How to track ISP connection failure..

So..I have a Comcast modem, wired to a Linksys N Router. Sometimes it works fine, other times it just won't load the internet at all. I've been in the IT game for a while, so I know what to check, and it almost always checks out ok. I have removed my router from the network, and the issue persists so I know the router is fine. It's just sometimes(not always at peak), I can't load a page or site. This is very frustrating when writing a post in a forum, just to have the page not load and the text box cleared if I refresh. It also gets me when I do my online bill payments, and I'm not sure if they go through or not. 2 months ago, it actually setup double payments..if I hadn't added a new payee a few days later I wouldn't have been able to stop the extra money from going away..

What I do get is just a blank page, on the status bar it reads :Looking up yahoo . com, or whatever I'm trying to load. A few times, I have been able to flush the DNS cache and it works, but others it doesn't. I also notice I get cached pages quite a lot, even though I have the settings set to check for a new version every time..it still doesn't!!

I guess I'm looking for a way to track constant connection status, like a neverending ping, but with exportable reports. I want to be able to call Comcast and tell them to fix their stinky network, but I know I'l get stuck with some super-noob reading off level 1 crap from his computer screen. I'm not going to reset the modem every doggone time I want to go online..

I'm going to swap out the modem this week to see if it is the modem itself, but this happened with a different modem as well..

Am I just up sh1ts creek without a paddle, or is anything else I can try?...

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tiersten

Roll your own or use something like MRTG or Cacti

I've got a combination of IOS IP SLA and Cacti monitoring my internal network and external routes.

veritas_libertas

Ricka182 wrote: »

So..I have a Comcast modem, wired to a Linksys N Router. Sometimes it works fine, other times it just won't load the internet at all. I've been in the IT game for a while, so I know what to check, and it almost always checks out ok. I have removed my router from the network, and the issue persists so I know the router is fine. It's just sometimes(not always at peak), I can't load a page or site. This is very frustrating when writing a post in a forum, just to have the page not load and the text box cleared if I refresh. It also gets me when I do my online bill payments, and I'm not sure if they go through or not. 2 months ago, it actually setup double payments..if I hadn't added a new payee a few days later I wouldn't have been able to stop the extra money from going away..

What I do get is just a blank page, on the status bar it reads :Looking up yahoo . com, or whatever I'm trying to load. A few times, I have been able to flush the DNS cache and it works, but others it doesn't. I also notice I get cached pages quite a lot, even though I have the settings set to check for a new version every time..it still doesn't!!

I guess I'm looking for a way to track constant connection status, like a neverending ping, but with exportable reports. I want to be able to call Comcast and tell them to fix their stinky network, but I know I'l get stuck with some super-noob reading off level 1 crap from his computer screen. I'm not going to reset the modem every doggone time I want to go online..

I'm going to swap out the modem this week to see if it is the modem itself, but this happened with a different modem as well..

Am I just up sh1ts creek without a paddle, or is anything else I can try?...

Try to keep calling until you get someone who sounds intelligent. I once got an uber-geek from Verizon who understand me, and walking me through how to setup my Verizon DSL connection so it would work right for my needs. Call them when it is night in India. You want to speak to an American who can actually do something about your problem.

Forsaken_GA

A friend of mine uses nagios to track his connection being available. Every month he gets a small refund from Comcast when he provides them with the nagios logs proving small outages.

veritas_libertas

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

A friend of mine uses nagios to track his connection being available. Every month he gets a small refund from Comcast when he provides them with the nagios logs proving small outages.

Nice...

Ricka182

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

A friend of mine uses nagios to track his connection being available. Every month he gets a small refund from Comcast when he provides them with the nagios logs proving small outages.

Sweet! Many thanks, will certainly check that out...

Ricka182

Okay...so I've downloaded Naggios, and 7-Zip to extract the files.. But I can't figure out to install it. I checked in the quickstart folder, but they only cover Linux. I can't even find a setup.exe to run..

Any tips, or am I just too tired to figure this out..it's been a long day..

ColbyG

Ricka182 wrote: »

Okay...so I've downloaded Naggios, and 7-Zip to extract the files.. But I can't figure out to install it. I checked in the quickstart folder, but they only cover Linux. I can't even find a setup.exe to run..

Any tips, or am I just too tired to figure this out..it's been a long day..

I thought Nagios was *nix only?

Ricka182

ColbyNA wrote: »

I thought Nagios was *nix only?

Hmm...I thought I saw a Windows screenshot on their page...

will have to check tomorrow...fighting sleep right now..not winning..

tiersten

Nagios isn't a standalone package. It requires a suitable webserver that supports Perl CGI scripts to provide the UI and a Perl interpreter to actually run the main application.

Setting up Nagios isn't quick or user friendly. You're mostly thrown into the deep end with some documentation and an example configuration to alter.

tiersten

Hmm. Looking at the Nagios documentation, it appears that they don't actually officially support installation on anything but 3 specific Linux distributions. If you want to run it on an OS that isn't Linux or a distribution that isn't one of the listed ones then you're on your own.

Cacti appears to support a Windows installation but still requires you to install multiple packages. If you want something that is actually designed to run on Windows then try PRTG. It is only free if you have 10 or less sensors though. If you need anything more than that then you'll need to purchase a license.

Ricka182

Yeah, I read over the Naggios documentation today. It won't work for me... I will check out that PRTG link when I get home. Stuff like that is blocked by my work proxy, and my admin level isn't high enough to go around it.. thanks!

ColbyG

Ricka182 wrote: »

Yeah, I read over the Naggios documentation today. It won't work for me... I will check out that PRTG link when I get home. Stuff like that is blocked by my work proxy, and my admin level isn't high enough to go around it.. thanks!

PRTG is good stuff. I use it on my Windows fileserver/monitoring box at home.

Ahriakin

Opsview is a much more user friendly/GUI configurable Nagios overlay (and more). You can get it as a VM to run on a Windows box if you feel more comfortable that way.