Check for internet connection gives error in windows 8

[winman]

I Have a vb6 code which is used to test whether internet connection is there or not for a PC.I make use of checking google DNS for it.It works fine in Windows XP.But in Windows 8 if internet is connected or not it always returns success(Internet is connected). I am making use of Below is part of coding

Private Function CheckForInternet(ByVal ServerIP As String, ByRef IsTimedOut As Boolean) A

s Boolean
On Error GoTo CheckForInternet_EH

Dim Reply As ICMP_ECHO_REPLY
Dim lngSuccess As Long
Dim strIPAddress As String
Dim a As String
Dim startTimer As Single
Dim EndTimer As Single
Const Time_out_in_ms As Integer = 1000
'Get the sockets ready.
If SocketsInitialize() Then
    'Address to ping
    strIPAddress = ServerIP

    'Ping the IP that is passing the address and get a reply.
    lngSuccess = ping(strIPAddress, Time_out_in_ms, Reply)

    'Clean up the sockets.
    SocketsCleanup

    ''Return Value
    If lngSuccess = ICMP_SUCCESS Then
        CheckForInternet = True
    ElseIf lngSuccess = ICMP_STATUS_REQUEST_TIMED_OUT Then
        IsTimedOut = True
    End If
'Else
'    'Winsock error failure, initializing the sockets.
'    Debug.Print WINSOCK_ERROR
End If

Exit Function
CheckForInternet_EH:
Call msglog(Err.Description & Space(10) & "CheckForInternet", False)
End Function

And below is ping procedure

Public Function ping(ByVal sAddress As String, ByVal time_out As Long, Reply As ICMP_ECHO_REPLY) As Long
On Error GoTo ping_EH

Dim hIcmp As Long
Dim lAddress As Long
Dim lTimeOut As Long
Dim StringToSend As String

'Short string of data to send
StringToSend = "hello"

'ICMP (ping) timeout
lTimeOut = time_out ''ms

'Convert string address to a long representation.
lAddress = inet_addr(sAddress)

If (lAddress <> -1) And (lAddress <> 0) Then

    'Create the handle for ICMP requests.
    hIcmp = IcmpCreateFile()

    If hIcmp Then
        'Ping the destination IP address.
        Call IcmpSendEcho(hIcmp, lAddress, StringToSend, Len(StringToSend), 0, Reply, Len(Reply), lTimeOut)

        'Reply status
        ping = Reply.Status

        'Close the Icmp handle.
        IcmpCloseHandle hIcmp
    Else
        'Debug.Print "failure opening icmp handle."
        ping = -1
    End If
Else
    ping = -1
End If
Exit Function
ping_EH:
Call msglog(Err.Description & Space(10) & "ping", False)
End Function

It is only a part of coding(I do pass parameters properly such as sAddress with DNS of google etc).Now i have observed that when internet connection is there in windows xp ping = Reply.Status returns 0 (which is for success).Same is the case in Windows 8 also.But when internet connection is not there windows xp returns ping value as 11003(which means no internet connection).But in windows 8 it still returns 0 which is for success.

So i think it is problem with IcmpSendEcho function which returns wrong value

i have defined following also

Private Declare Function IcmpSendEcho Lib "icmp.dll" _
   (ByVal IcmpHandle As Long, _
    ByVal DestinationAddress As Long, _
    ByVal RequestData As String, _
    ByVal RequestSize As Long, _
    ByVal RequestOptions As Long, _
    ReplyBuffer As ICMP_ECHO_REPLY, _
    ByVal ReplySize As Long, _
    ByVal Timeout As Long) As Long

'This structure describes the options that will be included in the header of an IP packet.
'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcetcpip/htm/cerefIP_OPTION_INFORMATION.asp
Private Type IP_OPTION_INFORMATION
   Ttl             As Byte
   Tos             As Byte
   Flags           As Byte
   OptionsSize     As Byte
   OptionsData     As Long
End Type

'This structure describes the data that is returned in response to an echo request.
'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcesdkr/htm/_wcesdk_icmp_echo_reply.asp
Public Type ICMP_ECHO_REPLY
   address         As Long
   Status          As Long
   RoundTripTime   As Long
   DataSize        As Long
   Reserved        As Integer
   ptrData                 As Long
   Options        As IP_OPTION_INFORMATION
   Data            As String * 250
End Type

Hint:also in link IcmpSendEcho IP_OPTION_INFORMATION for 64 bit pc is different etc.. etc..

So please help me to solve the problem

[Bonnie West]

Have you tried the InternetCheckConnection function? Here's an example.

[Doogle]

So i think it is problem with IcmpSendEcho function which returns wrong value

Well, you're not checking the return value from the Function. I suggest you do something like

Dim lngReturn As Long
lngReturn =  IcmpSendEcho(hIcmp, lAddress, StringToSend, Len(StringToSend), 0, Reply, Len(Reply), lTimeOut)
If lngReturn = 0 Then
    MsgBox "Error calling IcmpSendEcho, Return Code " & Err.LastDllError & " Hex: ( " & Hex(Err.LastDllError) & ")"
Else
    '
    ' Rest of your code
    '
End If

[winman]

Hi Doogle
When internet connection is not there in Windows XP:
The return code from IcmpSendEcho is 11003 (IP_DEST_HOST_UNREACHABLE) which means The destination host was unreachable.
When internet connection is not there in Windows 8:
The return code from IcmpSendEcho is 1231.
I don't know what does it mean? Also am i using ICMP_ECHO_REPLY properly?(i saw that for 64 bit there exists ICMP_ECHO_REPLY32 etc etc in link IcmpSendEcho )Can u please help me to solve this?

[Doogle]

Error code 1231 is 'ERROR_NETWORK_UNREACHABLE' (See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...v=vs.85).aspx), which I guess is what you want.

Presumably if the connection is established, both XP and W8 return a non-zero value from IcmpSendEcho (?)

[winman]

The link you have mentioned does not exists. Also i am checking return of ping(ping = Reply.Status) to check for internet connection is not there or not.

[Doogle]

OOps - try this and navigate to the appropriate section.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...(v=vs.85).aspx

It looks as if you're better off checking the Return from the API call instead. (On the grounds that, if the API call failed, the contents of the Structure you're looking at are probably invalid)

[winman]

Ok . But in windows 8 when i internet connection is there or not ping = Reply.Status always returns 0.

In windows xp ping = Reply.Status returns 0 if internet connection is there and 11003 when internet connection is not there.
So why does windows 8 always return 0? That is the problem for me because i am checking for reply.status


I also have doubts with some lines in the link IcmpSendecho
" On a 64-bit platform, The buffer should be large enough to hold at least one ICMP_ECHO_REPLY32 structure plus RequestSize bytes of data.
This buffer should also be large enough to also hold 8 more bytes of data (the size of an ICMP error message)."
What does it mean? Is there any changes needed for my code as windows 8 is 64 bit.
Please help

[winman]

How i should declare ICMP_ECHO_REPLY32 structure?