on-line

Check if the internet connection is up

Works in Node.js.

In the browser you have navigator.onLine, but it's useless as it only tells you if there's a local connection, and not whether the internet is accessible.

Install

$ npm install --save on-line

Usage

The basic use

var isOnline = require('on-line');
 
isOnline(function(err, online) {
  console.log(online);
  // => true
});

Custom options

var isOnline = require('on-line');
isOnline({ timeout: 1000, server: '199.7.83.42' }, function(err, online) {
  console.log(online);
  // => true
});

Node API

isOnline([options,]callback)

options

Optional
Type: object

timeout

Type: number

Milliseconds to wait for a server to send response.

server

Type: string

Testing server.

callback(error, online)

Required
Type: function

error is there only by Node.js convention and is always null.

How it works

In node, we first contact one of the thirteen root servers and ask them to direct us to the servers which host the <root> zone (Which they are themselves). If the server answers, we return an online status.

If no satisfying answer is given within one second, we return an offline status. In the rare case where an firewall intercepts the packet and answers it on its behalf, a second check is run which tries to connect to a series of popular web sites on port 80. If one of these connects, we return online, otherwise offline status.

In the browser, a sophisticated check like in node is not possible because DNS and sockets are abstracted away. We use a check which requests an uncached favicon.ico on a series of popular websites. If one of this checks succeeds, we return online status. If all the requests fail, we return offline status.

Thanks

• is-online

License

MIT