Checking for an Internet connection

In my app that uses winsocks, if there is no Internet connection then the winsock gives an error when it tries to connect. How do I check if there is an Internet connection before I try to connect the winsock?

Ping a site that is usually online.

VB Code:

Option Explicit
 
Private Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpOperation As String, _
ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpParameters As String, ByVal lpDirectory As String, ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long
 
Private Const SW_SHOWNORMAL As Long = 1
Private Const SW_HIDE As Long = 0
 
Private Sub Command1_Click()
    ShellExecute Me.hwnd, "Open", "C:\Windows\System32\CMD.exe", " /c ping [url]www.google.com[/url] >> D:\ping.txt", "D:\", SW_SHOWNORMAL
    Shell "notepad D:\ping.txt", SW_SHOWNORMAL
End Sub

You can also try this to

VB Code:

Private Declare Function InternetCheckConnection Lib "wininet.dll" Alias "InternetCheckConnectionA" _
(ByVal lpszUrl As String, ByVal dwFlags As Long, ByVal dwReserved As Long) As Long
 
Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim IsConnected As Boolean
 
    IsConnected = InternetCheckConnection("http://www.google.com", &H1, ByVal 0&)
    
    If Not IsConnected Then
        MsgBox "No Internet Connection Found", vbExclamation
    Else
        MsgBox "Your connected to the internet", vbInformation
    End If
    
End Sub