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Introduction
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| Traceroute programs are used to identify the internet path and time taken for communications between you and a remote internet server. Technicians typically use them to identify network performance problems but end users sometimes employ them to help identify the location of a remote website and the path taken in-between. |
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Discussion
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 3D Traceroute is a good example of a traceroute tool. Just type in the address or IP of a remote server and it displays the route taken between you and the server in an easy to an understand graphical format. Full details are provided including the time taken for each link in the chain and full details of all servers en-route. Sometimes the full route information cannot be resolved, however, the resolved points in between can usually provide enough information to "get close" to the source. You can use it for technical tasks such as diagnosing slow connections or for general purpose snooping like determining the location and owner of a web site or tracing spammers.
 VisualRoute 2008 Lite is an excellent route tracer when you goal is to identify reponse time issues. The very effective route graph display is great in identifying those hops that slow the round trip time down. VisualRoute is out there for many years now and I used it at my job a lot. It is based on Java (so you need a runtime version to run it) but if you don't want to install it locally you can also use the online service that is basically doing the same. Unfortunately the attractive world map trace is disabled in the Lite version, as well as the list view. That the latter is not available in the Lite version I can't understand and is a drawback for me. But still, the Lite version is great value for free and surely worth a try.
 Alien IP is a simple streamlined world map based traceroute tool. It utilizes many of 3D Traceroute advantages with an easy to use interface and easy to undersand controls. Simply input an IP# or URL address and Alien IP takes you right there by maping the hosts world location. Alien IP can also locate a host, ping a host, resolve an IP range, create trace lists, ID local information, and it even provides a nifty IP calculator.
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Editor Request
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2.4.39.2 
Restricted Freeware (full commercial version available) 
Win98 - Vista
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Online version. A bit slow but no need to install anything and you have to be connected to the net to do a traceroute anyway.
http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/visual-tracert/
As of May 14,2009 NETSCANTOOLS offers a FREE "Basic" edition.
Link is http://www.netscantools.com/nstbasicmain.html
It offers the following tools:
* DNS Tools - Simple: simple IP/hostname translation,
* Who Am I? (shows your computer name, IP and DNSs)
* Ping
* Graphical Ping
* Traceroute
* Ping Scanner
* Whois
Yes, i can say it is best of all.
All I need is statistic, not image while somehow I feel slow and confused.
Thanks for that, it's exactly what I wanted. Simple UI and a variety of basic net tools all in one place.
hi I installed Alien IP tracer from their sight and now Avast is indicating I have a win 32 virus. The install on my computer is clean and I've only been installing my security systems. Does AIP behave like a win 32 virus??
Please help.
Jon
Hi Jon,
Alien IP is a clean product so I'd guess it's a false positive from Avast. I'd just ignor it or if you're really concerned try another AV product.
Avira Antivir also says that it's a virus...
But i'm not sure if it a real virus.
Probably Time will tell us more :)
Use google maps!
PingPlotter is another highly recommended traceroute program - professionals (and I) swear by using it as well. It's very small in filesize and in memory usage (very optimized), not overly intensive for a GUI (gfx-wise ~ it works well on older/slower PCs), very fast and efficient (gets the job done while maintaining resources and speed), very reliable (no issues encountered thus far, and very informative at the same time), and it is also very very easy to use (very user-friendly). All you need to do is input the desired IP address (e.g. 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255), set the total amount of tracecerts that you want to run (e.g. 1-99999), and click a button to 'Trace'. It also displays the highest, lowest, and average ping times over all tracerts (e.g. 0-999ms); the total amount of packet loss by individual server IP/DNS addresses; and other related network statistics in both bar graphs and in a text document (if desired for either ~ via copy & paste ~ as pasted text or images - thereby making it very useful for showing statistics to network administrators (or understanding it personally) for latency and troubleshooting purposes or related tasks).
Check it out! Its a great program/tool that comes in handy - especially for networkers such as myself (and other users here). =P
.;.
Cheers C|_|
Website:
http://www.pingplotter.com
Hi,
Thanks for the comments. I tested Ping Plotter free several months ago and liked to too, however, I found the free version a bit lacking in turned on features. I do concur that if a barebones, simple to use trace tool is needed, this might meet the needs for many. Again, thanks for your suggestion and your comments. I will leave your posting and the link up so that others may benefit.
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