Diagnosing connection issue

[Tom Metro]

edwardp wrote:
> And even after this, it occurred again, this time it was at least a full 
> minute before the page(s) started loading in.

So when it happens, have you attempted to run trace routes?

One approach I've used to catch intermittent problems like that is to do
a trace (to www.google.com or some other public site) and identify the
IP address of the nearest 3 or 4 hops. Whatever takes you to the first
backbone router. Then I setup a ping command for each IP, logging to a
file, and using appropriate options so the ping rate is low enough not
to bother anyone.

(Technically, I don't use the ping command, but a Perl module for
sending ICMP and UDP packets and a custom connectivity monitoring
script, but the principle is the same.)

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/