Idle Time Out (New Feature on Plusnet)

Plusnet have written to me to say that they will be introducing an Idle Time
Out 'feature' on my DSL service - in other words the DSL connection will be
cut if left idle for more than 30 minutes. In the words of PlusNet customer
service, 'The reason this is being implemented, is to increase network
connectivity and provide a more stable connection to our users.'

If I understand this correctly (a big 'if'), this means if I leave my
wireless router on permanently, even when the PC is off, the connection will
time out. So when I start up my wireless PC, I'll probably need to run up 2
flights of stairs to reboot the router. I know I need the exercise, but....

Any recommedations on how to defeat this? I have a Netgear 824 router.

Barney.

Set your email client to check for mail every 15 minutes.

"Barney" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4322106d$0$22948$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Plusnet have written to me to say that they will be introducing an Idle
> Time Out 'feature' on my DSL service - in other words the DSL connection
> will be cut if left idle for more than 30 minutes. In the words of
> PlusNet customer service, 'The reason this is being implemented, is to
> increase network connectivity and provide a more stable connection to our
> users.'
>
> If I understand this correctly (a big 'if'), this means if I leave my
> wireless router on permanently, even when the PC is off, the connection
> will time out. So when I start up my wireless PC, I'll probably need to
> run up 2 flights of stairs to reboot the router. I know I need the
> exercise, but....
>
> Any recommedations on how to defeat this? I have a Netgear 824 router.
>
> Barney.
>
>

"Barney" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4322106d$0$22948$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Plusnet have written to me to say that they will be introducing an Idle
> Time Out 'feature' on my DSL service - in other words the DSL connection
> will be cut if left idle for more than 30 minutes. In the words of
> PlusNet customer service, 'The reason this is being implemented, is to
> increase network connectivity and provide a more stable connection to our
> users.'
>
> If I understand this correctly (a big 'if'), this means if I leave my
> wireless router on permanently, even when the PC is off, the connection
> will time out. So when I start up my wireless PC, I'll probably need to
> run up 2 flights of stairs to reboot the router. I know I need the
> exercise, but....
>
> Any recommedations on how to defeat this? I have a Netgear 824 router.

Many routers have a auto reconnect feature. Check your router or its
documentation.

"Barney" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4322106d$0$22948$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Plusnet have written to me to say that they will be introducing an Idle
> Time Out 'feature' on my DSL service - in other words the DSL connection
> will be cut if left idle for more than 30 minutes. In the words of
> PlusNet customer service, 'The reason this is being implemented, is to
> increase network connectivity and provide a more stable connection to our
> users.'
>
> If I understand this correctly (a big 'if'), this means if I leave my
> wireless router on permanently, even when the PC is off, the connection
> will time out. So when I start up my wireless PC, I'll probably need to
> run up 2 flights of stairs to reboot the router. I know I need the
> exercise, but....

Rubbish, when you have something to send the router will try and transmit
and connection will be quickly re-established.

>
> Any recommedations on how to defeat this? I have a Netgear 824 router.
>
> Barney.
>
>

On 10 Sep 2005 10:16 UTC, "R. Mark Clayton" wrote:

>Rubbish, when you have something to send the router will try and transmit
>and connection will be quickly re-established.

Rubbish back at you. Not all units are expecting to need to operate in a
'connect on demand' mode. I've certainly (since I am likely to be affected)
checked for one router, though I expect a number of other 'badged' units to
use the same software with only cosmetic interface differences. From manual:

---
Q If the PPP is disconnected after Disconnect Timeout, how can I recconnect ?

A You have to go to the PPP Status under Admin Privilege column, choose the
correct PVC and Connect option, then click Execute to start a new PPP session
---

Now I admit one is unlikely to switch from having the router login again, but
if for some reason that was not enabled (eg because the ISP requested it, or
if the router simply falls over after dozens of such logins), then the user
may have to revert to some this means. I can see the possibility that it
will affect USB users more than those with routers, and that for me, as a
router user, can only feel it will throw more useless information in the
system log for the router. Whereas I normally expect few or no messages
in the course of a couple of weeks, this will mean the log is likely to
always be full of text [it re-uses the buffer] so what I'd expect to be
30-50 lines, and easy to spot any problems, this will get much longer,
and need more contentration to detect anything unusual.

It might 'balance' the pipes by having hundreds of customers swapping
from pipe to pipe every 30 minutes but I doubt it will do much more!


--
|
| UK ADSL <http://tinyurl.com/5jpa4> - Happy to save cash with Plus.Net!!
|

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Trent SC <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Set your email client to check for mail every 15 minutes.
>
That will only work if you leave a PC on permanently.

Some routers have the ability to specify the interval at which they update
their internal clock from an external time server. I'm not sure whether you
can set this to less than 30 minutes. If so, it should do the trick.
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

"Tiscali Tim" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Trent SC <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Set your email client to check for mail every 15 minutes.
>>
> That will only work if you leave a PC on permanently.

I was just about to say the same thing. Similarly, a "ping -t" would keep
the line up, at the expense of generating a lot of traffic: it's a shame
there isn't an argument to "ping" to say "ping forever, but at 20 minute
intervals".

> Some routers have the ability to specify the interval at which they update
> their internal clock from an external time server. I'm not sure whether
> you
> can set this to less than 30 minutes. If so, it should do the trick.

.... With the downside that every clock resync will be logged, leading again
to "can't see the wood for the trees" problems when looking for genuine
errors in the log files.

With my Netgear DG834GT router, I set a "ping -t news.bbc.co.uk" running and
then manually disconnected the connection, waited a few seconds and then
manually reconnected. Not surprisingly, ping reported "no route to
destination" while the ADSL connection was down. The first time I tried, the
router sat indefinitely at "LCP is coming up" and I eventually did another
manual reconnection which worked, but the second and third times I had a
connection back (CHAP authenticated and ping response) within about 5
seconds of pressing connect in the router's web interface.

My router is set to reconnect automatically. Either that feature wasn't
working or else it only works if the line is dropped from the ISP's end
rather than when I disconnect it manually via the router's web interface. In
the past, the logs have shown very occasional overnight disconnections
around 5 AM; my router has sometimes taken an hour or so to get
CHAP-authenticated again, though this *may* because the ISP or BT were doing
maintenance work that kept the line down for a while.


I remain to be convinced that the reconnection will be "painless" on every
occasion. If it ever requires me to connect manually because the automatic
reconnection has failed, I will NOT be impressed!

By the way (in response to OP) if your router has a web interface, you don't
need to go up two flights of stairs to reboot the router - you can do so
from the web interface. I've even made an entry "192.168.0.1 router" in my
\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file so I can supply "router" as a web
address or an address for ping. I do this for any customers for whom I
install a router to make it easy for them to administer the router if it's
ever required.

Question then for PlusNet CS - which I've just spoken to as I am almost on
the point of signing up with them ........ and the group ......

I plan to put the router in my loftspace where my telephone master socket is
and the climbing up to reboot the router is totally impracticable. Nothing
was mentioned on the comparison of the services or during the conversation
this afternoon so is this the case and if using the router to "ping" the
plusnet system every 15 mins or so is an option which router do I need?
Will the standard BT Voyager one which plusnet offer do the job?
Thanks in advance for any info
Bob

"poster" <us-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed). net...
> On 10 Sep 2005 10:16 UTC, "R. Mark Clayton" wrote:
>
>>Rubbish, when you have something to send the router will try and transmit
>>and connection will be quickly re-established.
>
> Rubbish back at you. Not all units are expecting to need to operate in a
> 'connect on demand' mode. I've certainly (since I am likely to be
> affected)
> checked for one router, though I expect a number of other 'badged' units
> to
> use the same software with only cosmetic interface differences. From
> manual:
>

So what happens if there is an external disconnection?

Your router SHOULD be trying to keep its connection alive all the time.

If the other end goes away it should keep trying for days or weeks until it
comes back.

Martin Underwood wrote:

> "Tiscali Tim" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
>> Trent SC <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> Set your email client to check for mail every 15 minutes.
>>>
>> That will only work if you leave a PC on permanently.
>
> I was just about to say the same thing. Similarly, a "ping -t" would keep
> the line up, at the expense of generating a lot of traffic: it's a shame
> there isn't an argument to "ping" to say "ping forever, but at 20 minute
> intervals".

from 'man ping':
....
# -i interval
# Wait interval seconds between sending each packet. The
# default is to wait for one second between each packet normally, or not to
# wait in flood mode. Only super-user may set interval to
# values less 0.2 seconds.

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) ((E-Mail Removed))
18:11:50 up 2 days, 5:58, 2 users, load average: 2.20, 2.17, 2.06
This is my BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMSTICK