Here's a neat tip for figuring out exactly where your packet went during a traceroute. You can simply paste the output of traceroute into ChatGPT, asking where the packet actually went geographically.
## The question
Here's the input I gave it:
```
can you get a sense of this route geographically ?
monad> tracepath nghttp2.org
1?: [LOCALHOST] pmtu 1500
1: _gateway 0.445ms
1: _gateway 0.363ms
2: 24.86.64.1 11.495ms
3: rc1st-be118-1.vc.shawcable.net 8.924ms
4: 24.244.60.69 12.607ms asymm 3
5: 24.244.63.101 9.884ms asymm 3
6: rc1st-be214.vc.shawcable.net 11.561ms asymm 3
7: rc2wt-be50-1.wa.shawcable.net 14.402ms asymm 3
8: rc2wt-be50-1.wa.shawcable.net 14.334ms asymm 3
9: ge3-0.cr02.sea01.pccwbtn.net 13.858ms asymm 4
10: ge3-0.cr02.sea01.pccwbtn.net 13.936ms asymm 4
11: 63-216-84-226.static.pccwglobal.net 191.730ms asymm 8
12: ae1.r01.hkg03.icn.netarch.akamai.com 154.284ms asymm 9
13: ae1.r01.hkg03.icn.netarch.akamai.com 160.912ms asymm 9
14: ae7.r01.tyo03.icn.netarch.akamai.com 156.906ms asymm 9
15: a23-56-142-37.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com 189.058ms asymm 10
16: a23-56-142-37.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com 189.577ms asymm 10
```
## Response
Tracing the geographical path from your local host to nghttp2.org involves a series of hops that typically represent different network routers or devices. Let's break down the route step-by-step:
1. **Localhost to Gateway**:
- This is your local network's gateway, indicating the first point of contact outside your computer.
2. **24.86.64.1**:
- This IP is likely the first hop within your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) network. Given the IP range, this looks like a Canadian IP address, possibly Vancouver (Shaw Communications).
3. **rc1st-be118-1.vc.shawcable.net**:
- This indicates a Shaw Communications router, likely in Vancouver, British Columbia.
4. **24.244.60.69** and **24.244.63.101**:
- These are further hops within Shaw Communications' network, still in Vancouver.
5. **rc1st-be214.vc.shawcable.net**:
- Another router in Vancouver within Shaw's network.
6. **rc2wt-be50-1.wa.shawcable.net**:
- This hop seems to indicate a transition from Vancouver to Washington state in the USA.
7. **rc2wt-be50-1.wa.shawcable.net**:
- This appears again, indicating it's a key router in Washington state, likely Seattle.
8. **ge3-0.cr02.sea01.pccwbtn.net**:
- This shows the transition to PCCW Global's network, a major international telecommunications provider, in Seattle, Washington.
9. **63-216-84-226.static.pccwglobal.net**:
- Another hop within PCCW Global's network, possibly still in Seattle but preparing for a trans-Pacific jump.
10. **ae1.r01.hkg03.icn.netarch.akamai.com**:
- This hop indicates a significant jump to Hong Kong, to an Akamai router. This suggests the use of Akamai's CDN (Content Delivery Network).
11. **ae1.r01.hkg03.icn.netarch.akamai.com**:
- Another Akamai router in Hong Kong.
12. **ae7.r01.tyo03.icn.netarch.akamai.com**:
- Transition from Hong Kong to Tokyo, Japan, within Akamai's network.
13. **a23-56-142-37.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com**:
- The final destination is likely a server hosted by Akamai in Japan, which is hosting nghttp2.org.
In summary, the geographical path likely follows this route:
1. **Vancouver, Canada** (Shaw Communications)
2. **Seattle, Washington, USA** (Shaw Communications and PCCW Global)
3. **Hong Kong** (PCCW Global and Akamai)
4. **Tokyo, Japan** (Akamai)
This route involves both North American and Asia-Pacific regions, indicating a significant geographical spread typically seen in global internet routing.
## Summary
This makes traceroute way more understandable. ChatGPT knows enough about the domains to give you a good sense of the geographical path. I will definitely be using this from now on, maybe someone can make a tool to do this automatically and format it nicely.
Obviously don't do this if you actually care about the privacy of your network paths, but I personally could care less so I don't mind feeding the AI overlords in this case.
Until next time!
