Have you wondered why sometimes it takes so long for the pages you click on to load? If you could look at the route those files take to get to and from your computer, you would wonder how on earth they ever got there to begin with. Windows 95 comes with a little known utility called 'TRACE ROUTE' that can show you how your connections are made, and the path they took.

By Joe Ebner

Trace Route, a little known utility that comes with Windows 95, is handy for those who want to look at the route their Internet connections make. It's easy to use - and it's free. Two of my favorite requirements for software. This utility will not work with connections other than a PPP (Point-To-Point Protocol) connection. You cannot use this utility with a connection to the Internet through an online service like AOL.

Trace Route makes use of an Internet service called Ping. Ping lets you check your connection to another computer by sending out a short message. If the other computer sends a message back confirming it has received your message, then you can communicate with it. If not, well then you simply don't have a connection, and therefore, can't hook up with it.

The cool thing about Ping is that it will show you the route your connection made to get to the other computer. It includes the time it takes for the message to travel from your host computer and back in milliseconds (1/1000 second). For instance, a time of 50 is 50/1000 second. Three sets of numbers are shown for each connection to each router that your connection takes.

It's fun to use Ping now and then just to see the complexity of the Internet and marvel at the way those bits and bytes travel over the network. You can't actually do anything about how the hook-up is made, but it's fun to watch. Larger time factors indicate where the slow-up is. (Just for fun, try Pinging one of AOL's servers. You'll see why it's so bogged down.)

You can also use this handy utility to determine the best times for downloading large files. Try logging onto the 'Net at different times during the day and running TRACERT and keep track of the number of hops your connection takes to the site you're planning the download from. Each hop represents your request being handed off to another computer. You'll be looking for the minimum. Look too for the least amount of time between hops.

Using TRACERT

To use TRACERT you need to first make your connection with your service provider as you normally would. For most home users, this means establishing you dial-up connection. Start your browser and point to any site you wish. It doesn't have to be the site you wish to Ping with TRACERT.

If you are using Windows 95 on your computer, click your Start button and choose the Run command. Type COMMAND (You can use upper or lower case. It won't matter.) and click OK. A small DOS window will open on your screen. Anything you type now will appear in the DOS window. It doesn't matter what directory is shown.

Next, type tracert, a space, then the address you wish to Ping, then press the Enter key. Like this:

tracert www.webnovice.com

The response appears in the DOS window showing all the hops your connection made to get to the other computer and back again. Pretty cool, huh.

To look at the AOL mess as I mentioned earlier, type:

tracert members.aol.com (Enter).

Close the DOS window by clicking on the X as you normally do to close applications with Windows 95.

Using PING with Windows 3.xx

For users of older versions on Windows, you can still use Ping to test your connections, but you'll need to download a software utility to do it. Pingw is the program you'll need and it basically does the same thing as TRACERT does.

Actually, there is a good use for PING. You can use it to check out the performance of various service providers and their connections. It would be difficult to use PING for this from your home unless you want to go through the trouble and expense of subscribing to all the ISPs your area offers. A more practical way is to ask a few of your friends what service they subscribe to and go to their computer and test the connection. You should try this on more than one occasion and at different times so that you can test during peak and off-peak times. You'll find that service quality varies depending on how many modems the ISP uses, the time of day you access the service, and the general load on the 'Net itself. If you happen to spot an asterisk in the report, it means that the packet was lost in transit.