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Show HN: Traceroute Visualizer

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Re: Show HN: Traceroute Visualizer

#21

Post by protocolture »

Hmm, I dont feel like this is a good use of traceroute.

Its already kind of nebulous, what with MPLS no-decrement-ttl and tunneling protocols.

Add to that geo ip is often fantastically wrong. Especially if the ISP has no need for it for its own troubleshooting. They might not go out of their way to update geoip correctly, relying on the routers hostname for information.

Blowing it up to display it on a map and pretend like the data returned from traceroute is aligned with reality rubs me the wrong way.

Re: Show HN: Traceroute Visualizer

#24

Post by PranaFlux »

protocolture wrote: post #21

Hmm, I dont feel like this is a good use of traceroute. Its already kind of nebulous, what with MPLS no-decrement-ttl and tunneling protocols. Add to that geo ip is often fantastically wrong. Especially if the ISP has no need for it for its own troubleshooting. They might not go out of their way to update geoip correctly, relying on the routers hostname for information. Blowing it up to display it on a map and preten…

The aim was to scratch an itch which was to try to visually see what is going on with my packets when going to a given website. Of course it's not perfectly reliable (due to geoip loc or hops not answering / using link IPs) nor does it claim to be.

Re: Show HN: Traceroute Visualizer

#26

Post by jacquesm »

Nice idea, but shoddy implementation, it does not properly detect the starting point based on my IP and the route shown is not matching what I know about the physical topology of the network in this region. You probably should ask infrastructure providers if they are willing to give you access to the endpoint and physical routes rather than just to use geolocation for IP addresses resulting in errors and unrealistic routes. There are only a couple of players in that space, and I think they sell the data. Otoh, given the current situation with attacks on infrastructure they might not be willing to accommodate a party without a strict need.

Re: Show HN: Traceroute Visualizer

#27

Post by PranaFlux »

jacquesm wrote: post #26

Nice idea, but shoddy implementation, it does not properly detect the starting point based on my IP and the route shown is not matching what I know about the physical topology of the network in this region. You probably should ask infrastructure providers if they are willing to give you access to the endpoint and physical routes rather than just to use geolocation for IP addresses resulting in errors and unrealistic…

Would you mind sharing the link (after removing the data you don't want to share)? I'm using IPInfo's data and each hop IP is the end of a segment so it's normal it doesn't follow your expected topology (to which we can add the limitations of traceroute)

Re: Show HN: Traceroute Visualizer

#28

Post by jacquesm »

PranaFlux wrote: post #27
jacquesm wrote: post #26

Nice idea, but shoddy implementation, it does not properly detect the starting point based on my IP and the route shown is not matching what I know about the physical topology of the network in this region. You probably should ask infrastructure providers if they are willing to give you access to the endpoint and physical routes rather than just to use geolocation for IP addresses resulting in errors and unrealistic…

Would you mind sharing the link (after removing the data you don't want to share)? I'm using IPInfo's data and each hop IP is the end of a segment so it's normal it doesn't follow your expected topology (to which we can add the limitations of traceroute)

Not much point, really, it only detects one hop correctly the rest is garbage. So all that's left is my home IP address, and that gets placed well over a 100 km from where I actually am. I don't mind :)
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