Question

I’m making an app that requires internet connection for certain areas.
I’m looking for the best way to check internet connection and return an alert view.
I’ve had a poke around and can only find ways of doing the above in iOS 4, but the app I’m making is in iOS 5.

I’ve had a look at apples Reachability sample code, but that just makes my code error like crazy when I try and implement (because it’s built for iOS 4).

Edit:
When I import the reachability.h file into my project I get 10 errors, (of which 6 I can simply fix) and 4 that I’m not sure what to do with.

Answer 1

I’ve adapted Apple’s Reachability class for using with ARC, try it.

/*

 File: Reachability.m
 Abstract: Basic demonstration of how to use the SystemConfiguration Reachablity APIs.

 Version: 2.2

 Disclaimer: IMPORTANT:  This Apple software is supplied to you by Apple Inc.
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 use, installation, modification or redistribution of this Apple software
 constitutes acceptance of these terms.  If you do not agree with these terms,
 please do not use, install, modify or redistribute this Apple software.

 In consideration of your agreement to abide by the following terms, and subject
 to these terms, Apple grants you a personal, non-exclusive license, under
 Apple's copyrights in this original Apple software (the "Apple Software"), to
 use, reproduce, modify and redistribute the Apple Software, with or without
 modifications, in source and/or binary forms; provided that if you redistribute
 the Apple Software in its entirety and without modifications, you must retain
 this notice and the following text and disclaimers in all such redistributions
 of the Apple Software.
 Neither the name, trademarks, service marks or logos of Apple Inc. may be used
 to endorse or promote products derived from the Apple Software without specific
 prior written permission from Apple.  Except as expressly stated in this notice,
 no other rights or licenses, express or implied, are granted by Apple herein,
 including but not limited to any patent rights that may be infringed by your
 derivative works or by other works in which the Apple Software may be
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 The Apple Software is provided by Apple on an "AS IS" basis.  APPLE MAKES NO
 WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED
 WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
 PURPOSE, REGARDING THE APPLE SOFTWARE OR ITS USE AND OPERATION ALONE OR IN
 COMBINATION WITH YOUR PRODUCTS.

 IN NO EVENT SHALL APPLE BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR
 CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE
 GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
 ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE, REPRODUCTION, MODIFICATION AND/OR
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 APPLE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

 Copyright (C) 2010 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 */

#import <sys/socket.h>
#import <netinet/in.h>
#import <netinet6/in6.h>
#import <arpa/inet.h>
#import <ifaddrs.h>
#import <netdb.h>

#import <CoreFoundation/CoreFoundation.h>

#import "Reachability.h"

#define kShouldPrintReachabilityFlags 0

static void PrintReachabilityFlags(SCNetworkReachabilityFlags    flags, const char* comment)
{
#if kShouldPrintReachabilityFlags

    NSLog(@"Reachability Flag Status: %c%c %c%c%c%c%c%c%c %s\n",
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsWWAN)               ? 'W' : '-',
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsReachable)            ? 'R' : '-',

          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsTransientConnection)  ? 't' : '-',
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsConnectionRequired)   ? 'c' : '-',
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsConnectionOnTraffic)  ? 'C' : '-',
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsInterventionRequired) ? 'i' : '-',
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsConnectionOnDemand)   ? 'D' : '-',
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsLocalAddress)       ? 'l' : '-',
          (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsDirect)             ? 'd' : '-',
          comment
          );
#endif
}


@implementation Reachability
static void ReachabilityCallback(SCNetworkReachabilityRef target, SCNetworkReachabilityFlags flags, void* info)
{
#pragma unused (target, flags)
    NSCAssert(info != NULL, @"info was NULL in ReachabilityCallback");
    NSCAssert([(NSObject*) objc_unretainedObject(info) isKindOfClass: [Reachability class]], @"info was wrong class in ReachabilityCallback");

    //We're on the main RunLoop, so an NSAutoreleasePool is not necessary, but is added defensively
    // in case someon uses the Reachablity object in a different thread.
    @autoreleasepool {    
        Reachability* noteObject = (Reachability*) objc_unretainedObject(info);
        // Post a notification to notify the client that the network reachability changed.
        [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName: kReachabilityChangedNotification object: noteObject];
    }
}

- (BOOL) startNotifier
{
    BOOL retVal = NO;
    const void *pointer = objc_unretainedPointer(self);
    SCNetworkReachabilityContext context = {0, (void *) pointer, NULL, NULL, NULL};
    if(SCNetworkReachabilitySetCallback(reachabilityRef, ReachabilityCallback, &context))
    {
        if(SCNetworkReachabilityScheduleWithRunLoop(reachabilityRef, CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), kCFRunLoopDefaultMode))
        {
            retVal = YES;
        }
    }
    return retVal;
}

- (void) stopNotifier
{
    if(reachabilityRef!= NULL)
    {
        SCNetworkReachabilityUnscheduleFromRunLoop(reachabilityRef, CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), kCFRunLoopDefaultMode);
    }
}

- (void) dealloc
{
    [self stopNotifier];
    if(reachabilityRef!= NULL)
    {
        CFRelease(reachabilityRef);
    }
}

+ (Reachability*) reachabilityWithHostName: (NSString*) hostName;
{
    Reachability* retVal = NULL;
    SCNetworkReachabilityRef reachability = SCNetworkReachabilityCreateWithName(NULL, [hostName UTF8String]);
    if(reachability!= NULL)
    {
        retVal= [[self alloc] init];
        if(retVal!= NULL)
        {
            retVal->reachabilityRef = reachability;
            retVal->localWiFiRef = NO;
        }
    }
    return retVal;
}

+ (Reachability*) reachabilityWithAddress: (const struct sockaddr_in*) hostAddress;
{
    SCNetworkReachabilityRef reachability = SCNetworkReachabilityCreateWithAddress(kCFAllocatorDefault, (const struct sockaddr*)hostAddress);
    Reachability* retVal = NULL;
    if(reachability!= NULL)
    {
        retVal= [[self alloc] init];
        if(retVal!= NULL)
        {
            retVal->reachabilityRef = reachability;
            retVal->localWiFiRef = NO;
        }
    }
    return retVal;
}

+ (Reachability*) reachabilityForInternetConnection;
{
    struct sockaddr_in zeroAddress;
    bzero(&zeroAddress, sizeof(zeroAddress));
    zeroAddress.sin_len = sizeof(zeroAddress);
    zeroAddress.sin_family = AF_INET;
    return [self reachabilityWithAddress: &zeroAddress];
}

+ (Reachability*) reachabilityForLocalWiFi;
{
    struct sockaddr_in localWifiAddress;
    bzero(&localWifiAddress, sizeof(localWifiAddress));
    localWifiAddress.sin_len = sizeof(localWifiAddress);
    localWifiAddress.sin_family = AF_INET;
    // IN_LINKLOCALNETNUM is defined in <netinet/in.h> as 169.254.0.0
    localWifiAddress.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(IN_LINKLOCALNETNUM);
    Reachability* retVal = [self reachabilityWithAddress: &localWifiAddress];
    if(retVal!= NULL)
    {
        retVal->localWiFiRef = YES;
    }
    return retVal;
}

#pragma mark Network Flag Handling

- (NetworkStatus) localWiFiStatusForFlags: (SCNetworkReachabilityFlags) flags
{
    PrintReachabilityFlags(flags, "localWiFiStatusForFlags");

    BOOL retVal = NotReachable;
    if((flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsReachable) && (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsDirect))
    {
        retVal = ReachableViaWiFi;  
    }
    return retVal;
}

- (NetworkStatus) networkStatusForFlags: (SCNetworkReachabilityFlags) flags
{
    PrintReachabilityFlags(flags, "networkStatusForFlags");
    if ((flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsReachable) == 0)
    {
        // if target host is not reachable
        return NotReachable;
    }

    BOOL retVal = NotReachable;

    if ((flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsConnectionRequired) == 0)
    {
        // if target host is reachable and no connection is required
        //  then we'll assume (for now) that your on Wi-Fi
        retVal = ReachableViaWiFi;
    }


    if ((((flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsConnectionOnDemand ) != 0) ||
         (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsConnectionOnTraffic) != 0))
    {
        // ... and the connection is on-demand (or on-traffic) if the
        //     calling application is using the CFSocketStream or higher APIs

        if ((flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsInterventionRequired) == 0)
        {
            // ... and no [user] intervention is needed
            retVal = ReachableViaWiFi;
        }
    }

    if ((flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsWWAN) == kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsWWAN)
    {
        // ... but WWAN connections are OK if the calling application
        //     is using the CFNetwork (CFSocketStream?) APIs.
        retVal = ReachableViaWWAN;
    }
    return retVal;
}

- (BOOL) connectionRequired;
{
    NSAssert(reachabilityRef != NULL, @"connectionRequired called with NULL reachabilityRef");
    SCNetworkReachabilityFlags flags;
    if (SCNetworkReachabilityGetFlags(reachabilityRef, &flags))
    {
        return (flags & kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsConnectionRequired);
    }
    return NO;
}

- (NetworkStatus) currentReachabilityStatus
{
    NSAssert(reachabilityRef != NULL, @"currentNetworkStatus called with NULL reachabilityRef");
    NetworkStatus retVal = NotReachable;
    SCNetworkReachabilityFlags flags;
    if (SCNetworkReachabilityGetFlags(reachabilityRef, &flags))
    {
        if(localWiFiRef)
        {
            retVal = [self localWiFiStatusForFlags: flags];
        }
        else
        {
            retVal = [self networkStatusForFlags: flags];
        }
    }
    return retVal;
}
@end