Hi,
I was out and about when my phone told me I had used 80% of my data. It has got to be wrong I thought as I mainly use it at home on my broadband connection. When I got home I realised that it had not connected to the WiFi which is why I used all my data. The phone is about the only thing that connects to the WiFi so nothing else to alert me. It has probably been down for ages.
What I wondered is if anyone has any ideas how to monitor it, I plan to use an ESP32 and if there is no WiFi it starts bleeping. I did think on just pinging the router but thought that there night be a time when I can get a connection to the router but there is no internet. I did then think of using an NTP server as that should always be there but thought I would ask for suggestions.
Regards,
Bob
WiFi alarm
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chipfryer27
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Re: WiFi alarm
Hi
As you rightly state, just because you have a WiFi signal it doesn't mean you have internet connectivity.
Some phones have a setting that you can choose to only use "data" over WiFi so that would be an obvious choice, with you having to change a setting to allow mobile data if required. Have a look through Wireless settings.
On my (all conquering) android it is in Settings > Connections > Data Usage > Mobile Data (which I can set)
Otherwise what you suggest isn't too bad an idea. Some routers though may allow you to poll for status, so that too may be an option. Pinging a remote service or such like is a sure fire way to know you have internet access.
Regards
As you rightly state, just because you have a WiFi signal it doesn't mean you have internet connectivity.
Some phones have a setting that you can choose to only use "data" over WiFi so that would be an obvious choice, with you having to change a setting to allow mobile data if required. Have a look through Wireless settings.
On my (all conquering) android it is in Settings > Connections > Data Usage > Mobile Data (which I can set)
Otherwise what you suggest isn't too bad an idea. Some routers though may allow you to poll for status, so that too may be an option. Pinging a remote service or such like is a sure fire way to know you have internet access.
Regards
Re: WiFi alarm
Hi Chipfryer,
I have just come across this which is how Windows does it.
https://superuser.com/questions/277923/ ... nection-re
Basically it tries to connect to this address http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt which has this text in the document Microsoft NCSI
The problem with setting to only use data over WiFi is I will forget when out and then wonder why I have no internet.
Bob
I have just come across this which is how Windows does it.
https://superuser.com/questions/277923/ ... nection-re
Basically it tries to connect to this address http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt which has this text in the document Microsoft NCSI
The problem with setting to only use data over WiFi is I will forget when out and then wonder why I have no internet.
Bob
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chipfryer27
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Re: WiFi alarm
Haha
Trying to connect to a known site would seem the best way and parsing a reply for "200 OK" or similar would be easy enough. Don't forget though that some routers automatically restart every x-days which kills connectivity for a minute or so therefore best not to set off a siren upon one failure
If using an esp32 then perhaps grabbing data from a NTP server would be of extra benefit as that could perhaps be used to sync it's RTC? Not sure of any that don't dump a ton of data you would need to retrieve / parse though.
Regards
I have done the same. When abroad I use another phone with a local SIM and this acts as a hotspot allowing my UK phone / PC / whatever to access and I keep "data off" on my UK phone. More than once I've only had my UK phone as something at work needed access and I too subsequently needed access and forgotten, usually when trying to translate a menu or the likeThe problem with setting to only use data over WiFi is I will forget when out and then wonder why I have no internet.
Trying to connect to a known site would seem the best way and parsing a reply for "200 OK" or similar would be easy enough. Don't forget though that some routers automatically restart every x-days which kills connectivity for a minute or so therefore best not to set off a siren upon one failure
If using an esp32 then perhaps grabbing data from a NTP server would be of extra benefit as that could perhaps be used to sync it's RTC? Not sure of any that don't dump a ton of data you would need to retrieve / parse though.
Regards
Re: WiFi alarm
Good point, I had not thought of that, when I was with Plusnet I had a fixed IP. I will probably only check every couple of hours, it must have been out for quite a while as my data normally lasts a month easily and was used in just over a week.
Just looking for the "200 OK" is a lot simpler than getting the document and is all it needs really, I will have a play sometime soon.
Bob
Just looking for the "200 OK" is a lot simpler than getting the document and is all it needs really, I will have a play sometime soon.
Bob
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chipfryer27
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Re: WiFi alarm
Hi
I think in a previous project you successfully grabbed "200 OK" or such like. Principle is the same, just choose a website that's likely to be available and of course even "400" is valid as the server has responded with it.
Regards
I think in a previous project you successfully grabbed "200 OK" or such like. Principle is the same, just choose a website that's likely to be available and of course even "400" is valid as the server has responded with it.
Regards
Re: WiFi alarm
Hi,
I wonder if I have hit a snag, I have written a PHP script which gets gets the file and checked this works on my PC. The issue is that the PC has the Abyss web server so all is good. If I run it on the ESP32 and do not have the PC running I do not think it will work?
This is the script I have.
Bob
I wonder if I have hit a snag, I have written a PHP script which gets gets the file and checked this works on my PC. The issue is that the PC has the Abyss web server so all is good. If I run it on the ESP32 and do not have the PC running I do not think it will work?
This is the script I have.
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Download file</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
$myfile = fopen("http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt", "r") or die("Unable to open file!");
$text = fread($myfile, 14);
fclose($myfile);
echo("<pre>$text</pre>");
//Test run - Localhost/download_file.php in browser.
?>
</body>
</html>
Bob
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chipfryer27
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Re: WiFi alarm
Hi
Perhaps overthinking?
Maybe just use the "connect" macro within the component macro to connect to your chosen site. This will return 0 if unsuccessfull or 1 if all good?
Regards
Perhaps overthinking?
Maybe just use the "connect" macro within the component macro to connect to your chosen site. This will return 0 if unsuccessfull or 1 if all good?
Regards
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chipfryer27
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Re: WiFi alarm
PS
I'd need to check the procedure to actually connect, it's most likely more than just connect
I'd need to check the procedure to actually connect, it's most likely more than just connect