Smart Cable Routing
Dijkstra-based routing through real submarine cables and landing points from TeleGeography data. Accurate distance multipliers for land and undersea segments.
In-depth analysis of how internet traffic moves through 705 submarine cable systems, based on real measurements from our probes worldwide.
On July 16, 2026, Mayon Volcano in the Philippines erupted, emitting ash clouds and producing occasional pyroclastic density currents, incandescent rockfalls, and gas plumes. The eruption, classified with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 4, affected an estimated 5.3 million people within a 100km radius and 1.39 million within 30km. Daily sulfur dioxide emissions ranged from 2,026 to 2,184 tonnes, and seismic activity included numerous rockfalls and volcanic tremors. The aviation alert level remains at Orange, and the event is not expected to require external humanitarian assistance due to the coping capacity of the exposed population.
Submarine cable infrastructure in the region demonstrated resilience during this event. The PLDT Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON), landing at Legazpi City just 15km from the volcano, maintained a steady average latency of ~256ms. Similarly, the Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network (PDSCN), with a landing point in Bulan 68km away, held its ~254ms average latency. These systems, along with others such as the Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE), which connects Daet to broader regional networks, carried uninterrupted traffic through the eruption. Monitoring efforts over the past 24 hours included 2050 latency checks across 701 submarine cable systems, ensuring robust oversight.
Real-time monitoring of these corridors continues, ensuring the stability and reliability of critical communication infrastructure in the region. The submarine cable systems remain actively watched as they support uninterrupted connectivity during and beyond the event.
July 16, 2026 was a quiet day for GeoCables' network monitoring. Across 653 submarine cables, we conducted 1930 latency/route checks with no anomalies detected and zero active alerts, indicating a stable and healthy network performance.
The per-cable signals showed normal variations: the Kuwait-Iran cable experienced a resolved warning alert (+125% RTT), while several other cables exhibited minor fluctuations. Notably, the Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network (BDSNi) saw a significant improvement with a 77% reduction in latency, and CrossChannel Fibre faced an increase of 82%. These changes are within typical operational ranges and do not indicate any underlying issues.
Route deviation quadrupled delays-how does this impact users?
Magnitude 6.7 earthquake off Loyalty Islands on July 13, 2026. How submarine cables Gondwana-2 and Tamtam held up during the event.
An internet packet's astonishing journey: from South Africa to Palau via Europe.
An analysis of a critical underwater cable hub near Sharm El-Sheikh: 18 cables, potential risks, and the impact of possible disruptions.
Analysis of the consequences of the M5.1 earthquake near Tambolaka (Indonesia) for submarine cables, including the IGG System and others.
An analysis of Kazakhstan's internet infrastructure: submarine cables, censorship, risks, and unique geographical factors.
Analysis of the consequences of the M5.2 earthquake in the Philippines for submarine cables, including IGG System and Apricot.
| Point A | - |
|---|---|
| Point B | - |
| Coordinates A | - |
| Coordinates B | - |
| Cable Multiplier | - |
| Crosses Ocean | - |
| Route Details | - |
| Data Source | - |
Dijkstra-based routing through real submarine cables and landing points from TeleGeography data. Accurate distance multipliers for land and undersea segments.
Interactive map showing every cable your data touches - backbone nodes, landing stations, and submarine segments with real geographic coordinates.
Launch real network measurements from probes worldwide. Compare theoretical estimates with actual RTT and hop-by-hop packet journeys with ISP geolocation.
Speed-of-light physics combined with cable distance to estimate latency. See the real-world overhead - how much slower actual routing is vs fiber limits.
Enter cities, IP addresses, or domain names - everything is resolved to coordinates with hosting location identification and optimal cable route.
Traceroute hops enriched with city, country, ISP. Phases auto-detected: local → ISP → CDN → backbone → submarine cable. Visual RTT timelines.
City names, IP addresses, or domains. The system resolves coordinates, identifies countries, and determines whether the route crosses oceans.
A graph algorithm finds the optimal route through landing points and submarine cables with accurate distance multipliers for each segment type.
One click launches RIPE Atlas probes for real ping and traceroute. See actual RTT, identify every router, and find where your packet enters submarine cables.
Validate routing assumptions, estimate latency budgets, troubleshoot unexpected paths.
Understand your ping. Compare the physical speed limit vs reality for any server.
Choose optimal PoP locations based on submarine cable topology and landing proximity.
Teach how the physical internet works. Visualize the gap between light speed and real routing.
Over 500 submarine cable systems span the world's oceans, with a combined length of approximately 1.4 million kilometers - enough to circle the Earth 35 times.
Submarine cables carry over 99% of intercontinental data traffic. Despite what many people think, satellites handle only a tiny fraction of global internet traffic.
Light travels through fiber optic cable at about two-thirds the speed of light in vacuum. A signal from London to New York takes approximately 28 milliseconds one way.
Modern submarine cables are designed to last 25 years. Cables are buried in the seabed near shores and laid directly on the ocean floor in deep water, protected by layers of steel and polyethylene.
The deepest submarine cables reach the abyssal plains at nearly 8,000 meters. At these depths, cables rest on the ocean floor under enormous pressure, beyond the reach of anchors and fishing gear.
Major transoceanic cable projects like 2Africa or PEACE cost over $1 billion. Investment comes from tech giants like Google, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as telecom consortiums.
GeoCables is a research publication on the physical infrastructure of the global internet. We publish in-depth analyses of how data actually travels between countries - which submarine cables are used, what the measured latency is, and why it differs from the theoretical minimum.
Our research is grounded in real RIPE Atlas measurements collected from five probes we operate in Minsk, Almaty, Tbilisi, Jerusalem, and Sevastopol. We trace specific routes across 705 submarine cable systems and 1,900+ landing points cataloged by TeleGeography, then publish what we find.
Light through fiber travels at ~200,000 km/s - about two-thirds the speed of light in vacuum. That sets the theoretical floor for round-trip time. In practice, real RTT is 1.5-4× higher due to routing detours, optical amplifiers, protocol processing, peering between networks, and suboptimal path selection. Our research articles document this overhead on specific routes - measuring it, explaining it, and tracing it back to the cables and networks responsible.