Ping Vs. Traceroute

 

Following the Journey of Packets: Ping vs. Traceroute

When you click a link, send an email, or hop into an online game, your data doesn’t magically teleport, it travels through a series of steps across the network. Two of the simplest but most powerful tools to see this journey in action are ping and traceroute. I experimented with both commands to see how packets move across the internet, and the results were eye-opening.

What Ping Shows

Ping is like shouting “Are you there?” across the internet and waiting to hear back. It measures how quickly a server responds, reporting a round-trip time (RTT) in milliseconds. Lower RTT means faster communication, something gamers obsess over since high ping equals lag.

For example, when I pinged Reddit Japan, the request completely failed (see screenshot below). I also tried google.au, but the domain itself didn’t exist, so it returned an error. These results showed me that ping is very literal, you either reach the server, or you don’t.

What Traceroute Shows

Traceroute is like asking your data to keep a travel journal. Instead of just telling you how fast it got there, it shows every “hop” along the way, routers, switches, and servers, until it reaches its destination.

For instance, when I traced the route to reddit.jp, the packets bounced through five different locations before eventually failing. By contrast, tracing to royal.uk took fewer hops, and the path seemed much shorter.

This comparison suggests something interesting: the U.S. and the U.K. seem to be better connected directly, while traffic to Japan may require more intermediate steps. More hops can mean higher latency, which matches the failed ping results I saw for Reddit Japan.

Comparing Ping and Traceroute

• Ping-Focuses on speed: how fast can one server reply?

• Traceroute-Focuses on path: how many steps are needed to reach the destination?

Together, these tools give a fuller picture. Ping can tell you if the line is working and how responsive it is, while traceroute can explain why things are slow, maybe you’re being routed through too many network stops.

Round-Trip Time and Geography

One clear trend I noticed is that round-trip time grows with distance. Servers in the U.K. responded faster than those in Japan because the physical and network distance is shorter. Data has to hop across cables under the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, and each hop adds delay.

So, while the internet feels instant, geography still matters.

Using Ping and Traceroute to Troubleshoot

Both commands are great for diagnosing internet problems:

• Ping helps you check if a server is alive or if your connection is too slow. If ping times are high, it might be your ISP or the server itself.

• Traceroute helps you pinpoint where the slowdown or failure happens. If a specific hop always times out, you know that’s where the issue lies.

Why Might Ping or Traceroute Fail?

1. The server or domain is down–like when I tried google.au, which doesn’t exist.

2. Network congestion or high traffic–too many requests at once can cause delays or dropped responses.

3. Firewall or security settings–some networks block ping and traceroute requests to reduce load or prevent probing.

4. Packet loss–if too many packets get dropped along the way, traceroute won’t hear back from certain hops.

Conclusion

Watching packets travel across the world made me realize how complex and fragile internet connections can be. Ping measures the speed of the handshake, while traceroute reveals the path the handshake takes. The results I gathered showed that routes to closer countries (like the U.K.) are shorter and faster than those to farther destinations (like Japan).

So, the next time a website feels slow or your game lags, firing up ping and traceroute can help you figure out if it’s your ISP, the server, or just the distance your packets need to travel.