Script to check the uptime of my ISP - I run this from a CRON job on a local box.

isp-uptime.sh

#!/bin/bash 

# try 3 times - sometimes getting an initial DNS failure that clears up
COUNTER=0
while [ $COUNTER -lt 3 ]; do
	ping -c 1 google.com &> /dev/null

	if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
		echo "`date`: ping failed, isp is down!" >> /Users/aking/Dropbox/Temp/isp-ping-result.log
		echo "`date`: ping failed, isp is down!" >> /Users/aking/Dropbox/Temp/isp-downtime.log
	else
		echo "`date`: ping succeeded." >> /Users/aking/Dropbox/Temp/isp-ping-result.log
		let COUNTER=3
	fi
	let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
done