Ping and TraceRoute Activities

 

Site	Number of Packets Sent	Number of Packet Received	Number of Packets Lost	Range of Response Speeds
Google.com	4	4	0	Min: 78ms Max: 87ms Ave: 82ms
Mediaweek.com.au	4	4	0	Min: 187ms Max: 195ms Ave: 191ms
Baidu.com.cn	4	4	0	Min: 173ms Max: 177ms Ave: 174ms

  

Site	How Many Routers	Time between hops	Fails? (Y/N)
Google.com	22	Varies, see screenshot	y- failed 9 times before reaching destination
Mediaweek.com.au	12	Varies, see screenshot	Y – failed 3 times before reaching destination
Baidu.com.cn	17	Varies, see screenshot	Y – failed 5 times before reaching destination

  

 

A packet travels through a network via a series of hops, moving from one IP or domain to another on its way to a destination.  The packet will originate from a machine and hop to a local internet services provider that offers access to the network.  The packet will then travel through a series of IP addresses to its destination. In comparing the ping results for Google.com, mediaweek.com.au and baidu.com.cn I noticed that packet loss was 0% on all 3 indicating strong signal and reliability of the network.  Further distances did have a longer response time.  For example, Google.com was at least half the response time of the overseas sites.  In looking at the traceroutes, I found it interesting that google had the most time outs of the 3, even with a shorter roundtrip time.  I think this indicates how large the google network is and how many redundancies are in place to make sure we can all access our favorite search engine. The farthest location, mediaweek.co.au had the least amount of hops, which is interesting to me, however may indicate the overall spread of network locations on the Australian continent.

A ping or a traceroute can be used to troubleshoot internet connection problems in a couple of ways.  To start a ping checks to see if a website it available, this can help identify if the website or the internet connection is to blame.  For example, last month when Facebook, Instagram and other social media was down, many users at first thought it was their own internet connection.  However, doing a ping to Facebook.com would have indicated that the site was down, not the personal internet.  A ping can timeout if the destination is not reachable, but also if there is a more local internet issue.  For example, if a user is disconnected from the internet, maybe by turning off the wireless on their laptop, the ping would timeout before going anywhere.

While a ping can identify that there is a problem, a traceroute can help identify where the issue is. A traceroute will follow the digital pathway that is taken between your computer and the desired site. This can help in finding issues along the network that may be causing the slowness.