traveling through the network

Packets of data are sent through the networks bouncing from one router to the next until they reach their assigned destination, or IP address. As they travel from point-to-point, or hop, they request the next destination and then travel there. If they receive no reply or not in a specified amount of time they, time out. Once they reach their destination they complete their task. Then a response, or echo, is sent back to the origin via the same route in response. Thus communication happens.

The ping test to google was as expected very quick while the tracert took considerably longer, but the final destination reply for the tracert aligned closely with the ping test. So, I know that I have a stable quick route to google so the communication will be complete and speedy. The test to netregistry.com.au understandable took much longer to complete with higher times and lots of lost packets, but it was traveling to the opposite corner of the world, so that is to be expected. Interestingly though was that the ping test and the tracert came back with an almost identical time for the last hop to the destination. I got a very similar result from the mail.ru tests, and in fact the max ping and the first packet in the tracert arrived in exactly the same time.  

 

 

Pinged google.com with a total of 4 packets each with the size of 32 bits. The average time was 18ms, max 20ms, min 17ms. There were no packets lost on the trip.

 

Pinged netregistry.com.au with a total of 4 packets each with the size of 32 bits. Average time was 387ms, max 515ms, min 281ms. There was 1 packet lost on the trip.

Pinged mail.ru with a total of 4 packets each with the size of 32 bits, the average time was 280ms, max 332ms and a min 196ms. There was 1 packet lost on the trip.

 

 

 

Tracert for google.com took 11 hops. Times ranging from 6ms to 61ms. There were 2 timeouts but no failures due to timeouts.

Tracert for netregistry.com.au took 15 hops, from 7ms to 607ms. There were 13 time outs and 4 timeout failures.

 

Tracert for mail.ru took 11 hops. The time between hops was from 2ms to 397ms. There were 11 timeouts and 3 timeout failures.

 

This assignment is particular challenging for me as the ping and tracert have always been abstract ideas to me. So working through them was quite insightful.

I actually used the ping test to determine why my brand new very expensive router wasn’t performing to my expectation. I used another computer in the house and one of my family members nearby. The ping was okay with the first test and then was extremely long with many lost packages on the second. I tried updating the drivers on the router, modem, and computers to no avail. So I tried changing the ethernet cable and re-pinged both machines. Voila! Problem solved. I had a CAT 5 cable from my modem to my router that was choking down the signal and was not allowing the communication to flow as was expected. The ping proved it was the cord.

In another instance, and anyone in the Northeast US can use this test. I used a continuous ping test on a few Sunday afternoons to test my ISP. I will not name them as we may have classmates that work for them. On Sunday afternoons around 3PM we experience a dramatic drop in connectivity, and I have always believed that it was the ISP either throttling or intentionally dropping service in my area. So, I used a continuous ping around the time that I thought this would happen. On 3 of the 4 Sundays that I tested the ping was either extremely long or timed out for several minutes at a time. The time outs occurred between my router and the ISP, so I knew it was them. I sent them the data, but as I am only the customer, it made no difference to them, and I still suffer through Sunday afternoons.