Detailed dialup network connection logging?

VanguardLH wrote:

or did you enter an IP address so you have a static one? For the DNS
server specification, did you elect to have one dynamically assigned
to
your host or did you select "Use the following DNS server addresses"
and
specify some?

The DNS is no longer dynamic since I specifically set the DNS setting to
Google DNS.

fourth). If you only want Google as your primary DNS server, I'd
suggest entering the IP address of your router (probably 192.168.1.1)
as
a secondary DNS server. Your router is probably configured for
dynamic

I only use Google DNS since my ISP DNS blocks some host names. But I
still need them as a very last resort in case Google DNS server (and my
second DNS) is down and not because a host name is not in Google DNS nor
the second DNS. My second DNS is from other ISP and not my own ISP. I
also have a tertiary DNS which I have never used since Google DNS is
quite reliable.

Also, there is no router at my side. It's just my dialup USB modem and
it's not a router type.

IP address assignment and DNS server assignment by your ISP's DHCP
server, so specifying your router as your secondary DNS server means
it

I had a hunch that the dynamic IP address and DNS addresses are
retrieved from my ISP DHCP, but I was told that they are part of dialup
PPP negotiation. My dialup connection has no DHCP settings either. I
don't know if DHCP might be the solution, but I've been searching for a
DHCP client software that interact with my ISP DHCP on-demand, but I
haven't found one. There's a DNS Locator from Windows 2003 Resource Kit,
but it doesn't seem able to find the DHCP and it only acts as a monitor
that passively wait for a status update from DHCP.

I suspect an easy way to see which DNS server you are using is to ask
it
to resolve an IP address or hostname. In a command shell, do a DNS
lookup using the 'nslookup' command, as in:

nslookup www.yahoo.com
nslookup 209.191.122.70

It's kind of unreliable to use nslookup since the given address must be
correct (i.e.: my ISP). Otherwise, the DNS address might be from other
ISP. e.g.: Same ISP but a branch in other province.

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:40:40 -0400, "glee"
wrote:

inline...
"Char Jackson" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:20:40 -0400, "glee"
wrote:

"Char Jackson" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:22:47 -0400, "glee"

wrote:

"Char Jackson" wrote in message
om...
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:39:57 -0400, "glee"

wrote:
In almost every case, you simply leave a dial-up modem installed in
the PC. When the broadband connection goes down, you have the option
of using dial-up. In that case, the router won't be involved.

Yes, but that's not what I was asking. It was mentioned that you
didn't need to use ICS to use a router with dial-up,

Oh, ok. I must have missed that. I'll step back so that whoever said
it can slide in here and explain it. ;-)

...but, but.... it was you! Or we really had a communication
breakdown...

Apparently. :-) I would be surprised to learn I had said that.

OK, door closing now... hopefully will not hit either of us in the
ass.
:-)

I don't think any damage has been done. Hope not, anyway.

Oops.... mine got cracked...

Are you sure it didn't come that way from the factory?

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:40:28 +0000 (UTC), JJ
wrote:

Char Jackson wrote:

Except in cases like JJ described, you can't get it from ipconfig.

To the OP: if you don't want to make the changes to your host that you
mentioned above, perhaps you have a router in your network, in which
case you may be able to see the ISP's DNS IP's by logging into the
router.

There's no router in my network. It's just my dial-up CDMA USB modem and
it's not a router type. Like plain 56k phone line modem.

Sorry, when it comes to dial-up I don't remember much. I last used it
around 1995-96 so it's all faded away.

If ipconfig (while you're connected) doesn't show anything, then I
don't know. It's not like you can easily sniff the traffic and see
where DNS queries are going. Good luck with it, I hope someone posts a
helpful answer so we can all (re)learn.

JJ wrote:

I had a hunch that the dynamic IP address and DNS addresses are
retrieved from my ISP DHCP, but I was told that they are part of
dialup PPP negotiation. My dialup connection has no DHCP settings
either.

You're saying on your host that when you right-click on the dialup
connectoid in the Network applet in Control Panel, select Properties,
look under the Networking tab, that is is no networking component listed
for "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"? If not, just WHERE were you defining
your static (non-DHCP) list of DNS servers?

Are you using a dialup connectoid defined by Windows or are you using
some 3rd party dialup software that operates using its own protocol? If
you use their dialer then you get what they give you. That's what I
remember of the AOL dialer but that was back around 20 years ago that I
last used it. Do you really have to use their dialer program? They
don't have a listing of telephone numbers that you can call but use a
dialup connectoid that you defined using Windows?

It's kind of unreliable to use nslookup since the given address must
be correct (i.e.: my ISP). Otherwise, the DNS address might be from
other ISP. e.g.: Same ISP but a branch in other province.

Why is nslookup unreliable? If you don't specify a DNS server (by going
into interactive mode) then nslookup will use the DNS server(s) in the
priority order that you specified in the TCP/IP properties for your
dialup connectoid. If the "given address" (is that the hostname?) is
not correct, none of the DNS servers you specified is going to return a
positive result.

JJ wrote:

Ant wrote:

I think there was a c:\windows\modem.log or something, but I don't
remember it showing DNS information. Can't you just run ipconfig.exe
/all through cmd.exe after connecting in dial-up?

ipconfig only shows the currently assigned DNS servers which is the Google
DNS in my case.

Then isn't that what you wanted - to find out which DNS server your
dialup connection was using?

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:44:25 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

JJ wrote:

Ant wrote:

I think there was a c:\windows\modem.log or something, but I don't
remember it showing DNS information. Can't you just run ipconfig.exe
/all through cmd.exe after connecting in dial-up?

ipconfig only shows the currently assigned DNS servers which is the Google
DNS in my case.

Then isn't that what you wanted - to find out which DNS server your
dialup connection was using?

He already knows what he's currently using, since he hardcoded it to
use Google's DNS.

He has mentioned several times, across two different threads in two
different newsgroups, that he wants to see what his ISP offers up for
DNS IP's. Those IP's will almost certainly NOT be Google's DNS.

Char Jackson wrote:

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:44:25 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

JJ wrote:

Ant wrote:

I think there was a c:\windows\modem.log or something, but I don't
remember it showing DNS information. Can't you just run ipconfig.exe
/all through cmd.exe after connecting in dial-up?

ipconfig only shows the currently assigned DNS servers which is the Google
DNS in my case.

Then isn't that what you wanted - to find out which DNS server your
dialup connection was using?

He already knows what he's currently using, since he hardcoded it to
use Google's DNS.

Yes, he knew what he specified for DNS server(s). It looked like he
wanted verification that was what he was actually using. There can be a
difference between a configured setting and the actual usage.

He has mentioned several times, across two different threads in two
different newsgroups, that he wants to see what his ISP offers up for
DNS IP's. Those IP's will almost certainly NOT be Google's DNS.

Oh, you mean MULTI-posting which means none of those discussions are
germaine to this one.

I suspect JJ is using a 3rd party dialer from his ISP. If he was using
Windows' dialer and the dialup connectoid that he defined then he
already answered his question. Dialup connectoids defined by Windows
*do* have a Networking tab under which you can define settings for the
"Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" component. A 3rd party dialer uses its own
settings or those pushed by the service provider.

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:44:40 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

Char Jackson wrote:

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:44:25 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

JJ wrote:

Ant wrote:

I think there was a c:\windows\modem.log or something, but I don't
remember it showing DNS information. Can't you just run ipconfig.exe
/all through cmd.exe after connecting in dial-up?

ipconfig only shows the currently assigned DNS servers which is the Google
DNS in my case.

Then isn't that what you wanted - to find out which DNS server your
dialup connection was using?

He already knows what he's currently using, since he hardcoded it to
use Google's DNS.

Yes, he knew what he specified for DNS server(s). It looked like he
wanted verification that was what he was actually using.

I actually thought he was fairly clear in what he wanted. He mentioned
it in both of his first posts (one in each newsgroup). He said he
wanted to know what his ISP would push to him if he hadn't hardcoded
to something else. That's not at all the same thing as asking for
verification of he was actually using.

There can be a
difference between a configured setting and the actual usage.

He has mentioned several times, across two different threads in two
different newsgroups, that he wants to see what his ISP offers up for
DNS IP's. Those IP's will almost certainly NOT be Google's DNS.

Oh, you mean MULTI-posting which means none of those discussions are
germaine to this one.

I suspect JJ is using a 3rd party dialer from his ISP. If he was using
Windows' dialer and the dialup connectoid that he defined then he
already answered his question. Dialup connectoids defined by Windows
*do* have a Networking tab under which you can define settings for the
"Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" component. A 3rd party dialer uses its own
settings or those pushed by the service provider.

He hasn't confirmed, so far, whether he's using a third party dialer.
If he is, it may not make visible the information he's looking for.

inline...
"Char Jackson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:40:40 -0400, "glee"
wrote:

inline...
"Char Jackson" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:20:40 -0400, "glee"

wrote:

"Char Jackson" wrote in message
m...
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:22:47 -0400, "glee"

wrote:

"Char Jackson" wrote in message
news:3snut7pmii51v23h1r5lbrdsa2fam6caem@4ax. com...
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:39:57 -0400, "glee"

wrote:
In almost every case, you simply leave a dial-up modem installed
in
the PC. When the broadband connection goes down, you have the
option
of using dial-up. In that case, the router won't be involved.

Yes, but that's not what I was asking. It was mentioned that you
didn't need to use ICS to use a router with dial-up,

Oh, ok. I must have missed that. I'll step back so that whoever said
it can slide in here and explain it. ;-)

...but, but.... it was you! Or we really had a communication
breakdown...

Apparently. :-) I would be surprised to learn I had said that.

When you mentioned a router, and I said you couldn't use a router with
dialup, you needed ICS... you replied that you didn't need ICS, so I
read that as your implying you didn't need to use ICS to use a router
with dial-up. Communication Error: Syntax Breakdown! You gotta start
writing the way I read!


OK, door closing now... hopefully will not hit either of us in the
ass.
:-)

I don't think any damage has been done. Hope not, anyway.

Oops.... mine got cracked...

Are you sure it didn't come that way from the factory?

I dunno, I still can't find the manual.
--
Glen Ventura
MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
CompTIA A+

VanguardLH wrote:

You're saying on your host that when you right-click on the dialup
connectoid in the Network applet in Control Panel, select Properties,
look under the Networking tab, that is is no networking component
listed
for "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"? If not, just WHERE were you defining
your static (non-DHCP) list of DNS servers?

On the "General" tab of "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" dialog. It only has
two groups of setting: the IP and the DNS. On the DNS, I chose "Use the
following DNS server addresses". And the DNS address is entered there.

Are you using a dialup connectoid defined by Windows or are you using
some 3rd party dialup software that operates using its own protocol? If

Using Windows (XP). Last time I see a custom dialer for internet access
was in Windows 3. The modem do have a dialer but it's just a helper
that's still use Windows builtin dialer, so it's not worth the memory.

Why is nslookup unreliable? If you don't specify a DNS server (by
going
into interactive mode) then nslookup will use the DNS server(s) in the
priority order that you specified in the TCP/IP properties for your
dialup connectoid. If the "given address" (is that the hostname?) is
not correct, none of the DNS servers you specified is going to return a
positive result.

nslookup need a host name or IP address in order to retrieve its
registered DNS addresses. If I give nslookup the wrong address the result
to be wrong. That's why it's not reliable. Besides, the queried data
might already have expired.

JJ schreef:
VanguardLH wrote:

You're saying on your host that when you right-click on the dialup
connectoid in the Network applet in Control Panel, select Properties,
look under the Networking tab, that is is no networking component
listed
for "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"? If not, just WHERE were you defining
your static (non-DHCP) list of DNS servers?

On the "General" tab of "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" dialog. It only has
two groups of setting: the IP and the DNS. On the DNS, I chose "Use the
following DNS server addresses". And the DNS address is entered there.

Are you using a dialup connectoid defined by Windows or are you using
some 3rd party dialup software that operates using its own protocol? If

Using Windows (XP). Last time I see a custom dialer for internet access
was in Windows 3. The modem do have a dialer but it's just a helper
that's still use Windows builtin dialer, so it's not worth the memory.

Why is nslookup unreliable? If you don't specify a DNS server (by
going
into interactive mode) then nslookup will use the DNS server(s) in the
priority order that you specified in the TCP/IP properties for your
dialup connectoid. If the "given address" (is that the hostname?) is
not correct, none of the DNS servers you specified is going to return a
positive result.

nslookup need a host name or IP address in order to retrieve its
registered DNS addresses. If I give nslookup the wrong address the result
to be wrong. That's why it's not reliable. Besides, the queried data
might already have expired.


You can try HoverIP, it's freeware.
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

There's a portable version available:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABL...-HoverIP.shtml

Download HoverIP Portable zipfile
http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-postdow...=95049&t=4&i=1

Regards,

Zanqeutil

Char Jackson wrote:

I suspect JJ is using a 3rd party dialer from his ISP. If he was
using Windows' dialer and the dialup connectoid that he defined then
he already answered his question. Dialup connectoids defined by
Windows *do* have a Networking tab under which you can define
settings for the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" component. A 3rd
party dialer uses its own settings or those pushed by the service
provider.

He hasn't confirmed, so far, whether he's using a third party dialer.
If he is, it may not make visible the information he's looking for.

Yeah, it's probably been around 20 years since I used AOL with their
dialer. About the only user configuration that I recall with their
dialer was username, password, and the telephone number to call.

http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/...nalId=2 18335

The info there is worthless to anyone not currently an AOL customer or
who doesn't have their dialer installed to look at its included help
file. I did find some more info at:

http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/...0659&stateId=0 0 634368431&radios=False
http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/...rna lId=12951

However, I couldn't see where any IP addressing, DHCP, or DNS settings
were available in the configuration of their dialer software. The
following article purports to address DNS problems:

http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/...0905&stateId=0 0 634372557&radios=False

Yet it never mentions how to configure DNS in their dialer. I suspect
you're supposed to use whatever DNS server the telephone number you call
will give you.

It's been way too long since I used dial-up service. Does anyone other
than AOL also provide their own customized dialer application? I'm not
sure the AOL dialer is even required anymore. AOL provides instructions
on how to use the Windows dialer to connect to their service:

http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/...rna lId=16419

With Windows using its connectoid definition and dialer, you can specify
what DNS server to use.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:18:27 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

Char Jackson wrote:

I suspect JJ is using a 3rd party dialer from his ISP. If he was
using Windows' dialer and the dialup connectoid that he defined then
he already answered his question. Dialup connectoids defined by
Windows *do* have a Networking tab under which you can define
settings for the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" component. A 3rd
party dialer uses its own settings or those pushed by the service
provider.

He hasn't confirmed, so far, whether he's using a third party dialer.
If he is, it may not make visible the information he's looking for.

Yeah, it's probably been around 20 years since I used AOL with their
dialer. About the only user configuration that I recall with their
dialer was username, password, and the telephone number to call.

....

It's been way too long since I used dial-up service. Does anyone other
than AOL also provide their own customized dialer application?

Sprint does, and I think some of the other wireless telecoms do, too.
Strictly speaking, you don't have to use it, but it's easier if you
do.

JJ wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

You're saying on your host that when you right-click on the dialup
connectoid in the Network applet in Control Panel, select
Properties, look under the Networking tab, that is is no networking
component listed for "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"? If not, just
WHERE were you defining your static (non-DHCP) list of DNS servers?

On the "General" tab of "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" dialog. It only
has two groups of setting: the IP and the DNS. On the DNS, I chose
"Use the following DNS server addresses". And the DNS address is
entered there.

There is an Advanced button there; however, if you only specify a
maximum of 2 DNS servers than you don't need to go into the advanced
settings. The order for DNS servers listed in the General tab will be
the same order listed under the advanced properties under the DNS tab.

Are you using a dialup connectoid defined by Windows or are you using
some 3rd party dialup software that operates using its own protocol?

Using Windows (XP). Last time I see a custom dialer for internet
access was in Windows 3. The modem do have a dialer but it's just a
helper that's still use Windows builtin dialer, so it's not worth the
memory.

Who is your ISP? As I recall, and why I asked about a 3rd party dialer,
is that AOL did and still does provide their own dialer app. If you use
that then you don't get any configurable options, like IP address and
DNS server(s).

If you are using the Windows dialer along with a connectoid defined in
the Network applet in Control Panel (for use by the Windows dialer, not
by some other dialer) then the DNS settings you specified will get used.

Why is nslookup unreliable? If you don't specify a DNS server (by
going
into interactive mode) then nslookup will use the DNS server(s) in the
priority order that you specified in the TCP/IP properties for your
dialup connectoid. If the "given address" (is that the hostname?) is
not correct, none of the DNS servers you specified is going to return a
positive result.

nslookup need a host name or IP address in order to retrieve its
registered DNS addresses. If I give nslookup the wrong address the result
to be wrong. That's why it's not reliable. Besides, the queried data
might already have expired.

What would be the point of running nslookup without telling it what you
wanted to look up? That would be like opening a phone book but you
don't know the name of whomever you wanted to look up. Humans like
names but computers use numbers hence the need for a DNS lookup. The
point of using nslookup to to do a lookup so obviously you have to
specify a hostname or optionally an IP address (if the DNS server
supports reverse lookups).

What did you expect to get as a result from nslookup if you didn't tell
it what to lookup?

If you give a hostname that isn't defined in the DNS server to which you
connect then that lookup fails. The DNS server then passes the request
to the next upstream DNS server. It can keep failing until the request
goes all the way back to the nameserver the domain uses as the DNS
server to equate their hostnames to IP addresses.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/d...ns_servers.htm

See the 4th paragraph under the "DNS Server Hierarchy" section. If no
DNS server can return an IP address (i.e., none of them have an A record
for the hostname that you specified) then you get back a failure on the
lookup. Nothing "wrong" was returned. Either the hostname was defined
in one of the DNS servers and you get a positive result (the IP address)
or you get a negative result (a failure to find an A record listing the
IP address for that hostname).

Just because a domain is defined doesn't mean it has a server running
there with one, or more, hostnames that are listening for connection
requests. Anyone can register a domain and then decide later whether or
not to use it by running a server program on a host and adding their
host to their nameserver (which they or someone else might operate).

If you try to lookup vanguard.lh, yep, you won't get back an IP address.
The TLD (top-level domain) of LH is not yet defined. No one can
register a domain using that TLD hence why it use it as my bogus e-mail
address in my posts. Any spammers that cull my e-mail address won't
even be able to establish a connection. The sending mail server won't
even try to find a host to which to connect. They'll see an invalid TLD
and immediately error out the mail session. So if you try to run
"nslookup vanguard.lh" you will get a negative result. That is NOT a
wrong result. It is a correct result showing that no such domain is
defined in any DNS server.

If you think you are experiencing problems with DNS caching (of both
positive and negative results) then you can edit the registry entries
that define how long to keep those cached entries. In the past, DNS
servers were updated maybe once per day and why Microsoft selected a
timeout interval of 1 day for positive results. Nowadays DNS servers
are updated at about 4-hour intervals. So, if you want, you can edit
the positive cached timeout to lower it. You can do the same to
shortenn the interval for negative cached entries (DNS lookup failures).
I changed my positive cache timeout to 15 minutes and negative cache
count down to zero.

You could just set the DNS Client service (that caches the
positive/negative DNS lookups) so it is Disabled. That way, you won't
be caching any entries. Be aware that this also means that your host
will have to do a DNS lookup for EVERY hostname, including the positive
results. That means if a web page has a thousand links to other content
even at the same domain and host that your host will have to perform a
thousand DNS lookups. With positive results getting cached, your host
would only have to do one DNS lookup and would use its local and much
faster cache to find all those other same-domain links in the web page
you are trying to load. DNS lookups are a LOT slower than using a local
cache. If you disable the DNS Client then it will take longer to
retrieve all the same-domain linked content in a web page. There are
exceptions to this, like you have a ridiculously sized 'hosts' files,
like the mega-sized pre-compiled MVPS 'hosts' file.

MS KB article 318803 tells you how to disable the DNS Client service or
how to edit the registry entries regarding caching for positive and
negative entries (separate caches for each).

You will need to better define what you mean by "wrong" regarding a DNS
lookup.

Regardless of your claim about the inaccuracy of the returned results,
that doesn't obviate WHICH server was used for the lookup. So when you
*do* run nslookup, which DNS server did it say that it used?

Zanqeutil wrote:

JJ schreef:
VanguardLH wrote:

You're saying on your host that when you right-click on the dialup
connectoid in the Network applet in Control Panel, select Properties,
look under the Networking tab, that is is no networking component
listed
for "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"? If not, just WHERE were you defining
your static (non-DHCP) list of DNS servers?

On the "General" tab of "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" dialog. It only has
two groups of setting: the IP and the DNS. On the DNS, I chose "Use the
following DNS server addresses". And the DNS address is entered there.

Are you using a dialup connectoid defined by Windows or are you using
some 3rd party dialup software that operates using its own protocol? If

Using Windows (XP). Last time I see a custom dialer for internet access
was in Windows 3. The modem do have a dialer but it's just a helper
that's still use Windows builtin dialer, so it's not worth the memory.

Why is nslookup unreliable? If you don't specify a DNS server (by
going
into interactive mode) then nslookup will use the DNS server(s) in the
priority order that you specified in the TCP/IP properties for your
dialup connectoid. If the "given address" (is that the hostname?) is
not correct, none of the DNS servers you specified is going to return a
positive result.

nslookup need a host name or IP address in order to retrieve its
registered DNS addresses. If I give nslookup the wrong address the result
to be wrong. That's why it's not reliable. Besides, the queried data
might already have expired.


You can try HoverIP, it's freeware.
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

There's a portable version available:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABL...-HoverIP.shtml

Download HoverIP Portable zipfile
http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-postdow...=95049&t=4&i=1

Regards,

Zanqeutil

Alas, the OP (JJ) wants to see which DNS server he is *using* and not
what he specifically configured for use. He also doesn't believe
nslookup will tell him which DNS server was used for a lookup so he
isn't going to believe the output from Hover's nslookup, either.