Neat tool for testing your ISP quality

While troubleshooting an intermittent internet issue I came across a great tool for logging packet loss and high/lo/average ping times per hop. Just type in the IP or web address and hit go.

WinMTR

Just glanced over the site, but isn't that pretty much the same things as opening a command prompt and typing:
ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -t

Although if you want really good, solid data on your connection I recommend testing your line statistics. This is done differently depending on what type of modem but the basic procedure:
(using a GUI)
Open an Internet Browser
Type in the address bar "192.168.1.254"
This should bring you to the modem interface
Find a 'Statistics' button
Look for the SN Margin (dB), Line Attenuation (dB), and CRC Errors
Here's a breakdown:
SN Margin: 10 dB or higher. Technically you can connect as low as 6 dB or so, but really anything below 12 is fairly horrendous. If you're around 30dB then you're doing amazing.
Line Attenuation: 60dB and above is terrible. 20dB or lower is spectacular.
CRC errors: You want none. Reset the modem if you have any and it resets the count to 0.

Other things:
TX power: Power moving through line, should be below 15dB
DSL Rate (or ATM rate, either is assuming you have DSL): The speed you pay for. Should match up with what you signed a contract for.

As a side note, a good practice is to test line stats:
-First, where you plug the modem in.
-Second plug in to your NID (box the phone comes to your house at) and check the stats there.

If the stats are good at the NID, your house has wiring issues.
If the stats are bad at the NID, tell your ISP to fix their problems.

Now this is the stuff I need to be learning in school. I'm tired of the teacher starting the class with " What is Memory? " and I put my head down and cry when other people ask the simple question what is the different between main memory ( Hard drive) and secondary memory ( cache ).

S7 Panzer wrote:Now this is the stuff I need to be learning in school. I'm tired of the teacher starting the class with " What is Memory? " and I put my head down and cry when other people ask the simple question what is the different between main memory ( Hard drive) and secondary memory ( cache ).

Unless you intend on focussing your entire career towards working for an ISP, I can think of plenty of other things to be learning instead of this.

S7 Epic wrote:

S7 Panzer wrote:Now this is the stuff I need to be learning in school. I'm tired of the teacher starting the class with " What is Memory? " and I put my head down and cry when other people ask the simple question what is the different between main memory ( Hard drive) and secondary memory ( cache ).

Unless you intend on focussing your entire career towards working for an ISP, I can think of plenty of other things to be learning instead of this.

Or working as tech support for any mid size to large company ever.

Well honestly if a computer engineer or computer science major is asking questions like " What is memory " or " What is a tower " I might just have to tell them to find a different major.

AtrumX wrote:

S7 Epic wrote:

S7 Panzer wrote:Now this is the stuff I need to be learning in school. I'm tired of the teacher starting the class with " What is Memory? " and I put my head down and cry when other people ask the simple question what is the different between main memory ( Hard drive) and secondary memory ( cache ).

Unless you intend on focussing your entire career towards working for an ISP, I can think of plenty of other things to be learning instead of this.

Or working as tech support for any mid size to large company ever.

Dream big.