My cable modem Internet connection is unbelievably horrible. Dialup seems reliable by comparison. I get disconnected from chat services every 10 minutes or so, 60 minutes at the longest. Just surfing the web is hard since like one in every 10 links returns server cannot be found errors. I want to complain to my provider, but before I do so it'd be nice if I had some hard data to point at. So with that in mind, is there any software out there that could help me with this? Basically what I'm looking for is something that would continuously test my Internet connection and log just how much downtime and packetloss I'm getting. This seems well outside the bounds of acceptability, but if I just complain without any hard numbers, I could totally see them just replying with a line about how some packetloss is to be expected or something like that.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Answered my own question =). In case anyone else has the same issue, I won't delete this. Found this software that seems perfect:
http://www.remotetek.com/software/livecon/download/

Must be a pretty good piece of software, since it hasn't been updated in four years

manekineko, check out http://www.dslreports.com. When at the site click on "Forums" then look for your ISP forum. The people there are very knowledgeable and very helpful. They also have links to various online tests you can perform.

Yup, I checked that place out first, but from what I could tell no one else seemed to have the same problem as me, and I couldn't find the program I needed. This one seems to be working out just fine though.

this is a completly wild guess given that i don't know any of your details, but one of hte common problems is recieving a weak signal. maybe you split the cable where it comes into your house and didn't do it correctly or maybe their wiring is bad. if you call them they should come out and test your line and they will probably end up on your telephone line making sure the signal is ok.