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Date:	Sun, 7 Jul 2002 11:19:39 PST7
From:	Sheridan George <s-geo@usa.net >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: ISP Side IPTrace

Content Type: text/plain

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Sandy Shapiro wrote:
>
> >When Adelphia took over my cable service I had to get a new cable modem.
> >This one has lights that the one I had with Comcast didn't. One of those
> >lights is an activity light the flickers even when all computers are off.
>
> >I would like to know what my ISP and firewall are talking about.
>
> Hi Sheridan,
>
> I may be misunderstanding what you are asking. But many ISP's will
> disconnect after a period of inactivity. One of the functions of the
> router is to keep the connection alive, and I believe it does that by
> periodically sending something to the ISP. Could that be the traffic you
> are talking about?
>
> Sandy

That is an idea. There is no reason the SMC would know that Adelphia advertises 100% on connections
so it could be sending the "keep alive". But I would think keep alive signals would be several
seconds apart. The activity light flashes at least once every 3 seconds. Sometimes it flickers with
several flashes per second - this with all computers off, only the SMC stays on.

I forgot about my being on a "party" line as Steven pointed out. (See how effectively a firewall
eases worry.) If my modem is picking up their activity then I'm in good shape. There is very little
traffic or the light would be on more or less constantly (as it is when I doing some web activity).

Sheridan

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