> is there a tool or command to show the modem speed? I have mine set at 56K
> in the netcfg tool, but offcourse this does not mean the connection will
> always be set at this speed.

for a GUI display under X, try pload

http://www.engr.utk.edu/~mdsmith/pload/

or pppstats, came with my ppp-2.3.5, from

ftp://cs.anu.edu.au/pub/software/ppp/

Alan J. Wylie

> I am having hard time figuring how to find what speed my ppp connection
> to the ISP is running at.
>
> I looked at /var/log/messages, but do not see anything that would indicate
> modem speed.
> I run pppstats, and netstat, but see nothing.

You need to have chat be invoked with the -v option, and it will then log everything via syslog (ie, go to /var/log/messages by default). Under the RedHat 5.2 scripts, if your /etc/sysconfig/ifcfg-ppp0 file contains:

DEBUG="yes"

it will pass "debug" to pppd to allow it to log interesting tidbits once the connection is up, and to pass "-v" to chat to debug the initial session. Linuxconf under 5.2 doesn't seem to have special support for this, but the older netcfg does support it with a button under the communication panel.

You also need to make sure your modem reports the modem speed when connected. This is modem specific, and you will need to read the friendly manual. For my Courier, the commands are:

ATQ0V1X7&A3

where:

AT Hayes (RIP) modem control sequence header
Q0 send result codes
V1 return results as words
X7 extended result codes
&A3 indicate error correction/modulation

I think AT&W will then set those options in NVRAM so that ATZ won't reset them — but I don't have the FM in front me. You also might want to make sure, and add the appropriate commands to the chat script).

Note, the chat script will only show you the initial modem speed. Many modems can change speed during the connection to adapt to local line conditions.

> is there a tool or command to show the modem speed? I have mine set at 56K
> in the netcfg tool, but offcourse this does not mean the connection will
> always be set at this speed.

I also put ATI6I11 in my chat script before dialing, so that I get a copy of the modem statistics for the last call dumped in my syslog. This way, I can look at it if I suspect getting bad connections and look at retransmits and BLERs. I live out in a fairly rural area west of Boston, and there have been several times when I needed to call the phone company due to excessive noise on my modem line, and back when I used ISPs to connect, I ran into two incompetent ISPs that seemed to have extended problems on their end (and I would manually need to change which POP I connected to).

I believe that X-Isp also includes connection speed. The web page is at:

http://users.hol.gr/~dbouras/

Michael Meissner @ Cygnus Solutions (Massachusetts office)