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 22, 2026, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake occurred approximately 200 km west of Abepura, Indonesia. The event was localized to a remote area, with no significant population centers directly impacted. Authorities reported the earthquake's details through real-time notification systems, ensuring timely dissemination of information. No immediate response measures were required for critical infrastructure in the region.
The submarine cable systems we monitor demonstrated strong resilience during and after the earthquake. These systems, which facilitate global connectivity, maintained stable performance throughout the event. For example, cables connecting Southeast Asia to neighboring regions, such as those linking Indonesia to Australia and other parts of Asia, continued to operate with their usual efficiency. Round-trip latency values in monitored corridors remained consistent, including stable baselines of 45 ms and 68 ms in key routes.
Our monitoring systems remain actively engaged, continuously observing these and other critical submarine cable networks in real time. This ensures that any future events impacting undersea connectivity are promptly identified and assessed, supporting the ongoing stability of global communications infrastructure.
July 22, 2026 - GeoCables reported a quiet day with no anomalies detected across its monitored submarine cable network. The system performed robustly, handling 2409 latency/route checks on 655 cables without any issues. Although the network remained calm, there were some notable fluctuations in real-time performance metrics for several cables.
Of particular note were the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) and Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2), which experienced increased round-trip times (RTT) by +130% and +107%, respectively. These changes, while significant, are within normal operational jitter and do not indicate any damage or critical issues. Other cables like Unity/EAC-Pacific, Pacific Crossing-1 (PC-1), and Unity showed similar but smaller increases in RTT, ranging from 62% to 77%. Conversely, the UK-Channel Islands-7 and Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) Cable saw substantial improvements in performance, with reductions of up to 73% and 58%, respectively. The Adria-1 cable also experienced a notable increase in RTT by +319%, but this was observed as part of its normal operational variability.
Discover how internet data from South Africa to Guyana travels through Europe and the US.
Magnitude 7.4 earthquake off Puerto Madero, Mexico. Submarine cables, including SPCS and AMX-1, withstood the shocks.
Magnitude 6.7 earthquake off Loyalty Islands on July 13, 2026. How submarine cables Gondwana-2 and Tamtam held up during the event.
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.
Discover the July 2026 latency spike on the Hawk cable linking Marseille, Alexandria, and Cyprus, and how baseline metrics were restored swiftly.
| 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.