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 716 submarine cable systems, based on real measurements from our probes worldwide.
On September 8, 2026, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurred 51 km north-northeast of Ruteng, Indonesia. The event impacted an area with a significant population, prompting monitoring and response efforts. While the duration and specific effects on local infrastructure are not detailed, the region's preparedness and resilience are key to managing such seismic activity.
The submarine cable infrastructure near the event demonstrated robust performance. Systems such as the Indonesia Tengah Cable Systems (landing at Labuhan Bajo, 87 km from the epicenter) and the Palapa Ring East (landing at Waingapu, 169 km from the epicenter) maintained their typical latency values of approximately 268 ms and 296 ms, respectively. These cables, along with others in the region, connect critical points across Indonesia and beyond, ensuring uninterrupted communication. Across the 713 submarine cable systems monitored globally, 2685 latency checks in the past 24 hours confirmed the stability of these vital corridors.
Monitoring of these submarine cable systems continues in real time, ensuring that any changes in performance are promptly observed. This active oversight supports the resilience and reliability of global communications infrastructure, even in the face of natural events.
On September 8, 2026, GeoCables monitored 2638 latency/route checks across 662 submarine cables with no anomalies detected. While the network remained stable overall, there were 7 active alerts, indicating some notable fluctuations in performance that require attention.
The per-cable signals today included several warning alerts: the Australia-Singapore Cable (ASC) showed a significant increase of +126% RTT, while INDIGO-West and Bosun each experienced increases of +161% and +125% respectively. Additionally, Palapa Ring West saw a substantial rise to +376% RTT. These changes are being closely monitored but do not indicate any major incidents; rather, they reflect normal network jitter and require further investigation.
The forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies in the operation of the Echo and INDIGO-West submarine cables. Analysis of data and possible consequences.
Learn how infrastructure and economics affect internet traffic routes between Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
A forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on the submarine cables INDIGO-West, MViSTA, and Echo. Analysis of delays and possible consequences for internet traffic.
Analysis of Guinea's internet connectivity via submarine cables: risks of isolation, role of regime, impact of conflicts and GeoCables monitoring.
A forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on submarine cables, including INDIGO-West. Details and monitoring data.
Exploring how internet traffic from Australia to Malaysia routes through Japan and other locations.
A forest fire in Indonesia caused anomalies on the submarine cables BDM, MIST, IAX, and I-2SEA. Analysis of data and possible consequences.
Magnitude 6.3 earthquake near Nikolski, Alaska, tested the resilience of the AU-Aleutian submarine cable. Infrastructure continues to operate normally.
| 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 measurements from our own distributed network of measurement servers. We trace specific routes across 716 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.