This FAQ text is copyright dslreports.com
Reproduction of all or part only with our permission..
This FAQ is edited by: mjf  , KeysCapt , Mike
It was last modified on 2019-12-13 16:27:38
1. Why use the MonitorAn OverviewBBR Line Monitoring A closer look at one of our site tools Posted on 2005-08-14 08:00:05 Written by lilhurricane Have you ever wanted to brag about your broadband connection's stability but lacked the proof? What about those days when your connection seems a little sluggish but you are not sure why? Did you ever get the impression that the ISP call center doesn't believe you really have a problem? Let's take a look at an easy way to compare your DSL, Cable, Satellite or other broadband connection with your neighbor across the street or around the globe. With BroadbandReports Line Monitoring you can have a wonderful diagnostic tool that provides detailed & reliable up-to-the-minute information about your connections. Continuous easy to read graphing setup for your convenience: BroadbandReports Line Monitoring provides you with Hourly, Daily, Long & Short Term reports. These diagnostic reports will arrive weekly in your email inbox and are available online anytime and look just like this one.  You'll have an interesting way to instantly see how your line conditions compare with fellow members or neighbors. Some of our individual forums are already on board with Line Monitoring: The SBC Midwest - Ameritech forum has an Unofficial Status Page covering the service areas in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. lev , Riss_Centaur and rolande can help get you added, step by step instructions can be found in the FAQ: Setup and How to JoinSoutheast City Chat - which covers States in the Southeastern US including Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida here: Southeast Forum Line MonitorNorthern California City Chat - which has participants all over The Bay Area of San Francisco and beyond, located here: Northern California Forum Line MonitorWe are also providing line monitoring for the active AT&T Southeast Forum as shown here: AT&T Southeast Forum Line MonitorSo what do you need to get started? 1. A connection that is on 24/7, since that is the most effective way to monitor a connection. Those with Cable/DSL routers can take advantage of this easily, leaving the router on to be monitored. Those without routers will need to leave their PCs running at all times, staying connected through PPPoE software. 2. A BBR Line Monitoring Service Account . The service costs 1 Tool Point (approximately $1 per week). The first week is free. After the first week, you'll need to acquire Tool Points to continue participating. *Note: Your monitor will be terminated after the first week if you do not buy tool points.. Line Monitoring is now free if "part of a group" - see: » Line Monitoring FAQ » Join a Line Monitor Group - Free Service Here is a great way to help support the site while enjoying a super way to monitor your connection with the tools that only the pros use! For more information or assistance - or for inclusion to one of the above forums, please contact either: jazzman916 or lilhurricane . We'll be happy to get you started! The BBR Line Monitoring is for informational purposes only and does not in any way replace official status reports or support from your ISP. Thanks to RadioDoc and others who were integral in building the original concept. *** The information in this article was put together by jazzman916 and lilhurricane . Do I need to keep my PC on 24/7No, it isn't necessary.
If your IP address is held by your PC, then the monitor will show blank periods with 100% loss while your PC is off.
If your IP is held by your home router that is constantly powered, then your monitoring will show 24x7 results.
What status reports do I get?Is it Free?Basic monitoring is (was) free for signups prior to September 25th 2000. This does not mean accounts prior to that date, it refers to monitoring begun and continuously maintained since before that date. If free monitoring was interrupted and then re-initiated, it is no longer free. New signups cost 1 Tool Point per week, per module. If you are a member of a line monitor group e.g. » [Services] Member Line Stats, then the monitor is free. See this FAQ entry » Line Monitoring FAQ » Join a Line Monitor Group - Free Service Join a Line Monitor Group - Free ServiceCan I see a screenshot?We've annotated an existing monitor setup as an example. Please refer to this image. Am I getting what I paid my ISP for?Are you getting a quality line? How do you KNOW?
Compare your line against others in your area, or on your ISP. In the weekly report, get rated from EXCELLENT to BAD in a number of key metrics.
Why do I care about reliability?If you are providing any kind of service on your line (web, email or FTP or other), you know how important reliability is. Check up at any time, to ensure that everything has been continuously available while your attention was elsewhere. Get alerts of outages, leaving you free to pay attention to more important things.
2. Basic MonitoringWhat is Basic MonitoringBasic Monitoring provides ping time, packet loss & quality metrics, comparisons, graphics and optional weekly report via email for your Residential Line. We require that you reveal your ISP, location (zip code or country) and speed, so we can provide interesting public statistics.
Business Lines must use premium monitoring.
How to STOP monitoring?Visit the "Control center" ( http://www.dslreports.com/schedule/signup/your 6 digit account number), and click "edit" next to any line monitor. You will then see a STOP MONITOR button at the bottom.  Thanks to PIKE for help with this entry.Will monitoring slow my connection?Absolutely not.
Three tiny ping packets are sent no more than once every 10 minutes. This is considerably less than even the background "noise" a typical DSL or cable line has on it.
Explain the free first week?Monitoring is free for a week after we get first data from your IP. Dynamic IP setup time, or configuration to become pingable is free as well.
Deduction of Tool Points happens after the first week of data is received, and weekly thereafter.
Where/What is the line monitor account number?The dynamic monitor you setup is allocated a unique number. You can get this unique number from the link Line Monitoring Control Center.. it is the 6 digit number displayed after the text identifying your line monitor. This six digit number is your "account" number for this line. You must provide the dynamic DNS client this number, it goes into the Host Name or DNS Name field. 3. Premium MonitoringWhat is Premium Monitoring?In addition to all the features of basic monitoring, premium monitoring enables you to monitor a url as well as an IP address. Also, if you have a Business IP, you should use premium monitoring. Otherwise, there is no difference. Pricing schedule is located here: » /scheduleHow do I upgrade to PremiumEdit the Basic Monitor and you will find a button that upgrades it to Premium.
Suspended monitors (evaluation period ended) cannot be upgraded.
4. Monitoring DHCP and PPPoECan you monitor changing IP addresses?No problem. Whether it is a DHCP line, or a PPPoE connection where you are allocated a new IP address every time you "log in", we can track this if you are prepared to install one of our supported dynamic DNS clients. A dynamic DNS client is setup to "call home" (when it starts up or when it sees you have a new IP address) to tell us what the current IP is. When we see the IP address change, we flip to monitoring the new IP! Warning for PPPoE users: If you are not always-on, then the disconnection of PPPoE when you logout, requires your dynamic DNS client to place your IP into an offline state first by telling us this, otherwise we will not know you have logged out! NOTE: Currently dynamic IP monitoring is troublesome. See this thread for additional info: » [bug] Line Monitor Dynamic IP Not UpdatingWhere do I review other dynamic DNS clients?The dyndns.com support page has links to a number of clients for various operating systems. We have only currently tested operation with windows clients: Dynamic DNS 4.0 ( dyndns.zip), DeeEnEs and the DynSite client but our Mac/OS X users also recommend dyndns.com and OpenDNS. If you have a client that supports plugins, just copy and modify whatever dyndns.org config file it comes with, changing the update url to www.dslreports.com/nic, and thats it! Can I supply a domain name for monitoring instead of an IP address?Simple answer: Yes!
If you prefer to use the free dynamic DNS update software provided by the dynamic DNS host, such as the N0-IP.com's program rather than "shareware" like DynSite that one has to pay extra for, or may not wish to run multiple DNS update clients at the same time.
Check 'Dynamic IP'
Enter your dynamic DNS name into 'IP from this DNS'
Save the setup.
Wait up to two minutes then check, if the DNS name resolves, the IP will show in the 'STATIC IP' field, but it will change when your DNS name resolves to a new IP.
If a member with DHCP or PPPoE service elects to supply a domain name (such as "rdotson.net" for example) in lieu of a static IP address, he or she has the responsibility to ensure that their DNS listings are kept current.
The Dynamic DNS Client .NET Edition is out. Where can I find information on it?Go to the bottom of the page at this website for the free Dynamic DNS Client .NET Edition - Lite. Unfortunately, Dynamic DNS Client was discontinued in the middle of 2010 after a 12 year run. The above link does not exist anymore. Basic web URL update commandTo update your line monitor, a call to the following URL will work: http://username:password@dslreports.com/nic?action=edit&started=1&host_id
=NNNNNN&myip=A.B.C.D
]]>
or
https://username:password@secure.dslreports.com/nic?action=edit&started=1&host_id=NNNNNN&myip=A.B.C.D
]]>
Where NNNNNN is your 'line monitor ID number' and username and password are your site login name and password..
You may test this URL manually from a browser and receive a confirmation or error message if there is something wrong
How do I configure Dynamic DNS 4.0?Please download dyndns.zip <-- extract this zip file into your Dynamic DNS 4.0 directory. This should add a dslreports service to the menu of services. Having done that, setup the screen as per this screenshot. Configuration of all dynamic DNS clientsThe dynamic monitor you setup is allocated a unique number. You can get this unique number from the link Line Monitoring Control Center.. it is the 6 digit number displayed after the text identifying your line monitor. This six digit number is your "account" number for this line. You must provide the dynamic DNS client this number, it goes into the Host Name or DNS Name field. You must also tell the Dynamic DNS client your dslreports login name and password, as the update procedure is password protected. How do I configure DynSite for Windows?Windows client DynSite or Newer Version of DynSite has been upgraded to include support for DSLreports monitoring from the start. Or, if you have an older version, simply download dslr.zip and extract the contents (one file) into your DynSite program directory, restart DynSite. When it is running, use the account assistant (right mouse button from the dynsite icon in your windows system tray) to find "dslreports monitoring" (Dynamic DNS server-type). Select dslreports monitoring and continue, as with any client we support, you must put in your dslreports site login and password (check the "this account needs a password" option). Then move on to "configure a host", enter your dynamic monitor line account number as the "Host" (leave domain name as dslreports.com), and provide any screen name and account name you wish (these are for DynSite display only). If you have done everything correctly, have configured DynSite elsewhere to say you are on a fulltime connection, and are online, DynSite will quickly update your line monitor with your public IP, and show "Successfully updated" against entry NNNN.dslreports.com in its main status window. The status tab of DynSite may say The host does not resolve yet, this message can be ignored, as it relates to dynamic DNS services. You should also be able to verify this IP is now listed in the Maintain Monitors link above. Which client do you recommend?The smallest and simplest client is DeeEnEss but that is good for DHCP connections only, it does not handle PPPoE logoff in any way. For a fully featured client capable of updating many dynamic DNS services, and the DSL reports monitor as well, try DynSite. If you don't like either of these, try Dynamic DNS 4.0 or Dynamic DNS Client .NET Edition - Lite. There is a page full of others at: dyndns.comIf you use any that have not been certified and they work, please let mjf know. I cannot get my Dynamic Client to send my IP!Common causes: • Your DSLR account is still unverified. You must have received the temporary password and logged in using it, to fix your account. If you are unsure of the status of your account, visit this page to check. To manually check you can authenticate, please visit this URL to check that it at least accepts your username and password OK. If you get past the username/password prompt ok, then all is well, and you will get a page with the message: Error: Invalid Action. • You have not entered your dslreports login name and password into your dynamic DNS client correctly. Verify carefully you are using the same username and password as you would do to login to the site. • You are not entering the correct line monitoring account number into your dynamic DNS client. It should be a six digit number starting with 1 or 2 or 3.. this number is explained here:How do I configure DeeEnEs?In the accounts section, find dslreports in the Server list, and click ADD. Now edit these entries: Put your Line Monitoring Account Number into Host, enter your dslreports username and password into the next two fields.DeeEnEss needs to figure out your public IP address. It might have trouble with this if your public IP address is not on your actual PC, but on a router or proxy server.. in which case, you probably need to change IP Detection to Web based and Interface to DynDNS. You can download it here: DeeEnEs Download (Seems to not work lately) or DeeEnEs Download (working) NOTE: Several members have reported difficulty downloading this file recently, with various problems such as "no file" or site unreachable, etc. But the download ability has been verified multiple times. How do I configure Linux/Perl ddclient?DDClient, is easily configurable to support BroadbandReports monitoring. Follow the INSTALLATION instructions, edit /etc/ddclient.conf to add an entry that looks like protocol=broadbandreports1, \
server=www.broadbandreports.com, \
login=myloginname, \
password=thepassword,
unique-ID
Then you can setup the rest of the program. 5. Firewalls and NATWhere are the monitors? IP addresses?The machines that (currently) do the monitoring are
• tester1.ec2.dslreports.com - Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
• tester5.ec2.dslreports.com - San Francisco, CA, USA
These hosts should be be added to your firewall if ICMP ping is being blocked. The IP addresses do change from time to time, so if you must enter IP address and not DNS name, then please do an NSLOOKUP or PING to make sure of the current IP address. How do I setup Zone Alarm?Zone Alarm has two zones. Local Zone and Internet Zone. It is normal to set Local Zone security to medium or lower. You must then place our monitoring stations into the list of "local hosts". Please check this screenshot to see an example of the properties screen of Local Zone setup correctly to except our monitoring systems. Please note that the IP's in that screenshot are not the current IP's. The machines that (currently) do the monitoring are ny-monitor.dslreports.com sjc-monitor.dslreports.com dslreports-west2.speakeasy.net (64.81.79.40 AND 64.81.79.41) These hosts should be be added to your firewall if ICMP ping is being blocked. The IP addresses do change from time to time, so if you must enter IP address and not DNS name, then please do an NSLOOKUP or PING to make sure of the current IP address. Important: if you PADLOCK your zonealarm, no matter what, you are disconnected from the net. This will break monitoring. If you wish fulltime line monitoring, the PADLOCK function should not be used. How to make SonicWALL pingableIf you have a SonicWALL hardware firewall there are two methods you can use to setup your system to respond to pings:
Method 1: You can pass incoming pings through the SonicWALL to a PC on the LAN and then have the PC respond to the pings.
Method 2: You can have the SonicWALL respond to pings directly.
To use Method 1 (your PC responds to pings) follow these steps:
(1a) Open the SonicWALL web admin by entering the SonicWALL's LAN IP address into a web browser on a PC on the LAN side of the SonicWALL.
(1b) Go to Access, Services and make sure Ping shows up in the list of services. If not, add the Ping service.
(1c) Go to Access, Rules, Add New Rule and add two rules
Rule 1
- Action=allow
- Service=ping
- Source=WAN, 216.200.176.6 <= DSLR WC server sjc-monitor.dslreports.com
- Destination=LAN, 192.x.x.x <= LAN address of PC to respond to pings
Rule 2
- Action=allow
- Service=ping
- Source=WAN, 206.65.191.129 <= DSLR EC server ny-monitor.dslreports.com
- Destination=LAN, 192.x.x.x <= LAN address of PC to respond to pings
(1d) If you have a software firewall on the LAN PC be sure to allow pings there as well.
To use Method 2 (SonicWALL responds to pings) follow these steps:
(2a) Open the SonicWALL web admin by entering the SonicWALL's LAN IP address into a web browser on a PC on the LAN side of the SonicWALL.
(2b) Go to Access, Services and make sure Ping shows up in the list of services. If not, add the Ping service.
(2c) Go to Access, Rules, Add New Rule and add two rules
Rule 1
- Action=allow
- Service=ping
- Source=WAN, 216.200.176.6 <= DSLR WC server sjc-monitor.dslreports.com
- Destination=LAN, 192.x.x.x <= LAN address of SonicWALL
Rule 2
- Action=allow
- Service=ping
- Source=WAN, 206.65.191.129 <= DSLR EC server ny-monitor.dslreports.com
- Destination=LAN, 192.x.x.x <= LAN address of SonicWALL
General notes:
You can have the SonicWALL stealth mode enabled (Access, Services, Stealth Mode) and both methods will still work.
You can use * for the WAN address in the SonicWALL rules to allow pings from anyone, but the nice thing about using explicit rules for each DSLR server is that you don't make yourself visible to the general public. I don't think it's a security risk to leave the server-specific rules in place. Of course, if DSLR changes their server IP addresses you need to change your rules.
Can you monitor a firewall?If your firewall responds to ICMP ping packets, as many do, then we can monitor your connection. Instructions for specific firewalls and network share devices follow.
Linksys, DLink, NVG510 and other routersRecent Linksys, DLink and other routers' firmware allows you to configure the router to be unpingable from outside. "Block WAN Requests" for older devices and "Block Anonymous Internet Requests" for newer 'Cisco' branded devices. DLink uses "Discard PING from WAN side". Enabling these router features will break monitoring.
We recommend if you wish to be monitored, do not select the "Block WAN Requests"/"Block Anonymous Internet Requests"/"Discard PING from WAN side" option on the router configuration screen. Your router can still be password protected, and will be secure.
Also try disabling "SPI" , as this also may block external pings.
To make the Motorola NVG510 pingable, follow the instructions in this thread: »Motorola NVG510 question
How should NIS2K be setup?Configure to allow incoming icmp request and outgoing icmp reply to/from our two monitoring stations. move these rules to be 1st rules just to be sure that they wont' be blocked by any other rules.
How to make M0n0wall/pfsense pingableCreate a Firewall Rule:
Action: Pass
Interface: WAN
Protocol: ICMP
ICMP type: Echo
Source type: Any
Destination: WAN Address
6. After setup - Common QuestionsHow do I Change my IP address?Any of the monitor characteristics may be changed in the Monitor control center. At the top is a box showing all your current active monitors. To the left of each is a link for modification of the attributes of the monitor. From there, you may change the IP address, suspend the monitor, change the alert email etc. The graphs do not show, or give an errorThe data to produce the graphs takes a little while to get through. Have patience and your graphs will start to appear within an hour or so at most.
Line monitor was suspended, how do I reactivate it?After you purchase some more tool points, just go back and visit the "Control center", and click "edit" next to any line monitor. You will then see a » /sched ··· signup/0 link at the bottom. You will then be reactivated. If you have any problems, post in the tools forum for immediate attention to the issue. When east or west monitoring sites are changed, do you notify people?No! If you have a firewall that needs to be modified, you will not receive any monitoring until the IP address is changed. The machines that (currently) do the monitoring are ny-monitor.dslreports.com
sjc-monitor.dslreports.com no longer available
64.81.79.40 & 64.81.79.41(sfo-monitor.dslreports.com)You can also go to your Line Monitoring page click on the report link and you will see the monitoring servers at the top of the page.These hosts should be be added to your firewall if ICMP ping is being blocked. The IP addresses do change from time to time, so if you must enter IP address and not DNS name, then please do an NSLOOKUP or PING to make sure of the current IP address. What are the total gaps in the graph?The graphs are generated from three monitors. It is possible due to hopefully short-term failure of the monitoring servers that no data at all will be collected and graphed. This is not a problem with your line, and you are able to tell the difference between loss, and monitoring system downtime, as the blue 'packet loss' line will also disappear during the outage periods.
We strive to keep the monitoring servers up 24x7 and total gaps should be very rare.
My report says I am not pingable!The most common reason for this is that ZoneAlarm, a Firewall, Anti Virus Program, etc. has disabled ping (see the Q&A in Firewalls and NAT), or that you mis-typed your static IP address (visit the link "Maintain" and carefully compare the IP listed, with your public IP). Or you have a Linksys BEFSR41 (again, see Firewalls and NAT), or, you have just added yourself and there is insufficient data to create a report yet. Also, see this faq entry: » Line Monitoring FAQ » When east or west monitoring sites are changed, do you notify people?My report shows an outage from EC but not WCUsually, outages are reported by both monitors. If an outage is further out from you (not your line or modem problem), maybe at or beyond your ISP, it is certainly possible for you to appear down to one monitor and not the other.
The other possibility is our monitoring station was down, obviously we try to keep those events to a bare minimum!
I changed IPs, but my old traceroute still showsChanging IPs under monitor, for example changing ISPs, may currently leave old information in the database for longer than you expect. We are working to improve the time at which old data such as traceroute and default gateway measure, gets re-tested and re-saved.
I have a line problem! Is it from monitoring?No. The impact of monitoring is so tiny, that there is absolutely no way it can cause any performance or other problems with your connection. One ping packet every 10 minutes cannot destabilize, add or change the operational characteristics of your DSL or cable line in any detectable way.
How do I cease monitoring?Visit the ("Control center") screen, and click "edit.." next to any line monitor, and find at the bottom a STOP MONITOR button.. this will remove that line monitor request and no tool points will be deducted after that point. Add your dslr member number to the end of the URL to get to your control panel: http://www.dslreports.com/schedule/signup/NNNNNN
]]>A better description of the procedure can be viewed here:
»Line Monitoring FAQ »How to STOP monitoring?
After changing email address how do I update the monitor so I get weekly updatesVisit the "Control center", and click "edit" next to any line monitor. You will then see an email address field at the bottom. Update your email address, make sure that the Email Weekly Report box is checked and then click "Update Monitor". Can the ping packet size be configured?Question: Can the ping packet size be configured for the Monitoring service? Apparently, Adelphia Powerlink configures their cablemodems to block ICMP pings of 92 bytes. Other packet sizes apparently pass. I've had the monitoring service active for a few weeks but can't get it to work because I can't seem to get pinged. See below for quotes from the thread I posted: » Powerlink: Why can't I ping my router anymore?"And yes, ICMP pings of a size equal to 92 bytes are blocked for security reasons. It is not a coincidence wither that Windows pings with a packet size of 92 bytes either. You need to download a ping utility that allows the packet size to be changed in order for this to work." "There is a workaround for this. You need to change the default value in which pings are comprised. When you ping, you send out packets that are 92 bytes in size. You need to change that, as that is the only workaround." Can someone else view the monitoring report?The URL for the monitoring report is specific to my account. What if I want to have a technician view the report as part of resolving a outage? Try this: Go to your monitoring page: » /monit ··· detail=1Click on the word "report" which is on the far right next to the packet loss box. On your report page, grab the URLs from 'here': Realtime ping/loss graphs are available: new jersey USA: here san francisco USA: here Those urls can be shared, and show the graphs. Line monitor disappearing?To keep your line monitor active, you need to log-in to the site at least every 30 days. If you don't then your monitor stops and you will need to re-activate it.
Making the UVerse NVG510 PingableSee this thread:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27916762-Motorola-NVG510-question
|
