Dar, Thanks for your help. Open socket for telnet/close again; works just great. Typically takes "0" seconds. When the router crashes, it's reported as taken 148 seconds. Very simple, meets my needs just great. Cheers, Ben Rubinstein | Email: benr_mc at cogapp.com Cognitive Applications Ltd | Phone: +44 (0)1273-821600 http://www.cogapp.com | Fax : +44 (0)1273-728866