
port on the Mac (via a Keyspan serial adapter) and use something like 
Kermit to connect to it. (you need a serial communications program, not 
a TCP/IP based program. ... unless of course the modem actually 
supports PPP itself, which is a possibility.

What kind of modem is it? You can probably find the OEM specs on the 
web.

> During the last hour, I set my pop email client to check for email 
> every 1
> minute.  The trouble I found is that, with PPPoE, once the connection 
> drops,
> it seems the Mac OS defaults to the internal modem (even though it is 
> "not
> configured"), and does not seem try to re-establish PPPoE until I open
> System Preferences > Network > Show: Network Status and click Connect. 
>  This
> is even though I have checked "Connec automatially when needed" and  
> "Send
> PPP echo packets", and un-checked "Disconnect if idle".
>
> Does anyone know if this can be made to reconnect automatically with 
> PPPoE?

Check MacOXhints or  MacFixit ... I've heard discussions about this 
problem but don't recall where.  Although, I know it is common as 
Linksys has instructions for dealing with it under Windows as part of 
their Users manual.

They include the comment -- "PPPoE by nature is not a "dedicated 
connection". The DSL Internet Service Provider can disconnect the 
service after a period of inactivity, just like the normal phone 
dial-up connection to the Internet. There is an option to Keep Alive. 
This may not ways work, so you may need to re-establish connection."

>> As far as troubleshooting interference on the DSL line, the most 
>> likely
>> problem has to do with the modem loosing sync with the DSLAM. The 
>> cause
>> is one of two things -- either you have real "line noise" problem; or
>> you have CO activity which results in the DSLAM being reset on a
>> "routine" basis by Telco technicians....
>
> I believe the problem is impulse noise which comes and goes.  Until
> recently, we only had the problem when it rained, but during the past 
> sunny
> week it's been doing it on and off all day.  There is a correlation 
> between
> the DSL being out of sync, with the amount of impulse noise (which 
> sounds
> like kkkkick......kkkkkick) that I hear on our voice telephone.
>
> William, please post your script when you get a chance!!

Unless there's a great deal of interest, I'll send it to you 
independently.
It's a typical hack ... not packaged or documented.

T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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