What is the best way to check for Internet connectivity using .NET?

Question

What is the fastest and most efficient way to check for Internet connectivity in .NET?

Answer 1

For my application we also test by download tiny file.

string remoteUri = "https://www.microsoft.com/favicon.ico"

WebClient myWebClient = new WebClient();

try
{
    byte[] myDataBuffer = myWebClient.DownloadData (remoteUri);
    if(myDataBuffer.length > 0) // Or add more validate. eg. checksum
    {
        return true;
    }
}
catch
{
    return false;
}

Also. Some ISP may use middle server to cache file. Add random unused parameter eg. https://www.microsoft.com/favicon.ico?req=random_number Can prevent caching.