User's Manual

64
Vodafone MachineLink 3G
www.netcommwireless.com
Ping watchdog
The Ping watchdog page is used to configure the behaviour of the Periodic Ping monitor function.
When configured, the Ping watchdog feature transmits controlled ping packets to 1 or 2 user specific IP addresses. Should the
watchdog not receive responses to the pings, it will reboot the device in a last resort attempt to restore connectivity.
Please be very careful when considering using this feature in situations where the device is intentionally offline for a particular reason
(e.g. user configured PDP session disconnect, or the Connect on demand feature enabled). This is because the ping watchdog
feature expects to be able to access the internet at all times and will always eventually reboot the router if access isn’t restored by
the time the various timers and retries expire.
It is due to the nature of the ping watchdog being a last resort standalone backup mechanism that it will continue to do its job and
reboot the device even when the Connect on demand session is idle, or the PDP context is disabled by the user. Therefore, it is
recommended to disable this feature if Connect on demand is configured, or if the PDP context will be intentionally disconnected on
the occasion.
The feature operates as follows:
A. After every “Periodic Ping Timer” configured interval, the router sends 3 consecutive pings to the “First destination
address”.
B. If all 3 pings fail the router sends 3 consecutive pings to the “Second address”.
C. The router then sends 3 consecutive pings to the “Destination address” and 3 consecutive pings to the “Second address”
every “Periodic Ping Accelerated Timer” configured interval.
D. If all accelerated pings in step C above fail then number of time configured in “Fail Count”, the router reboots.
E. If any ping succeeds, the router returns to step A and does not reboot.
Note: The “Periodic Ping Timer” should not be to a value of less than 60 seconds to allow the router time to reconnect to
the cellular network following a reboot.
To disable the periodic ping reset monitor, set
Fail count to 0.
Figure 74Ping watchdog settings