Is there a way to monitor all device's internet connection ?

[TDoGChad]

Is there a way to monitor all device's internet connection into a log ? (computer, laptop, tablets and phone ... all in one)

Deeper explanation :

because I do not like AT&T DSL 5M internet provider, but that is the only company in this area that has it.
(no Hughes dish etc ... no)

anyway, I am getting sick of disconnecting and reconnecting ... not sure if that DSL is fluctuating ... or along the DSL lines thru houses/business re-wiring DSL ... or etc etc etc ...

how can I know whether is it guaranteed disconnected/Reconnected by computer or DSL or etc ?

I was playing a 8 ball tournament online and lost one match dues disconnecting (no, hack/cheat involved because I played on mobile)

only thing I noticed is that AT&T cellular data still connected forever without getting disconnected ... but I can not use data plan because of the limited bandwidth/data usage.

so, I tried nearly everything I can think of and researched hard ... and tested it ... I still can not find an issue, even DSL guy came here to check it out ... nothing's wrong here ... BS ... there is something, somewhere that is causing disconnecting and reconnecting ...

already did flush dns, clear cache, etc etc ...

I just need networking monitor log because I am can not watch all 6 devices and test it when disconnecting occurs ... I thought that is a great idea to pinpoint even further down, for example : laptop #2, tablet #1 and this computer gets disconnecting reconnecting when occurs ... while other 3 does not ... then why this 3 can not do what other 3 can do ? ...that is the idea ... could be hardware, but not likely though.

I hope you get the idea what I am trying to say and asking for ... I am really tired of this "disconnecting/reconnecting" ... and it seems it only happens so often at business hours ... and fewer at night ... since it's fewer at night ... then it can not be the devices, but rather outside my home ... like hub, lines, create new buildings causing it ...

Is there anything that can helps me to see closer and pinpoint what causing DSL to disconnecting/reconnecting and networking monitoring ?

 

[GokAy]

All I can think of at the moment is open a command prompt and run:

ping -t 8.8.8.8

This will keep pinging Google DNS server. And check the machines (you can run the command on) when you face a disconnect/issue.

 

[UsernameIssues]

In addition to GokAy's excellent advice, you can run a constant ping to your router/modem too. That will let you know if something has barfed inside you network while the constant ping to 8.8.8.8 will let you know if it is outside of your network.

 

[TDoGChad]

Ok thanks ... and doing it now and see ... umm ... what exactly is "Request timed out." means ? I got that like every 1 min 3 times ... ok, now longer than 5 minutes ... no "request timed out" yet. is there a timestamp in this dos/ command ping ? ... ahhh now about 6th minutes ... I got another "request timed out."

this is a good way to monitoring ... simpler question ... this ping -t is not a form of dos attack (abuse) against google, right ?

ahhh ... I just ping -t my default gateway ... also gets request timed out, too like every 3 or 4 minutes

Is there a way that I can ping -t miniclip.com (mobile (android/iOS), not web (PC, Mac, Linux)) 8 ball game server to see I am NOT the one getting disconnecting from the game ? And also ping the forum at Official 8 Ball Pool Forum

ahh ... I just saw both google and my default gateway "requested timed out" at the same time.

I am reading this ... JMU - pingtrace

It said that request timed out is normal ...

and how would I know if my AT&T DSL is disconnecting ... will it say request timed out longer ?

I just got 2 request timed out twice in a row on google

 

[UsernameIssues]

Ping is a network diagnostic tool. It is given low priority on most networks. If other traffic needs to get thru, the ping traffic might just drop. Pinging Google's server will not hurt the server. If it does not have the time to answer your ping, it won't.

The default ping command on a Windows computer is set to wait 4 seconds for a reply. If nothing comes back within 4 seconds, you should see: "Request timed out."

If you want to change the time that ping waits, use:

ping -4 8.8.8.8 -t -w 1000

The various switches can go before or after the address to be pinged.
The "-4" tells ping to use the IPv4 protocol. (Nothing for you to care about.)
The -t tells ping to repeat until you stop it.
The -w specifies the time to wait (in milliseconds).
Setting that time to less then 1000 will most likely be ignored.


> and how would I know if my AT&T DSL is disconnecting
It is somewhat subjective. 5 or 10 timeouts in a row to that google ping would be a disconnect in my opinion. That would be 40 seconds if you stick with the default ping values. That said, you might want to ping several servers on the Internet. It would be unlikely that they would all decide to not reply to you at the exact same time.

You linked to info about tracert. You can use that to gather some IP addresses to ping. Not all servers will reply to pings. Some ignore all ping requests.

You might also check the service agreement. Some ISP providers do not guarantee 100% connectivity.

If you are causing heavy traffic (perhaps by streaming a video), then the pings might time out due to the other traffic. When streaming, leave Task Manager open and watch the tab named Networking.

Click on View in the menu bar.
Select Network Adapter History.
Put a check by red.
Repeat the steps above and put a check by yellow.
Repeat the steps above and uncheck green.

Click on View in the menu bar.
Select Update Speed > High

Click on Options in the menu bar.
Put a check by everything except Always on top and Reset.

Leave Task Manager running. If the stream starts buffering or halts, then bring up Task Manager and look at the graph of the network traffic history. You won't really know if the source of the stream has an issue or if your service is the problem, but at least you can "see" the traffic change.

 

[TDoGChad]

I know about this part "Some ISP providers do not guarantee 100% connectivity." but every like 10 minutes or more like 2-8 times an hour during rush hours like around 9am-11pm or 3pm til 5pm ... that is NOT normal ... that seems like someone unplug and replug (kinda like like re-route or switch to different jack) the connection at the hub where people builings business or redesign homes along the way to AT&T home.

I was kinda exciting to read and learn until this part

You won't really know if the source of the stream has an issue or if your service is the problem, but at least you can "see" the traffic change.

that is NOT fair !!! ... ARGH !!! ... (*chuckling*)

that is EXACTLY what I am looking for ... is it "me", "Miniclip 8 ball" server or "AT&T" ? ... I even look at https://downdetector.com/status/att ...that is the only 3 I wanted to know ... anything else I don't care

the main point is that I love to play 8 ball and playing at like the highest tier (very expensive 2,500,000 pool coins) ... and if I get disconnected ... (*beep*beeeeeeeep*) ... it is really hard to keep the pool coins balance at least 10,000,000 ... then until if I ever reach to 1,000,000,000 pool coins ... maybe I won't care disconnecting much anymore, because 20M is the highest tier called "ALL IN" but capped at 20M entry fee and having 1B pool coins then it takes alot to lose to go broke to start all over again ... so that is why I wanted to fix this disconnecting issues ... and I am trying to figure it out ... is it ME, MINICLIP, or AT&T ? My average is about 10M ... my highest earning is 16M pool coins and did went down 890,000 pool coins then back up to 2.2M ... GEEZ ... 3 highest tier I played got disconnected ... I can see my network turned the yellow sign the back to normal, but not fast enough to get back in the game before losing the game.

cheaters/hackers can not hurt mobile (very rarely) ... but web version (like PC) ... there is ALOT of lag, disconnected etc etc ... that is why I stick with my mobile

Thanks for your help and if you have more ... please keep teaching

p.s. I look at Resource Monitor's Network and may have to research to understand deeper about it.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Do others in your area have the same issues?

If no, then keep talking with AT&T until they find the issue.

If yes, then encourage them all to call and complain.

There are areas near me where AT&T has some very old equipment. It cannot deliver the bandwidth needed for all of the connections being made. Unfortunately, not enough people will complain.


You might also call AT&T and ask a customer service rep to remotely control your computer. Ask them to then connect to your router/modem and show you how/where to read various log files*. The point of this remote control session is not so much for you to learn about those log files - the point is for them to get disconnected during their attempts to help you. I've done this more than once - but it was years ago for a friend that I was helping. Maybe the service reps are not allowed to remotely control a customer's computer anymore. But it sure makes a point about how bad the service is if they cannot stay connected to you. I've done this with other ISPs too. It drives the point home.

*depending on the modem model, there might not be any log files - but there should be connection status info that includes line quality data. It does not matter, just ask about log files and see what they say.

 

[GokAy]

Having a timeout once in a while is normal when you are pinging the Internet, but timeout to your router is in my belief is not normal. Even during heavy download/upload I only notice a much higher latency (upto 500ms rarely whereas 1ms for idle) and not timeouts.

There are apps for IOS/Android for pinging. I am sure there are free ones as well.

 

[TDoGChad]

this ping actually helps alot ... it IS the AT&T disconnecting right now ... 3 times so far ... then reconnected in about a minute later ... during rush hours like I said earlier.

no issues last night (late night close to midnight)

it can not be traffic jamming which is almost nearly impossible

 

[TDoGChad]

I think, I finally pinpoint but can not get closer than that ... it is NOT my network/router/wifi ... it IS the AT&T DSL disconnecting then reconnecting in about a minute or 2.

is there a PING software where I can recording as LOG with time stamp and all the bells and whistles, so I can show AT&T the proof, do not lie and "DFWM" (ok, alittle too harsh ... lol)

 

[Tranquil Hegemo]

Try Ping for Life - that will just sit there and ping continuously till you tell it otherwise with timestamps. It won't write to a log but you can copy the results to a text file easily enough. Depending on how long you want the ping to run for then you may have to adjust the "Max. log rows to show" number (under Settings) to get the full result.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Yes - there are apps like that - however, AT&T should be looking at the modem's logs. There should be some indication of the disconnect, even if the disconnect is happening outside of you home.

I hesitate to suggest an app that I've not tested. It has been years since I looked for/found/used a ping logging app. I tend to write my own tools when I need stuff.

 

[Tranquil Hegemo]

I'm too lazy to write a tool that does what I want it to do perfectly well personally.

Working on Networks as I do it is a lot easier to get a company doing WAN provision to investigate something when you are armed with information that is accurate. When you can tell them that you have seen x amount of dropped packets over a period of time and you have logs to back those up (if they ask for them) always helps. Personally I would be pinging both the internal and external gateway on the router and something like Google's server at the same time - you can get a better idea of where the disconnection is then.

 

[GokAy]

I was going to post "Hmm, perhaps open few command windows and ping -t individually to your router internal, router ISP side, ISP gateway and Google (8.8.8.8). Keep them all visible and take a screenshot once the connection drops.". Then I saw the 2nd page Apparently I think alike Tranquil and have done such troubleshooting in the past.

 

[TDoGChad]

I was going to post "Hmm, perhaps open few command windows and ping -t individually to your router internal, router ISP side, ISP gateway and Google (8.8.8.8). Keep them all visible and take a screenshot once the connection drops.". Then I saw the 2nd page Apparently I think alike Tranquil and have done such troubleshooting in the past.

that is what I did last night

Before I came back to read this discussion ... I am gonna try this Ping Monitor - Free Network Ping Monitoring Tool

 

[UsernameIssues]

I was going to post "Hmm, perhaps open few command windows and ping -t individually to your router internal, router ISP side, ISP gateway and Google (8.8.8.8). Keep them all visible and take a screenshot once the connection drops.". Then I saw the 2nd page Apparently I think alike Tranquil and have done such troubleshooting in the past.

that is what I did last night

Before I came back to read this discussion ... I am gonna try this Ping Monitor - Free Network Ping Monitoring Tool

yep - give it a try. That is the first one that I downloaded to test - but it said that I had to install .NET4 or higher. I did not have the time to install that into the Virtual Machine that I was playing in.

 

[TDoGChad]

PingPlotter - Pinpoint Network Problems is very nice.

 

[TDoGChad]

I got a new one ...

 

[GokAy]

It doesn't show much alone. Run 3 separate cmd windows, run one ping in each:
Ping -t yourownIP (run in cmd: ipconfig to find out)
Ping -t 192.168.1.254
Ping -t 8.8.8.8

 

[Barman58]

As with most things of this nature, I suggest that you take a look at the tools available from Microsoft itself, or more directly the Sysinternals suite by Mark Russinovich

In this case have a look at what is possible with PsTools