Monitoring availability & Bandwidth of my ISP

[paul48]

I am having frequent problems accessing my broadband ISP. I know for sure the ISP is frequently responsible, as others living nearby report the same problem, but sometimes not at the same time of day.
I am new to using Network Diagnostics/Logging tools and today installed a utility called NetTools Pro V4.

However, never quite sure if there may be a problem with my client laptop and local ADSL Router/Switch connection, and so want a utility to clearly Alert me to WHEN and WHAT is the REASON I cannot access my ISP, and record the result.

NetTools seems to be indicating there is no problem, yet both Skype and FireFox 3.5.2 reported no access.

The 'NetCheck'default IP 192.168.0.2 says "Connection to host is functioning properly" but surely that is just a local IP of my laptop. Shouldn't it be testing the connection to the ISP ? The result just mentioned is hopefully good news confirming the problem does not lie with the Client equipment, but does not +vely log the failure of the ISP.

Grateful if you can advise what parameter(s) I should be inspecting, or Diagnosic, that will focus on the cause of my problem and log log both the local loopback and the distant ISP loop in case ISP disputes availability of service. If NeTools limited to monitoring only 'client side' of the DSL, still useful, but grateful for advise what OTHER tool I should look for to keep a logfile of the availability and Bandwidth of the ISP.

[davey6]

you don't really need any software to see if your isp has let you down.

if your accessing the net by a modem router go in to the main router settings and call up the broadband line.
make sure of the following.
ip address
default gateway
DNS server

if any of those are missing you will not have access to the net and that will be down to your ISP.

and on a side note if your with orange broadband service get out now, they are the worse of the bunch for letting people down, capping upload and download speeds and blaming you for the errors.

[paul48]

Thanks for your reply. As mentioned, new to Network Diagnostics. You suggest I check 3 parameters in the Router. Not sure if your 1st parameter is the IP address of my ISP ?

As it happens, the old router broke down last month (unconnected with the ISP problem which preceded it by 3 months)
A 'new' D-Link DSL500B was bought (I say 'new', cause when I looked on the D-Link site for an install manual, it only listed the DSL500, and said "discontinued")

When I am connected to my ISP the DSL500B opening screen reports:
Line Rate - Upstream (Kbps) 320
Line Rate - Downstream (Kbps) 1024
LAN IPv4 Address 192.168.0.1
Default Gateway 200.217.255.216
Primary DNS Server 200.165.132.155
Secondary DNS Server 200.149.55.142

The IP of my laptop is 192.168.0.2. I think none of the above addresses are of my ISP.

When connected, if I goto: whatismyaddress.com I get 189.70.157.227 - I assume that is a dynamic address as I use ADSL, and changes for each logon.

Problem is, when I have NO connection, I cannot access that site, so HOW do I obtain categorical proof I am NOT connected ?

As per my previous question, I would prefer a diagnostic utility that can continously update a small log file with my ISP Availability, Bandwidth, and of course, my local Router loopback availability - only the latter is done by 'NetTools'

Regards
ps: re your reply on my other post of that day, I never use IE, I use FF3.5.2, or if probs, my alternative is Chrome 3