Internet Access Ready

[BeeJ]

I know how to test for Internet access using IsNetworkAlive and how to
ping but I am wondering if there might be a universal address or
addresses to ping to see if the Internet path is really active.

So, is there an IP or two to test or is there a better way to test for
a proper active connection?

I can test addresses for time but I have found that not all work all
the time so that may not be a reliable test.
I would prefer not going down a list since that might take too long.
Not sure what the best method is.

I see one of you posted this:
But it seems that as written it is only checking the local state and
not the outside, past the modem, state but I could me misreading. Is
there not more to that LFlags ?

Private Declare Function InternetGetConnectedState Lib "wininet.dll"
(ByRef dwflags As Long, ByVal dwReserved As Long) As Long

Public Function IsOnline() As Boolean
Dim LFlags As Long
IsOnline = InternetGetConnectedState(LFlags, 0&)

End Function

So bottom line a Ping seems the best most informative way.

[Auric__]

BeeJ wrote:

> I know how to test for Internet access using IsNetworkAlive and how to
> ping but I am wondering if there might be a universal address or
> addresses to ping to see if the Internet path is really active.
>
> So, is there an IP or two to test or is there a better way to test for
> a proper active connection?

I test my ability to connect to my web host, but any top website that
responds to pings is good. Yahoo, Google, Sourceforge, etc.

--
Don't you hate it when that happens?

[Karl E. Peterson]

BeeJ explained on 4/18/2013 :

> I know how to test for Internet access using IsNetworkAlive and how to ping
> but I am wondering if there might be a universal address or addresses to ping
> to see if the Internet path is really active.
>
> So, is there an IP or two to test or is there a better way to test for a
> proper active connection?

I'd probably choose either 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 myself.

--
.NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

[Deanna Earley]

On 19/04/2013 01:45, BeeJ wrote:
> I know how to test for Internet access using IsNetworkAlive and how to
> ping but I am wondering if there might be a universal address or
> addresses to ping to see if the Internet path is really active.
>
> So, is there an IP or two to test or is there a better way to test for a
> proper active connection?

The usual and recommended practice is to just try and connect to
whatever you need to connect to, handling any failures.

There are situation where your test will return success but the server
fail, and the opposite where the test may fail when you'll still be able
to connect to the server.

--
Deanna Earley (dee.e...@icode.co.uk)
iCatcher Development Team
http://www.icode.co.uk/icatcher/

iCode Systems

(Replies direct to my email address will be ignored. Please reply to the
group.)

[BeeJ]

Deanna Earley was thinking very hard :

> On 19/04/2013 01:45, BeeJ wrote:
>> I know how to test for Internet access using IsNetworkAlive and how to
>> ping but I am wondering if there might be a universal address or
>> addresses to ping to see if the Internet path is really active.
>>
>> So, is there an IP or two to test or is there a better way to test for a
>> proper active connection?
>
> The usual and recommended practice is to just try and connect to whatever you
> need to connect to, handling any failures.
>
> There are situation where your test will return success but the server fail,
> and the opposite where the test may fail when you'll still be able to connect
> to the server.

In this case doing so would require a fairly long turnaround possibly.
But I will take a look. A ping would be faster.

[BeeJ]

Karl E. Peterson expressed precisely :

> BeeJ explained on 4/18/2013 :
>> I know how to test for Internet access using IsNetworkAlive and how to ping
>> but I am wondering if there might be a universal address or addresses to
>> ping to see if the Internet path is really active.
>>
>> So, is there an IP or two to test or is there a better way to test for a
>> proper active connection?
>
> I'd probably choose either 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 myself.

Is this the CIA or FBI or Homeland?

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

BeeJ <nos...@spamnot.com> wrote in
news:kkrso3$odl$1...@dont-email.me:

Those are Google DNS servers, aren't they?

--
Terry Austin

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

[RW]

On Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:29:49 +0100, Deanna Earley
<dee.e...@icode.co.uk> wrote:

>There are situation where your test will return success but the server
>fail, and the opposite where the test may fail when you'll still be able
>to connect to the server.

Indeed. Not entirely the same thing but not too long ago I encountered
a situation where web access seemed unavailable. No pages would load
in the browser; I just sat staring at the spinning cursor.

But if I dropped into a command prompt window any address I pinged
returned success. It required a system reboot to get the kinks worked
out of the browser.

RW

[Mayayana]

| > The usual and recommended practice is to just try and connect to
whatever you
| > need to connect to, handling any failures.
| >
| > There are situation where your test will return success but the server
fail,
| > and the opposite where the test may fail when you'll still be able to
connect
| > to the server.
|
| In this case doing so would require a fairly long turnaround possibly.
| But I will take a look. A ping would be faster.
|

It always *could* require a long turnaround.
If you've already tried InternetGetConnectedState
then why not just proceed? If you use async
methods you can set a timeout if you like, and
thereby provide an option to quit. What if you call
Google successfully but your target IP is slow to
respond? You could end up assuming that everything's
working but then leave the program stuck waiting.

I use async code to run whois on IPs in my server
logs each morning. Most reply very quickly. Some
never reply. I've found that 5 seconds seems to be
a good duration to wait for slow servers without hanging
my program on a non-responsive server.

[Tony Toews]

On Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:35:07 -0700, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
<taus...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>> I'd probably choose either 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 myself.
>>
>> Is this the CIA or FBI or Homeland?
>>
>Those are Google DNS servers, aren't they?

Close enough. <smile>

Tony

[Karl E. Peterson]

Can't believe no one offered http://lmgtfy.com/?q=8.8.8.8&l=1 <LOL>

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

Tony Toews <tto...@telusplanet.net> wrote in
news:6046n8147apc2habn...@4ax.com:

Far, far worse. The feds don't make billions from force fed
advertising.

[ObiWan]

:: On Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:45:24 -0700
:: (microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion)
:: <kkq433$qo7$1...@speranza.aioe.org>
:: BeeJ <spa...@nospam.com> wrote:

> InternetGetConnectedState

Call the above using the proper flags

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14127810/check-internet-connection-with-internetgetconnectedstate-always-true

then, if still unsure, call the "InternetAttemptConnect" API

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384331%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

the latter will try to activate an internet connection (if not active)
and will return the result; if the call will return "all ok", just call
the "InternetGetConnectedState" again to ensure you're online and then
do whatever you need

[ObiWan]

> I'd probably choose either 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 myself.

Nay, I'd suggest 195.208.24.91 <vbeg>

[ObiWan]

> Private Declare Function InternetGetConnectedState Lib "wininet.dll"
> (ByRef dwflags As Long, ByVal dwReserved As Long) As Long
>
> Public Function IsOnline() As Boolean
> Dim LFlags As Long
> IsOnline = InternetGetConnectedState(LFlags, 0&)
>
> End Function

the return code just tells you if the system HAS an Internet
connection, NOT if such a connection IS active

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384702%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

so, as I wrote in another post here, you'd better mix the above call
with an "InternetAttemptConnect()" one; basically the idea is

Call "InternetGetConnectedState" to check if the system HAS an internet
connection (check the returned flags to verify that, not just the call
result code); if not, just return false, otherwise, if the system HAS
an internet connection, try calling "InternetAttemptConnect" the latter
will either return immediately with a "true" if the internet connection
is active or, if not, will attempt establishing an internet connection;
if the call will fail, again, return a "not connected", otherwise just
use the "InternetGetConnectedState" again to check how the system is
connected and this time, return your result

[CoderX]

"Karl E. Peterson" <ka...@exmvps.org> wrote in message
news:kl3ndr$1jn$1...@dont-email.me...

>
> Can't believe no one offered http://lmgtfy.com/?q=8.8.8.8&l=1 <LOL>

Yeah, that would mean beej would have to use google. That would like asking
a vampire to press a cross on his forehead.

[BeeJ]

ObiWan presented the following explanation :

Thanks I will try that too.

[ObiWan]

> > Call "InternetGetConnectedState" to check if the system HAS an
> > internet connection (check the returned flags to verify that, not
> > just the call result code); if not, just return false, otherwise,
> > if the system HAS an internet connection, try calling

a note; if the flags returned by "InternetGetConnectedState" include
the "RAS" bit, consider that calling "InternetAttemptConnect" if the
"RAS" bit is set and if the call returned "false" (connection not
active) may (and probably will) popup a "dial up" dialog asking the user
to activate the connection