Understanding how information is sent and received through the internet sounds like a complicated concept, but it becomes more apparent once you learn each step of the process. Information is first broken into smaller chunks called packets to send information over the internet from a computer. According to (2019), "packets contain information like an address for a destination computer, the data size, and the data itself" (Section 3.1). The packet is then sent to the modem through a router and received by the internet service provider (ISP). The ISP or cable provider is an intermediary between the computer and the internet (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019). The internet's computers then use the Internet Protocol (IP) address or destination address to route the information through the appropriate routers to reach its destination. If one of the routers is busy, the internet's computer may reroute the packet through a different router preventing packet loss or the request timing out. A Ping test whether the host is available, while the Traceroute test the path it takes to the host.
Comparing the Ping and Traceroute results using different websites, I found that, on average, Google's website has the fastest response time but the most hops and request timeouts. The Rakuten site had the second-fastest response time, with only nine hops and one packet timeout. The slowest response time came from the Australian site, which had the fewest hops and no timeouts. The results suggest the paths to different destinations differ based on their distance from the source of information and the final location. As the packet travels further from the start, it requires more time to come back to report each hop increasing the ping time.
In addition, Ping and Traceroute information can help troubleshoot internet connection issues by allowing users to test the connection between computers and the paths the packets follow. A Ping can check if a host computer is available, and a Traceroute checks the route the packet takes to get to the host. If a Ping fails or times out, the host may not be available, or there is an issue with the internet connection, like a bad router, modem, or wire, which Tracrouting should be able to identify. For example, if the Traceroute shows a failure at the ISP's router, their services could be down, and if the test shows the packets traveled to the final location but failed, the host computer may be unavailable.
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