monitoring question

dragon576 · 10-26-2004

Morning all,

I have the following issue (well ok a niggle).

Sat in a moving vehicle (train). The AP I associate with is in the train, and is backhauled via a couple of wireless methods (GPRS/WiMax). I need to measure the connectivity to the network over the normal journey to ensure no black spots. The problem is that as I am permanently connected to the AP, netstumbler shows a constant connection with no drop.

What I really need is a tool similar to netstumbler (or a script) where I can run a constant ping and map this with GPS coordinates. It is possible I might be able to make two separate measurements (netstumbler and ping) and try to match the entries, but this could be time consuming and not necessarily accurate.

Any ideas

Thanks

Thorn · 10-26-2004

So what you really care about is the backhaul connections.

For a one time use, I'd write a script that will pings an external server, logs the result and reads/logs NMEA sentences from the serial port. Even if it's raw NMEA sentences you could parse the data and determine your location when any dropouts occur.

I'd also eliminate the middleman and not go through the AP. Plug directly into the backhaul network.

dragon576 · 10-27-2004

I work for a service provider, and the backhaul and local infrastructure is provided at present by a 3rd party. To ensure paying customers get the best service, and making sure SLA's are met, I need to ensure the best coverage possible. We also want to understand the impact on VPN clients. Linking the ping results against at/Long would help us understand the backhaul coverage.

I have not heard of a tool which enables this as it is a failrly specific requirement. Normal networks don't physically move after all. Looks like I'll have to dabble with some scripts. I have considered trying matching the response data against netstumbler using time entries, but it is not ideal. I'll hae a dig into the scripting.

Thanks

10-26-2004	#1 (permalink)
dragon576 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2	monitoring question Morning all, I have the following issue (well ok a niggle). Sat in a moving vehicle (train). The AP I associate with is in the train, and is backhauled via a couple of wireless methods (GPRS/WiMax). I need to measure the connectivity to the network over the normal journey to ensure no black spots. The problem is that as I am permanently connected to the AP, netstumbler shows a constant connection with no drop. What I really need is a tool similar to netstumbler (or a script) where I can run a constant ping and map this with GPS coordinates. It is possible I might be able to make two separate measurements (netstumbler and ping) and try to match the entries, but this could be time consuming and not necessarily accurate. Any ideas Thanks

10-26-2004	#2 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,084	So what you really care about is the backhaul connections. For a one time use, I'd write a script that will pings an external server, logs the result and reads/logs NMEA sentences from the serial port. Even if it's raw NMEA sentences you could parse the data and determine your location when any dropouts occur. I'd also eliminate the middleman and not go through the AP. Plug directly into the backhaul network. __________________ Thorn "I'm The Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I am from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I am the man who is going to save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below... You got a problem with that?"

10-27-2004	#3 (permalink)
dragon576 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2	Further explanation I work for a service provider, and the backhaul and local infrastructure is provided at present by a 3rd party. To ensure paying customers get the best service, and making sure SLA's are met, I need to ensure the best coverage possible. We also want to understand the impact on VPN clients. Linking the ping results against at/Long would help us understand the backhaul coverage. I have not heard of a tool which enables this as it is a failrly specific requirement. Normal networks don't physically move after all. Looks like I'll have to dabble with some scripts. I have considered trying matching the response data against netstumbler using time entries, but it is not ideal. I'll hae a dig into the scripting. Thanks

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