Demonstrating the Ping and Traceroute Commands

How do Packets Travel through a Typical Network?

        Typically, packets start at the originating machine. For me, this is my ASUS laptop. To reach the internet, they must travel through a router, then to a modem, and finally through the ISP. I have a DSL connection in my home, meaning that it uses a copper telephone wire to transmit data (not optimal because the maximum speed is 1.5 mb/s). My laptop sends packets wirelessly to my router/modem, which then gets directed to my ISP (CenturyLink). I thought it was funny learning about routers in a home since most devices are grouped nowadays. However, they are still very relevant in businesses. From there, the packets travel through several other computers on a path to their destination.

Results from the Ping Command in Three Different Domains:

        I have outlined in red the three sets of “ping” and “traceroute” commands in the graphics below. The first domain I used was www.google.com. The second is an Australian website with the domain www.bom.gov.au. The third is a Pakistani website with the domain www.express.pk. All three of the ping commands were successful and returned 0% loss. One interesting distinction is that the average round-trip time for other country’s websites are greater. Google returned an average of 33ms, while the Australian and Pakistani sites were 36ms and 40ms, respectively. My assessment here is that reaching a site or server farther away will result in a longer wait time. Although, 3-7ms is still incredibly fast. Several factors could cause the increased time, including the number of hops, networking problems, and excessive traffic.

Results from the Traceroute Command in Three Different Domains:

        From the traceroute command, all three instances were sent through the same first four hops. The first hop is my modem. The corresponding three hops are my ISP. For the external country searches, I imagine that the domains with “Washington” directly link to computers outside the country and indicate where this computer is located. Quite a few of my results returned hops with only IP addresses; therefore, I cannot clue in on the location of the router. Surprisingly, all three examples were either 8 or 9 hops.

Use these Commands to Troubleshoot your Network Issues:

        The ping command can be handy for troubleshooting Internet connection problems. This command troubleshoots the accessibility of devices by sending out multiple ICMP Echo messages. These messages determine the host’s activity (active or not active), the round-trip time or delay, and the packet loss. As a Signals Intelligence Marine, I used this command a lot to make sure that my equipment was connecting to my computer’s local network. Often, I was able to figure out the connection issue using this command. The traceroute command is meant to record and trace the path the packet took to reach a destination. If there is packet loss or network interference, this command will help narrow down the culprits. In my example, we see that hop six may be giving us some trouble or experiencing network issues. Alternatively, our system may not know how to get to the destination, which is common in the event of a firewall. Finally, a computer may not respond to our ping requests, which results in a time-out or error response. Overall, these two basic commands can tell us a lot about the network path and how it is doing.