Software for connection inspection?

From time to time I have difficulty connecting to the internet. Thank goodness that rarely occurs. But when I do have a connection problem, I would like to be able to find out WHICH of the following is causing the problem...

1- Is it a problem at my end? Maybe I need to reboot my modem or my router?

2- Is it my ISP?

3- Is it my DNS?

I would appreciate any & all suggestions as to how to pin down the cause of a connection problem.

 

i would also be interested in something, if it exists..

 

The easiest way is with your old friend Ping. When I have an issue the first thing I do is ping my router. If I can get to it I know it's not my computer. Next, I ping something past the router, like a dns server, by IP address. Try more than one if that doesn't work. Does your modem have an IP address? If so you can try to contact it either by ping or web interface if it has one. If you can ping out to the DNS server then try pinging something by name instead of IP and see if the name resolves, or do a ping -a. There's a reason pretty much every OS comes with a ping utility.

 

Try the stuff at SpeedGuide ...

http://www.speedguide.net/index.php

They have the TCP/IP analyzer and optimizer, might work for you.

Regards,
Mrk

 

Yes! It works fine. I did a bit of googling to learn how to do what you suggested. Here is what I ended up doing...

1-Start>Run> type "cmd" (no quotes) > enter
2-Gets command prompt.
3-Enter "ipconfig" (no quotes)
4- IP address of "Default Gateway" is the internal IP address of my router
5- Ping my router's IP. If it answers, my computer is okay.
6- Ping something outside (I used google.com). It it answers, the whole enchilada is quite edible.

As to your question: "Does my modem have an IP address?" If it does have one, I have no idea how to find out what it is. Do you?

Might be handy for checking a connection -- speed etc -- but I'm not sure as to how it could be used to diagnose connection problems.

 

Do you have intermittent connection issues or no connection at all?

If it's the former, then speedguide might point you in the right direction. The optimizer tool lets you ping various addresses with varying packets sizes to see the max. mtu without fragmentation, set the right windows size, etc. Could help.

Mrk

 

That looks familiar!
Sometimes, due to various factors, your computers TCP stack, winsock files, other settings...can get scrambled up a bit, and our TCP Optimizer can help bring things back to a normal state, and even optimize it a bit more for your connection. Esp relating to MTU and RWIN. It's less effective with Veester 'n Win7 due to auto tuning, etc.

To the OP....yes using ping is a good initial test. We'd want to check your computer, its connection to your router (is that was broke.such as...if you're using a wireless connection and it dropped for a few minutes)...so you're testing your LAN connection. Or..is it your router getting bogged down...such as from heavy traffic like some home grade routers do. Or..is your router dropping its connection to your ISP..the WAN connection.

 

I like this little portable/freeware tool, been using it for quite some time:

http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1199

Sure you can do a lot of this stuff from the command prompt, but with this you can store numerous sites to check in the drop downs and quickly do a Trace to different sites to see where the slowdown exists, control how many pings to send etc without typing (yeah lazy).

I covered the first few hops, because it contains my router, outside IP, the exchange near my house etc.

 

Look at the modem, get the model number and google it for info. The Scientific Atlanta modem I have has a management interface on 192.168.100.1 that I can ping to make sure the router is passing traffic.

 

Wow! This thread has turned into a goldmine. Not only have I obtained a better idea of how to diagnose connection problems, but also I've learned a bit more about the inner workings of TCP/IP & other such tech stuff. MANY thanks to all who have contributed. I am fully persuaded that other readers of this thread will also reap great benefits from the advice & links provided herein.

Oh yes! EToolz makes ping-diagnosing much easier than doing it by the command prompt. This little doozy has earned itself a top-ten spot on my list of "must have" apps.

@Mrkvonic - I will try the apps/scans you linked to -- after I get back from my acupuncture appointment. (You have heard of "bad hair days", right? Well, I'm having a "bad neck day." Ouch!)

 

nmap is all Im saying.

http://nmap.org/dist/nmap-5.21-setup.exe

 

I used to like the program my vital agent for such problems when i was using 98 and 2000.Im pretty sure it works on xp too ,though im not 100%.If your using xp or below then it may be worth trying.Its hard to find a copy of the program now ,though theres a link here..
http://software.emule.com/my-vital-agent-8-0-1/
but be sure to untick the optional toolbars that this file is bundled with.
Another good program but not freeware (though there is a trial) is path analyzer pro...
http://www.pathanalyzer.com/.........I find this programe better than visualroute
http://www.visualroute.com/
but both can help you with the problems you mention,by showing where bottlenecks are ,and lost packets etc.Theres also free visualroute lite http://www.visualroute.com/lite.html
ellison

 

Netalyzr

 

I did not know of this one. Very interesting and thorough diagnostic tool. It found some singular network anomalies that I should pass to my ISP's support staff. Thanks MrBrian.

EDIT: Nir Sofer has some little tools that should not be overlook too, AdapterWatch being one of them.

 

This dadgummed thing installed Java without my knowing it. It was my fault, of course. When I clicked on Netalyzr's button, my HIPS (Malware Defender) began popping up like crazy. Right at that moment I had a visitor drop by -- so I temporarily disabled MD's protection. By the time I got back to my computer, Java had installed itself. It couldn't execute, of course (thanks to NoScript).

Shame on me for breaking my own rules.

(Yes, I know lots of folks happily use Java apps. As for me -- I seldom try Java-based apps. When I do so, it's always on a test machine. Why? Because I got burned once. Once burned, twice shy.)

I later tried Netalyzr on a test machine -- NICE app. Very thorough.