Here we document the ping latency and traceroute from Jinja, Uganda to San Jose, CA! It will be fun!!
Ping
Here is ping to https://www.delyan.org/ - hosted on Vultr in San Jose, CA from Roke Telekom as we have it here in Jinja, Uganda.
With VPN
We are using https://ovpn.sonic.net/ while traveling in East Africa.
$ ping -c10 lmk.10print.co
PING 10print.co (144.202.111.195) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=1 ttl=42 time=315 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=2 ttl=42 time=322 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=3 ttl=42 time=323 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=4 ttl=42 time=316 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=5 ttl=42 time=334 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=6 ttl=42 time=358 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=7 ttl=42 time=336 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=8 ttl=42 time=321 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=9 ttl=42 time=305 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=10 ttl=42 time=314 ms
--- 10print.co ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 received, 0% packet loss, time 9005ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 305.489/324.441/358.410/14.243 ms
Overall: average latency from Jinja to San Jose is 306ms
Without VPN
Our Internet provider is Roke. ROKESPOT WiFi is a service for which one pays daily, weekly, or monthly. 6400 Ugandan Shillings buys you a week of this:
$ ping -c10 lmk.10print.co
PING 10print.co (144.202.111.195) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=1 ttl=41 time=300 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=2 ttl=41 time=322 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=3 ttl=41 time=291 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=4 ttl=41 time=292 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=5 ttl=41 time=292 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=6 ttl=41 time=358 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=7 ttl=41 time=340 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=8 ttl=41 time=292 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=9 ttl=41 time=293 ms
64 bytes from 144.202.111.195.vultrusercontent.com (144.202.111.195): icmp_seq=10 ttl=41 time=295 ms
--- 10print.co ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 received, 0% packet loss, time 10270ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 291.230/307.481/358.328/22.888 ms
Unsurprisingly - VPN adds about 15ms.
Let’s use Trace Route to understand why.
Trace Route
With VPN (Sonic)
$ traceroute lmk.10print.co
traceroute to lmk.10print.co (144.202.111.195), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 yantra (172.22.32.1) 0.972 ms 0.825 ms 0.762 ms
2 192-184-190-1.static.sonic.net (192.184.190.1) 303.329 ms 303.603 ms 303.856 ms
3 0.irb.378.access6-8.snrtcamn.sonic.net (157.131.224.195) 322.218 ms 0.irb.378.access6-7.snrtcamn.sonic.net (157.131.224.194) 335.184 ms 0.irb.378.access6-8.snrtcamn.sonic.net (157.131.224.195) 322.130 ms
4 0.et.0-0-7.int-dist6-1.snrtcamn.sonic.net (50.0.79.173) 320.945 ms 0.et.0-0-6.int-dist6-1.snrtcamn.sonic.net (50.0.79.161) 320.477 ms 0.et.0-0-7.int-dist6-1.snrtcamn.sonic.net (50.0.79.173) 320.290 ms
5 0.et-0-0-52.cr1.snrtcamn.sonic.net (75.101.33.197) 321.581 ms 321.086 ms 321.083 ms
6 0.ae1.cr2.snrtcamn.sonic.net (142.254.59.170) 334.927 ms 0.ae1.cr3.snrtcamn.sonic.net (192.184.185.185) 317.180 ms 316.522 ms
7 0.ae1.cr4.snrtcamn.sonic.net (192.184.185.189) 316.492 ms 0.ae2.cr3.snrtcamn.sonic.net (192.184.185.202) 426.118 ms 0.ae1.cr4.snrtcamn.sonic.net (192.184.185.189) 426.323 ms
8 ae2.cr2.ptlmca01.sonic.net (192.184.185.177) 405.762 ms 405.446 ms 405.682 ms
9 ae1.cr3.snrfca01.sonic.net (23.93.52.254) 405.267 ms 405.024 ms 404.993 ms
10 ae2.cr4.snrfca01.sonic.net (157.131.242.229) 405.850 ms 535.317 ms 405.795 ms
11 * * *
12 * * *
13 * * *
14 * * *
15 * * *
16 100.ae1.nrd1.equinix-sj.sonic.net (75.101.33.185) 306.463 ms 304.148 ms 305.194 ms
17 102.ae1.nrd1.pao1.sonic.net (70.36.205.6) 311.316 ms 304.782 ms 305.206 ms
18 * * *
19 be2431.ccr41.sjc03.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.88.189) 304.718 ms 303.889 ms 305.665 ms
20 be3142.ccr21.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.1.193) 306.048 ms 305.137 ms 311.059 ms
21 be2298.rcr51.b034314-0.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.90.186) 311.901 ms 311.953 ms be2297.rcr51.b034314-0.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.90.182) 309.970 ms
22 38.88.38.154 (38.88.38.154) 309.412 ms 308.928 ms 303.213 ms
...
Without VPN (directly from Roke)
$ traceroute lmk.10print.co
traceroute to lmk.10print.co (144.202.111.195), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 yantra (172.22.32.1) 0.495 ms 0.298 ms 0.590 ms
2 10.220.160.1 (10.220.160.1) 12.787 ms 12.747 ms 12.718 ms
3 10.255.254.253 (10.255.254.253) 12.549 ms 12.344 ms 12.315 ms
4 10.255.255.224 (10.255.255.224) 13.314 ms * *
5 * * *
6 * 129.205.3.97 (129.205.3.97) 18.386 ms 18.698 ms
7 129.205.30.70 (129.205.30.70) 18.739 ms 13.172 ms 13.080 ms
8 129.205.30.77 (129.205.30.77) 12.169 ms 12.832 ms 12.749 ms
9 * * *
10 41.181.247.38 (41.181.247.38) 180.839 ms 181.187 ms 180.743 ms
11 * * *
12 41.181.105.104 (41.181.105.104) 180.561 ms 41.181.190.150 (41.181.190.150) 180.450 ms 171.869 ms
13 41.181.189.64 (41.181.189.64) 177.311 ms 177.274 ms 177.243 ms
14 be5363.rcr21.b015591-1.lon13.atlas.cogentco.com (204.68.252.77) 164.776 ms 164.574 ms 169.438 ms
15 be2054.ccr42.lon13.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.48.205) 166.912 ms 167.680 ms 167.635 ms
16 be2099.ccr31.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.82.34) 232.579 ms 225.476 ms be3488.ccr52.lhr01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.60.14) 225.993 ms
17 be3600.ccr22.alb02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.0.221) 231.001 ms 228.529 ms be3599.ccr21.alb02.atlas.cogentco.com (66.28.4.237) 229.549 ms
18 be2878.ccr21.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.26.129) 293.194 ms be2879.ccr22.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.29.173) 243.276 ms be2878.ccr21.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.26.129) 241.524 ms
19 be2718.ccr42.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.129) 253.523 ms 253.462 ms 251.380 ms
20 be2717.ccr41.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.221) 264.385 ms be2718.ccr42.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.129) 274.713 ms be2717.ccr41.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.221) 256.849 ms
21 be3036.ccr22.den01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.89) 290.085 ms be3035.ccr21.den01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.5.89) 336.838 ms be2718.ccr42.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.129) 254.927 ms
22 be3035.ccr21.den01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.5.89) 286.969 ms be3037.ccr21.slc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.41.145) 305.393 ms be3036.ccr22.den01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.89) 297.689 ms
23 be3109.ccr21.sfo01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.44.137) 309.544 ms be3110.ccr22.sfo01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.44.141) 302.698 ms 301.012 ms
24 be3178.ccr21.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.43.70) 302.533 ms be3179.ccr22.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.43.150) 308.707 ms be3178.ccr21.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.43.70) 300.571 ms
25 be2297.rcr51.b034314-0.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.90.182) 299.173 ms 297.892 ms be2298.rcr51.b034314-0.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.90.186) 297.708 ms
26 38.88.38.154 (38.88.38.154) 365.168 ms * be2297.rcr51.b034314-0.sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.90.182) 307.779 ms
...
And here is the path to the VPN
$ traceroute -m45 ovpn.sonic.net
traceroute to ovpn.sonic.net (157.131.224.198), 45 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 yantra.mshome.net (172.22.32.1) 0.626 ms 0.577 ms 0.551 ms
2 10.220.160.1 (10.220.160.1) 14.057 ms 14.033 ms 14.008 ms
3 10.255.254.253 (10.255.254.253) 21.625 ms 20.878 ms 21.890 ms
4 10.255.255.224 (10.255.255.224) 17.857 ms 19.289 ms *
5 * 10.255.255.225 (10.255.255.225) 19.171 ms 18.873 ms
6 129.205.3.97 (129.205.3.97) 19.032 ms 16.428 ms 16.386 ms
7 129.205.30.70 (129.205.30.70) 17.884 ms 15.381 ms 15.339 ms
8 129.205.30.77 (129.205.30.77) 15.318 ms 73.597 ms 73.525 ms
9 * * *
10 41.181.247.38 (41.181.247.38) 178.411 ms 178.379 ms 178.196 ms
11 * 41.181.244.177 (41.181.244.177) 176.102 ms *
12 * * *
13 41.181.189.64 (41.181.189.64) 238.108 ms 238.085 ms 237.914 ms
14 be5363.rcr21.b015591-1.lon13.atlas.cogentco.com (204.68.252.77) 235.552 ms 235.518 ms 235.465 ms
15 be2054.ccr42.lon13.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.48.205) 235.376 ms 235.344 ms be2053.ccr41.lon13.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.2.65) 160.774 ms
16 be2101.ccr32.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.82.38) 224.684 ms be2099.ccr31.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.82.34) 224.653 ms be2101.ccr32.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.82.38) 227.124 ms
17 be4283.ccr32.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.47.145) 229.056 ms be2099.ccr31.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.82.34) 224.910 ms be3600.ccr22.alb02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.0.221) 225.069 ms
18 be2879.ccr22.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.29.173) 240.599 ms be3599.ccr21.alb02.atlas.cogentco.com (66.28.4.237) 231.119 ms be2879.ccr22.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.29.173) 242.873 ms
19 be2717.ccr41.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.221) 249.213 ms be2718.ccr42.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.129) 251.330 ms 252.018 ms
20 be2718.ccr42.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.129) 259.186 ms 252.291 ms be2879.ccr22.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.29.173) 243.487 ms
21 be3035.ccr21.den01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.5.89) 275.390 ms be2718.ccr42.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.129) 294.874 ms be3035.ccr21.den01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.5.89) 275.299 ms
22 be3038.ccr32.slc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.42.97) 278.563 ms be3036.ccr22.den01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.89) 277.858 ms 275.496 ms
23 be3109.ccr21.sfo01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.44.137) 295.358 ms be3110.ccr22.sfo01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.44.141) 291.797 ms 349.838 ms
24 be2379.ccr31.sjc04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.42.158) 349.774 ms 349.723 ms be3038.ccr32.slc01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.42.97) 349.658 ms
25 38.104.141.82 (38.104.141.82) 349.626 ms 296.037 ms 295.806 ms
26 102.ae1.cr1.pao1.sonic.net (70.36.205.5) 308.067 ms 307.736 ms 307.703 ms
27 ae0.cr1.colaca01.sonic.net (70.36.205.62) 490.048 ms 490.023 ms 490.002 ms
28 * * *
29 ae0.cr3.snrfca01.sonic.net (157.131.242.230) 303.915 ms * 303.867 ms
30 ae1.cr2.ptlmca01.sonic.net (23.93.52.253) 312.977 ms 310.700 ms 357.511 ms
Overall: whether we connect to VPN or directly to our target in San Jose - the traffic seems to follow a common path up to
sjc01.atlas.cogentco.com. From there - if we choose to connect via VPN, the traffic will be diverted to Sonic, before it goes to its final destination of Vultr.
Now For Something Completely Different: Observations on the Internet in Uganda
Using the (American) Internet in Uganda presents us with a few challenges.
Some banking sites alerted me for fraud. Other sites refused to load. Here is an example:
To explain what this is a screenshot of: As it turns out - VW Credit sent me a secret message, invited me to log-in to my account to read it, then forbid me from accessing the site from Uganda. (It worked fine through Sonic’s VPN.)
And there is yet another category of websites - blocked by the Uganda Communications Commission. An example is… facebook.com including URLs such as https://ai.meta.com/blog/meta-llama-3/ 
