need a free, easy to use open source network monitoring software - what's good?

[newbury]

I'm trying to monitor my DSL network connectivity to the internet. Lately it's been "dropping" off, I'd try it at 2am, no connectivity, had to reset the DSL modem. same thing on other days at other hours, no discernible pattern.
So I'm looking for free SIMPLE software I can leave running 24/7 that will tell me when the net is down, versus trying to remember how to write my own. I'm thinking something that would (like) ping CNN.com, and write a record, say every 10 seconds.
This article looks at a few packages but they are all FAR more than I think I need.
Any suggestions?

 

[/pine]

I'm trying to monitor my DSL network connectivity to the internet. Lately it's been "dropping" off, I'd try it at 2am, no connectivity, had to reset the DSL modem. same thing on other days at other hours, no discernible pattern.
So I'm looking for free SIMPLE software I can leave running 24/7 that will tell me when the net is down, versus trying to remember how to write my own. I'm thinking something that would (like) ping CNN.com, and write a record, say every 10 seconds.
This article looks at a few packages but they are all FAR more than I think I need.
Any suggestions?

Did you try searching for one? try searching for: >windows ping command with a log and time stamp<

to write your own...just type out a ping command with log file and save it as a .BAT or .exe file...then schedule it to run/ execute at whatever interval you want...

something like this >> ping -n 500 [cnn.com] > ping.txt. should work...(may need to add a dir for the log )

 

[ericm979]

Don't forget to use the flag that turns off DNS lookups (it's -n on unix, dunno what it is on windows) and to use an IP address as the target. That way your measurements are not contaminated by DNS being slow or failing. That can also be interesting but it's best to measure that separately.

8.8.8.8 is a good target. That's Google's public DNS resolver. It is always up, it's on a fast network, and they allow DMCP packets to go through.

on unix I use cron to schedule the pings every N minutes rather than using ping's delay or wrapping it in a script with sleeps, both of which can fail when you need them. There is probably a windows equivalent to cron.

To further debug the problem you can run a second ping that hits the other end of your DSL or just a few hops into the ISP's network. Use traceroute (i think it's tracert on windows) to discover what those nodes are. You can use that to see if the problem is local to your DSL service or if it's upstream in the provider's network.

Don't forget to use the option for ping that makes it quit after a while rather than waiting forever for a reply. Otherwise when the network goes down each ping process will hang, and you'll end up with tens or hundreds of them.

 

[EarPlug]

1 Best Ping Monitoring Software Tools for 2 (Free + Paid)

Ping Monitor - Free Network Ping Monitoring Tool

 

[TractorGuy]

I've been having to restart my ZTE Velocity modem that I put my Mobley SIM in frequently. I suspect it's an AT&T thing. I did check and reset it to never sleep after doing a factory reset on it. I just pulled the SIM and cleaned it which sometimes seems to help but I won't know until later tonight or in the morning if it helped.

 

[ericm979]

the ping and traceroute commands are standard equipment on Windows, Mac and Unix.

 

[newbury]

1 Best Ping Monitoring Software Tools for 22 (Free + Paid)

Ping Monitor - Free Network Ping Monitoring Tool

GREAT!!
Thanks, that's just what I was looking for. I'll try a couple of them there and try to remember to report back,