
Originally Posted by
from internettrafficreport.com FAQ
Q: How do you measure "Internet traffic?"
A: A test called "ping" is used to measure round-trip travel time along major paths on the Internet. We have several servers in different areas of the globe perform the same ping at the same time. Each test server then compares the current response to past responses from the same test to determine if the response was bad or good on a scale of 0 to 100. The scores from all test servers are averaged together into a single index.
Q: What is a "router?"
A: Routers are traffic cop computers on Internet backbones responsible for redirecting data from sender to receiver. When major routers slow down or stop, it has an adverse affect on Internet data flow in that region.
Q: What is a "traffic index?"
A: The "traffic index" is a score from 0 to 100 where 0 is "slow" and 100 is "fast". It is determined by comparing the current response of a ping echo to all previous responses from the same router over the past 7 days. A score of 0 to 100 is then assigned to the current response depending on if this response is better or worse than all previous responses from that router.
Q: What is "response time (ms)?"
A: Response Time in reference to Internet traffic is how long it takes for a chunk of data to travel from point A to point B and back (round trip). A typical response time on the Internet is 200 ms, which is 200 milliseconds (thousandths of a second) = 1/5th of one second.