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1. Why use the Monitor
2. Basic Monitoring
3. Premium Monitoring4. Monitoring DHCP and PPPoE
5. Firewalls and NAT
6. After setup - Common Questions
1. Why use the Monitor
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 Monitor Northern California City Chat - which has participants all over The Bay Area of San Francisco and beyond, located here: Northern California Forum Line Monitor We are also providing line monitoring for the active AT&T Southeast Forum as shown here: AT&T Southeast Forum Line Monitor So 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 PC’s 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 .
 got feedback?by mjf 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. got feedback?Over about 15 hours I am seeing no results. Is my setup incorrect? 2011-09-21 11:18:48 (WilhelmK This would be a good section to explain how to tell where your IP is 'held'. 2013-02-27 13:23:23 (Scott Heath by edited by mjf got feedback?by edited by mjf 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
got feedback?by edited by mjf , Host/Moderator of the AT&T Southeast Forum to join the AT&T Southeast-NC line monitor group.Important information: A very important factor is the way you setup the account. Even if you have a static IP, you must create the account as a dynamic IP. You have to check the dynamic box and enter your static IP. For security and privacy, BBR uses a cookie feature so that if you are logged in, only you can see your static IP graph. But for those that are not logged in, the graph is not visible, it will appear broken. So setting the graph to a dynamic IP will allow everyone to see the graph while the IP will remain hidden. If you have a static IP you do not need to run a DDNS client. Just set the monitor for "dynamic" and then type in your IP address in the "monitor this static address" box.  The following are the current Line Monitoring groups providing the free monitoring service: Contact lev to join the following groups:AT&T Illinois AT&T Indiana AT&T Michigan AT&T Wisconsin AT&T Ohio Chicago Area Contact lilhurricane to join the following groups:Tri-State Monitors SE Forum Monitors NoCal Line Monitors RCN Line Monitors Atlanta Line Monitors Insight Line Monitors Canadian Line Monitoring TD Cruncher Monitors DFW Line Monitors Contact jazzman916 to join the following groups:AT&T Southeast 9 State Region AT&T Southeast-AL AT&T Southeast-KY AT&T Southeast-TN AT&T Southeast-SC AT&T Southeast-NC AT&T Southeast-GA AT&T Southeast-FL AT&T Southeast-MS AT&T Southeast-LA Contact fourboxers to join the following groups:Windstream TekSavvy AT&T NE Contact sashwa to join the following groups:DSLX EPN CenturyLink Earthlink DSL Boston aka New England Verizon DSL Verizon Fiber Optics Contact sortofageek to join the following groups:Comcast HSI in Arkansas Comcast HSI in California Comcast HSI in Colorado Comcast HSI in Connecticut Comcast HSI in Florida Comcast HSI in Georgia Comcast HSI in Illinois Comcast HSI in Indiana Comcast HSI in Massachusetts Comcast HSI in Michigan Comcast HSI in Minnesota Comcast HSI in New Hampshire Comcast HSI in New Jersey Comcast HSI in New Mexico Comcast HSI in Oregon Comcast HSI in Pennsylvania Comcast HSI in Tennessee Comcast HSI in Texas Comcast HSI in Utah Comcast HSI in Vermont Comcast HSI in Washington D. C. Comcast HSI in Washington State And if your Comcast State is not represented contact sortofageek to set one up.Contact Lex Luthor to join the following group:Optimum Online Contact Flippant to join the following groups:ATT Southwest Region AT&T u-verse Texas Gulf Coast Region Contact skj to join the following groups:AT&T West Charter Contact seagreen to join the following group:Southern California regional Contact dbmaven to join the following RoadRunner groups:New York Metro/New Jersey Texas Ohio Southern California Triad (Carolinas) Florida Philadelphia Upstate NY Contact Axilla to join the following group:Central WI Contact redxii if you want to join this Suddenlink group.
got feedback?Those wanting to join a Comcast HSI group will find the updated list here: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,17281150 2010-08-15 13:09:21 (sortofageek What if I can't find a group for my ISP - Mediacom Southeast or Georgia? Can I start one? 2011-03-30 14:02:54 (Upatoi31829 Contact [user=redxii] if you want to join this SuddenLink Group Monitor 2011-04-29 14:49:37 (sortofageek Looking for Comcast - Mississippi group.... 2013-01-08 11:33:48 (whamel by mjf Please refer to this image. got feedback?by edited by mjf 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. got feedback?by edited by KeysCapt got feedback?by 2. Basic Monitoring
Business Lines must use premium monitoring. got feedback?by edited by mjf  Thanks to PIKE for help with this entry. got feedback?by KeysCapt 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. got feedback?by edited by KeysCapt Deduction of Tool Points happens after the first week of data is received, and weekly thereafter. got feedback?With respect to the "Dynamic IP" setup, it would be helpful if you mentioned when or how you obtain the Dynamic IP. For example, is it automatic whereby you already have, and obtain it without my participation, or is it necessary for me to stop my service and restart it again to reset the address? Very new to IP monitoring service and your capabilities. 2010-01-12 10:13:11 (JackConner by edited by KeysCapt  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.
got feedback?by mjf 3. Premium MonitoringAlso, if you have a Business IP, you should use premium monitoring. Otherwise, there is no difference. Pricing schedule is located here: »/schedule got feedback?by edited by mjf Suspended monitors (evaluation period ended) cannot be upgraded. got feedback?by edited by KeysCapt 4. Monitoring DHCP and PPPoE
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 Updating
got feedback?by edited by KeysCapt 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!
got feedback?Here's an update based on what I had to do. I hope you can test this procedure, or at least warn people that ymmv.
DSLReports PPPoe FAQ:
1) Go to Dyn.com and create an account, then sign up for the “DynDNS Pro 14-day free trial”. You will need to register by giving them a major credit card, but your card will not be billed for 14 days, and you can cancel within that time. You will be asked to enter your choice of a hostname. As a reward for trying their service, you are allowed to use one DNS host, which will remain active as long as you log in to your Dyn.com account monthly.
2) Download the DynUpdater DNS client. Run it and enter your Dyn.com member name and password. Click on “Refresh host list”. The host you just created will appear in the “Dynamic DNS Hosts” box. Check the box by your new host. Note the “Current IP address” value; if it is blank, click on “Refresh”.
3) On the DSLReports line monitor setup page, put your current IP in the 'monitor this static IP' box, click the dynamic IP box, and enter the Dyn.com hostname in the 'ip from this dns' box
Now, your computer or network communicates with Dyn.com to tell it your current IP, and DSLReports gets that from the hostname.
2013-03-04 19:33:12 (Scott Heath by edited by mjf 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.
got feedback?FAQ says this - 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.
Does this mean I have to update THIS site when my IP changes? I ask because it when my IP changes this site has no idea that it has changed. 2009-11-05 13:12:32 (Dersgniw Per FAQ:
>Check 'Dynamic IP'
Done.
>Enter your dynamic DNS name into 'IP from this DNS'
Done.
>Save the setup.
Done.
>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.
Waited two minutes, then ten minutes - no IP address resolved.
FAQ feedback - What do we do when this happens?
2012-06-18 12:17:29 (xz4gb8 by RKBA Unfortunately, Dynamic DNS Client was discontinued in the middle of 2010 after a 12 year run. The above link does not exist anymore. got feedback?by Skipdawg http://username:password@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 got feedback?by edited by mjf Having done that, setup the screen as per this screenshot. got feedback?by (back)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. You must also tell the Dynamic DNS client your dslreports login name and password, as the update procedure is password protected.
got feedback?by edited by mjf 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.
got feedback?by edited by mjf 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.com If you use any that have not been certified and they work, please let mjf know.
got feedback?by edited by mjf • 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:
got feedback?by edited by mjf 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.
got feedback?by edited by mjf protocol=broadbandreports1, \ server=www.broadbandreports.com, \ login=myloginname, \ password=thepassword, unique-ID Then you can setup the rest of the program. got feedback?This seems to work with ddclient. However, ddclient doesn't use SSL by default, so it connects with http first, then switches to https. Kinda lame.
protocol=dslreports1, \
server=www.dslreports.com, \
login=myloginname, \
password=thepassword,
unique-ID 2012-09-11 22:00:07 (justbits by edited by Mike 5. Firewalls and NAT
ny-monitor.dslreports.com 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. got feedback?Is the east monitor dslreports-east1.speakeasy.net?
If so strange that I can ping this address in 16ms and my line monitor shows 50ms.
Also, looking at the tracert to the west coast, the time really takes a jump between washington Level3 and mclean.covad.com, it goes from 23ms on level3 to 101ms on mclean.covad.com and all points further west. 2011-12-21 20:02:06 (pende_tim by edited by KeysCapt 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.
got feedback?by (back)If 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.
got feedback?by wingman8 got feedback?Didn't find anything for OpenWRT (Kamikaze 8.09) either here or on OpenWRT forum. By default OpenWRT firewall doesn't allow pings from the WAN.
Looks like the only way to enable is to modify /lib/firewall/uci_firewall.sh. Add the following line to addif() function:
$IPTABLES -A INPUT -p icmp -j ACCEPT 2008-12-19 22:37:37 (ymhee_bcex by (back)Recent 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.
got feedback?by edited by mjf got feedback?Needs to be updated to current versions
Let me know if you would like my help 2010-05-15 04:05:13 (amysheehan by (back)Create a Firewall Rule:Action: Pass Interface: WAN Protocol: ICMP ICMP type: Echo Source type: Any Destination: WAN Address got feedback?by EUS 6. After setup - Common Questions
From there, you may change the IP address, suspend the monitor, change the alert email etc. got feedback?by edited by mjf got feedback?by edited by KeysCapt If you have any problems, post in the tools forum for immediate attention to the issue. got feedback?Do I not get one free Line Monitor
It keeps switching to Suspended ??????
Re:
Line monitor was suspended, how do I reactivate it? (#1089)
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 »/schedule/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. 2007-12-30 21:21:44 (athome5 by Skipdawg The machines that (currently) do the monitoring are ny-monitor.dslreports.com 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.
got feedback?by martski We strive to keep the monitoring servers up 24x7 and total gaps should be very rare. got feedback?by edited by mjf Also, see this faq entry: »Line Monitoring FAQ »When east or west monitoring sites are changed, do you notify people?
got feedback?by edited by mjf The other possibility is our monitoring station was down, obviously we try to keep those events to a bare minimum! got feedback?by (back)Changing 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. got feedback?by (back)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. got feedback?by edited by KeysCapt Add your dslr member number to the end of the URL to get to your control panel: http://www.dslreports.com/schedule/signup/NNNNNNA better description of the procedure can be viewed here: »Line Monitoring FAQ »How to STOP monitoring?
got feedback?by edited by mjf got feedback?by mjf 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."
got feedback?by dathing Try this: Go to your monitoring page: »/monitored/detail?detail=1 Click 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.
got feedback?These instructions need to be updated. I want to share my results but cannot determine what the URL syntax would be. 2012-11-21 08:22:38 (c2roth +1 on this feedback. I too need to share this information. 2013-02-20 23:25:50 (q5dnet by witr got feedback?by aefstoggaflm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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