I want cisco 800 series router to stay on!

[gb2299]

Hi,

I'm not an expert on Cisco routers and have a simple question.
I want to keep the ISDN port on a series 800 router alive permanantly.
Our customer here in the UK has a 128k ISDN internet connection with a 'surftime' account (its a cost thing!)that keeps disconnecting. A couple of users want to use Terminal Services out of business hours and the router keeps disconnecting.
The router will connect to the Internet upon request from any users on the LAN and behaves normally with the exception of timing out.
The following is the part of the config I feel may need changing

interface dialer 1
description connected to the internet
ip unnumbered Ethernet 0
no ip split-horizon
encapsulation ppp
dialer in-band
dialer idle-timeout 2000000
dialer string 0844xxxxxxx
dialer hold-queue 10
dialer load-threshold 5
dialer-group 1
ppp authenitcation chap pap callin
ppp chap hostname xxxxxx
ppp chap password xxxxxx
ppp pap sent-username xxxxxxx password xxxxxx
ppp multilink
no cdp enable


Please can some tell me what I should include in the config to 'nail up' this connection.

Thanks
Graham

 

[marsd]

What does your interesting traffic look like for the dialer group?
ex:
dialer-list 1 protocol ip permit

You could also try setting your load-threshold 1.
Use sh dialer and debug dialer events to see what is
going on.

 

[Saeed42]

Set the idle time-out to max available, and to be on the save side create a little .bat file that pings an external IP address, and keep it on the server (assuming your server is on all the time) then Schedule it to run after office ours every 10-15min

 

[gb2299]

Hi ,

Thanks for the suggestions.

'dialer-list 1 protocol ip permit' already set
'load-threshold 1 ' configured

I have run the debug command and the results are below.

It still disconnects after 6 mins with ip traffic from lan to router.
The customer would prefer not to add any more ,at' commands on his W2K server.

Any more suggestions please?


xxx#sh dialer

BRI0 - dialer type = ISDN
Rotary group 1, priority = 0
0 incoming call(s) have been screened.
0 incoming call(s) rejected for callback.

BRI0:1 - dialer type = ISDN
Idle timer (2147483 secs), Fast idle timer (20 secs)
Wait for carrier (30 secs), Re-enable (15 secs)
Dialer state is multilink member
Dial reason: ip (s=x.x.x.x, d=158.152.1.58)
Current call connected 00:01:17
Connected to 08440416677 (DEMON1)

BRI0:2 - dialer type = ISDN
Idle timer (2147483 secs), Fast idle timer (20 secs)
Wait for carrier (30 secs), Re-enable (15 secs)
Dialer state is multilink member
Dial reason: Multilink bundle overloaded
Current call connected 00:01:06
Connected to 08440416677 (DEMON1)

Di1 - dialer type = IN-BAND SYNC NO-PARITY
Load threshold for dialing additional calls is 2
Idle timer (2147483 secs), Fast idle timer (20 secs)
Wait for carrier (30 secs), Re-enable (15 secs)
Number of active calls = 2

Dial String Successes Failures Last DNIS Last status
08440416677 2342 45 00:01:11 successful Default
xxxxx#debug dialer events
Dial on demand events debugging is on
#
6w1d: %ISDN-6-DISCONNECT: Interface BRI0:2 disconnected from 08440416677 DEMON1
, call lasted 1035 seconds
6w1d: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface BRI0:2, changed state to down
6w1d: BR0:2 DDR: disconnecting call
6w1d: Vi1 DDR: disconnecting call
6w1d: %ISDN-6-DISCONNECT: Interface BRI0:1 disconnected from 08440416677 DEMON1
, call lasted 1047 seconds
6w1d: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface BRI0:1, changed state to down
6w1d: BR0:1 DDR: disconnecting call
6w1d: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface BRI0:1, changed state to d
own
6w1d: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface BRI0:2, changed state to d
own
6w1d: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Virtual-Access1, changed s
tate to down
6w1d: BR0 DDR: rotor dialout [priority]
6w1d: BR0 DDR: Dialing cause ip (s=x.x.x.x, d=167.216.128.41)
6w1d: BR0 DDR: Attempting to dial 08440416677
6w1d: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface BRI0:1, changed state to up
6w1d: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Virtual-Access1, changed state to up
6w1d: Vi1 DDR: Dialer statechange to up
6w1d: Vi1 DDR: Dialer call has been placed
6w1d: Vi1 DDR: dialer protocol up
6w1d: Vi1 DDR: Call connected, 3 packets unqueued, 3 transmitted, 0 discarded
6w1d: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface BRI0:1, changed state to u
p
6w1d: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Virtual-Access1, changed s
tate to up
6w1d: BR0 DDR: rotor dialout [priority]
6w1d: BR0 DDR: Attempting to dial 08440416677
6w1d: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface BRI0:2, changed state to up
6w1d: %ISDN-6-CONNECT: Interface BRI0:1 is now connected to 08440416677 DEMON1
6w1d: DDR: MLP bundle, 0 packets unqueued and discarded
6w1d: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface BRI0:2, changed state to u
p

 

[gb2299]

Hi,

Me again!

I have now enabled RIP to send out packets down the isdn. This keeps the line up. Is this a suitable solution???

Thanks
Graham

 

[marsd]

As long as you're happy with the broadcast traffic on
your small pipe there and the routing situation is suitable
(that is cidr attached netblocks are trouble with RIPI)
for the solution, yeah, UDP bursts every 60 or so seconds
is a solution. A ping to the interface every 30
seconds from a workstation does the same thing without
the overhead and worries with routing tho..
My .02 cents.

 

[Saeed42]

Remember that rip by default broadcasts every 30 seconds, and that broadcast is eating into your bandwidth, and not just after office ours, but during office ours when you need all the bandwidth you can get.

 

[piner]

I know the surftime system, and you'll never get to stay online all the time. All of BT's business services, except the more expensive ones, provide various levels of internet access either on pay as you go or "unmetered" prepay service. They are NOT designed to be allways on. If you have the original surftime package then you WILL be disconnected every 2 hours. The new business packages that are offered by BT-Connect do not have a timeout set, but they still reserve the right to disconnect you as and when required, you can re-connect straight away.

Oh yeah, you can keep the line alive, but BT will time you out or send you snotty messages about overuse. But you must remember this is basic internet access for small businesses, not a full connectivity solution. We use the BTConnect Lite Anytime service, £15 per month, and for us it's just dandy for e-mail and internet browsing.

The other problem no-one seemed to mention was that of the IP address. Surftime and Anytime packages will receive a new IP address every time you connect. Now, unless you hang round in the evening to tell your remote users the current address by phone, you're gonna have a heck of a time finding your IP from out on the net. BT have at least 64516 addresses that I know of for Connect Lite alone.

Your solution. You need a allways on connection with a static IP address. BT can supply and configure this, as can many other ISP's and Telco's. But you'll pay, not £15 per month for Anytime surfing, but into the thousands annually for Internet services. Or, you could set up an NT box with a few modems and RRAS (Routing and Remote Access) and pay for the calls to the modems.