[clug] how to use traceroute

[Scott Ferguson]

On 25/06/14 09:31, Eyal Lebedinsky wrote:
> I used it before to see what is going on with routing. However, there is
> something going
> on with iinet recently, and a download test from ftp.iinet.net.au ran at
> around 50k/s for
> a line sync of 6-7Mb/s.
> 
> I did a 'traceroute ftp.iinet.net.au' and it went all the way to 30
> hops. I added '-m 255'
> and it still went all the way. Looks like some kind of loop between
> 203.0.178.32 (ftp.iinet...)
> and 203.215.4.197 (no DNS). It is still doing this now.
> 
> I find this unusual but maybe I do not understand how it works and why
> this is acceptable.
> 
> Can anyone explain why this is so and is this normal?
> 
> TIA
> 
> -- 
> Eyal Lebedinsky (eyal at eyal.emu.id.au)


For your purposes you'll probably find tcptraceroute more useful
(instead of ICMP tracerouting).
e.g. tcptraceroute -n 255 ftp.iinet.net.au
will test the route used for tcp packets, maximum of 255 hops, using the
device and gateway from your routing table. You can specify the gateway
with -g and the interface with -1. By default it uses the IPV from your
routing table, IPV4 can be forced with -4, IPV6 with -6.

For the purpose of getting a realistic measure of network performance
may I suggest you use the tests from M-Labs (Open Source code):-
http://www.measurementlab.net/tests

The most useful in your case is Network Diagnostic Test:-
http://www.measurementlab.net/tools/ndt
NOTE: it requires java to use the online version. The downloadable CLI
version is:-
http://code.google.com/p/ndt/source/

To test the last mile of your broadband use Network Path and Application
Diagnostics:-
http://www.measurementlab.net/tools/npad

To test from within a LAN use the WRT-based router tool:-
http://www.measurementlab.net/tools/bismark

To test for application traffic shaping:-
http://www.measurementlab.net/tools/glasnost

To test for network transparency (ISP shaping/throttling):-
http://www.measurementlab.net/tools/shaperprobe

To perform reverse tcptracerouting from selected endpoints:-
http://www.measurementlab.net/tools/reverse_traceroute

To test your DNS performance try the DNS Benchmark tool - workbench.
>From memory you use a SUSe distro - it's probably in your repository,
it's in Debian's:-
https://code.google.com/p/namebench/


Kind regards