Internet Performance

 Testing Internet Performance: Using Ping and Traceroute

Recently, I used a wireless connection to run some tests with ping and traceroute commands to see how data moves across the internet. This experience helped me understand how well my network performs and how to spot any issues.

How Packets Travel Through the Network

It’s interesting to learn that data packets don’t go straight to websites. Instead, they travel through a series of routers. The traceroute command shows this journey by listing all the routers along the way.

Ping Results

When I pinged Google.com, I got an average response time of 14ms, which means the server is pretty close. On the other hand, Weblio.com.jp took longer with an average response time of 219ms, suggesting it’s farther away in Japan. Makeweb.com.au was similar, showing a response time of 211ms, indicating a long path to Australia.

Traceroute Results

The traceroute to Google.com had fewer hops, showing that it took a straightforward path. However, for Weblio.com.jp, there were a lot of hops through international routers, which caused the higher delay. Makeweb.com.au had a similar situation with many hops.

Analysis and Conclusion

These results highlighted how distance and the number of hops can affect how quickly information gets to us. Local servers usually have lower delays than those that are far away. Using ping and traceroute is helpful for spotting network problems—high response times may mean there’s congestion, while timeouts can indicate that some routers can’t be reached. Overall, these tools are great for figuring out how well your network is working and where there might be trouble.