Client disconnects, help

[Vaemar]

So, since I play I have been experiencing this thing: if I don't input anything in the client for a certain amount of minutes, by my estimation around 10 minutes or so, my client disconnects. And this happens long before my character rightly goes AFK.

Now, of course it is playable, but sometimes I find it annoying, especially when I am multitasking or I am waiting to see if somebody shows up in the mud without doing too much with my character. Sometimes it even happened while I was exploring very calmly and reading descriptions, BANG I type a command and I find out my client has already disconnected!

For the record I am using MUSHclient and I am on a router.

I tried to look around in the web and what I found in the web is this:
a)Some say it is caused by the client
b)Some say it is caused by the router
c)Some say it is caused by Windows
d)Some suggest to use a thing called timer to send a blank line, but it is my understanding this is against the rules of FK.

Now long story short, the thing is not the end of the world but if there is a way to make it less annoying it would be really appreciated. At the same time I don't want at all to go against the rules. So suggestions and help are welcome.

P.S.
I don't know if this is related but I have also an option set as "no auto-connect".

P.P.S.
I have found something about a thing called keep_alive. I wonder if this qualifies as trigger that breaks the rules or not.

P.P.S.
In a thread on Mudconnector I also found a guy who claimed that by setting the resolved IP address of the mud he was able to avoid the disconnections. I have tried to do the same and I am now testing to see what happens.

P.P.P.S.
Resolving the IP address didn't work.

P.P.P.P.S.
I found here a better description for the keep alive: http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/bbshowpo ... ct_id=6387 They describe it as a command set by a trigger that does nothing (!!?), so it does not even rest the connection's idle time!? O-o

[Beskytter]

You're likely experiencing a router issue. Certain types of routers will end connections after their own idle timer separate from client/mu* settings.

Keep_Alive is a MUSH flag that sends a socket ping to the router to keep it alive. (The game sends info to the router without adjusting your bit's idle_timer()) I don't see anything in the game that allows you to set a keep_alive so this won't work as far as I can tell.

The router's settings can usually be changed to adjust for this, but you'll need to check router instructions to figure that part out.

[Raona]

Keep_Alive would not violate any of our rules, though we appreciate you checking first. Please try that and see if it does the trick for you. It keeps your router happy, and does not impact our MUD. It will not keep FK from idling you out, but that's not what you are up against, I think.

FK WILL kick you off for idling too long, but you should see yourself go AFK first (Your AFK flag has been set automatically.) and you should get an echo when FK disconnects you (You disappear into the void.). You seem to be aware of this.

I would discourage you from setting "auto-connect" to on. It is not the cause of the problem, but neither is it a good fix for it.

[Vaemar]

Thanks to both of you for your feedback.

Indeed I preferred to ask in advance to be sure, since until... well, yesterday I was not aware of this keep_alive thing, or anything script-triggery-timery-related (in virtually all muds I played they were bannable offences). I will try to activate that then!

Yeah, indeed my intention would be to go afk normally, which at present I can't usually do. Sometimes it disconnects, without warning, and when I enter a new command the client realizes the connection is off and I need to log on again.

Unfortunately I cannot mess with the router because it's in my father's office, so I hope at least this keep_alive works.

I'll keep you updated! Thanks again!

UPDATE: I have tried after turning on keep_alive in the way suggested by Nick Gammon in the first thread linked. I had to wait for a quest npc to show up in a place at a set hour, and so I left my character waiting since the set hour required a long wait. It was an area with a certain mob traffic and I witnessed to a nice output. I was succesfully able to go afk without inputting anything, and afk promptly went away as I typed something in the client. I should try also in a place without much output from the client, but so far I can say that the disconnect issue has been fixed and I can enjoy the game much better!