Checking internet connection without a winbox

[Les Mikesell]

On Sun, 2006-07-02 at 08:58, Dotan Cohen wrote:
> I find that my internet connection is very slow. I speed test my
> conection and it comes out at ~170 kilo bytes per second, which sits
> well with a 1.5 MBS line. When I ping google, I have about 80% packet
> loss, and the packets take 200-300 ms.
> 
> My ISP says that the infrastuture company is to blame. The
> infrastructure says that there is no problem with them, and that my
> router or computer is to blame. They have a windows tool to check it,
> but I've no winbox here right now. Until I run their tool and
> eliminated my machine as the source of the problem, they won't help me
> pinpoint the problem.
> 
> What can I do to pinpoint the problem, or at least discount my machine
> and my router as problematic? Thanks.

Run traceroute to various places and note where the delays or
dropped packets start.  Normally you will see a response from
every router in the path and the round trip time for three
packets.  Some may block the ports used or the icmp response
so a '*' response isn't necessarily a problem, especially
if it picks up on subsequent hops.  Keep in mind that the
time is for the round trip and problems can happen in either
direction.  If you see consistent delays or drops happening
somewhere, paste the traceroute into an email to your ISP.

-- 
  Les Mikesell
   lesmikesell at gmail.com