diff --git a/pylot/core/util/connection.py b/pylot/core/util/connection.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f99ab81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pylot/core/util/connection.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+import urllib2
+
+
+def checkurl(url='https://ariadne.geophysik.rub.de/trac/PyLoT'):
+    try:
+        urllib2.urlopen(url, timeout=1)
+        return True
+    except urllib2.URLError:
+        pass
+    return False