Monitoring of Homeplug link

[de carabas]

Not sure if anyone can help but worth a go...
I've installed this great firmware on my RT -N66U in the hope that I can use the increased functionality to help diagnose an issue I have with drop-outs on a homeplug link on my LAN side.

Basically, I have a desktop PC and a Synology NAS at the other end of the Homeplug link to the router. I'm using Homeplus as wireless coverage isn't great due to saturation in a crowded street.
Normally it works perfectly but every now and again the network link drops for up to a minute (loss of Internet access from the PC and the NAS can not be contacted). Other devices are connecting fine and the Devolo cockpit monitoring software says the link is up when it clearly isn't. Yes, I should report that to Devolo.

I'm trying to think of some sort of monitoring that would confirm the link up/down between the router and or the NAS, rather than trying to determine the traffic types or volumes. I'm trying to do this in the hope of spotting a pattern and then zeroing in on whatever it is that's interfering with the link. I've been toying with the idea of coding a 'ping' application in .net to test this and log the connections but this would depend on the PC being connected.

Any thoughts on how this could be done from the router (keeping in mind that I'm not that familiar with Unix commands/scripts)?

 

[octopus]

Not sure if anyone can help but worth a go...
I've installed this great firmware on my RT -N66U in the hope that I can use the increased functionality to help diagnose an issue I have with drop-outs on a homeplug link on my LAN side.

Basically, I have a desktop PC and a Synology NAS at the other end of the Homeplug link to the router. I'm using Homeplus as wireless coverage isn't great due to saturation in a crowded street.
Normally it works perfectly but every now and again the network link drops for up to a minute (loss of Internet access from the PC and the NAS can not be contacted). Other devices are connecting fine and the Devolo cockpit monitoring software says the link is up when it clearly isn't. Yes, I should report that to Devolo.

I'm trying to think of some sort of monitoring that would confirm the link up/down between the router and or the NAS, rather than trying to determine the traffic types or volumes. I'm trying to do this in the hope of spotting a pattern and then zeroing in on whatever it is that's interfering with the link. I've been toying with the idea of coding a 'ping' application in .net to test this and log the connections but this would depend on the PC being connected.

Any thoughts on how this could be done from the router (keeping in mind that I'm not that familiar with Unix commands/scripts)?

Powerline adapter is a really nice thing, but in our net there is signaling from
power meters and other things therefore it is impossible to use here.
They use a 12 multiple of 50 Hz (600 Hz)
Octopus

 

[john9527]

Normally it works perfectly but every now and again the network link drops for up to a minute

There have been posts about some powerline chipsets that are susceptible to drops like this...
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/intermittent-powerline-dropout.29450/#post-250574
Solution is to set up a 'ping' to keep it alive....

 

[de carabas]

Thanks for the replies!

I wonder what the ping frequency needs to be. I would rather not have a constant ping at the router going.
Thanks for the link though, certainly something to try that a simple batch file can do.

 

[octopus]

Which powerline adapters do you have?
If they're TP-Link, you can download a utility from their web site to disable power-saving mode.
I had the same issue, but the utility fixed it.

 

[de carabas]

They are devolo dLAN 500 duo units. I tried checking in the 'cockpit' app that's available for devolo and I've disabled the PowerSaving option some time ago when I also upgraded the firmwares to the most recent.