diff -Nru autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.default autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.default
--- autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.default	2012-04-25 08:55:33.000000000 +0000
+++ autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.default	2012-11-18 12:24:08.000000000 +0000
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 #AUTOSSH_DEBUG=yes
 #AUTOSSH_POLL=600
 #AUTOSSH_GATETIME=30
+#AUTOSSH_LOGLEVEL=9
+AUTOSSH_IHOST=google.com
+AUTOSSH_IPORT=80
 
 # Below parameters must be unset to flush settings between sessions
 #
diff -Nru autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.init autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.init
--- autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.init	2012-04-25 08:47:51.000000000 +0000
+++ autossh-1.4c/debian/autossh.init	2012-11-18 12:30:18.000000000 +0000
@@ -53,6 +53,24 @@
 		fi
 	done
 
+	if [ -n "${AUTOSSH_IHOST}" ] && [ -n "${AUTOSSH_IPORT}" ]; then
+		log_action_begin_msg "Waiting for internet [${AUTOSSH_IHOST}:${AUTOSSH_IPORT}]"
+		PAUSE=1; RESULT=1
+		while [ "${RESULT}" != 0 ]; do
+			nc -w 3 -z ${AUTOSSH_IHOST} ${AUTOSSH_IPORT}
+			RESULT=$?
+			if [ "${RESULT}" != 0 ]; then
+				sleep ${PAUSE}
+			fi
+			if [ ${PAUSE} -le 8 ]; then
+				PAUSE=$((PAUSE*2))
+				log_action_begin_msg "Doubling sleep delay to [${PAUSE}]"
+			else
+				break
+			fi
+		done
+	fi
+
 	for config in ${configs}; do
 		# Validating, resetting defaults and loading config
 		[ -r ${config} ] || continue
diff -Nru autossh-1.4c/debian/changelog autossh-1.4c/debian/changelog
--- autossh-1.4c/debian/changelog	2012-04-25 09:31:59.000000000 +0000
+++ autossh-1.4c/debian/changelog	2012-11-18 12:31:22.000000000 +0000
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+autossh (1.4c-1.2~eugenesan~oneiric1) oneiric; urgency=low
+
+  [ Eugene San (eugenesan) ]
+  * Add support for internet connection validation
+
+ -- Eugene San (eugenesan) <eugenesan@gmail.com>  Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:01:58 +0200
+
 autossh (1.4c-1.1~eugenesan~oneiric2) oneiric; urgency=low
 
   [ Eugene San (eugenesan) ]