Use these Usenet tools to see how Usenet and news servers work.
These Usenet tools let you do some pretty cool tests.
If you are interested in digging a little deeper into how Usenet works, you may find these tools interesting.
- Usenet traceroute
- Usenet speed tests
Keep reading to find out what they are and how to use them.
'Usenet Tools' contents (select to expand)
Usenet Tools: Traceroute
According to Wikipedia, traceroute is a "computer network diagnostic command for displaying the route (path) and measuring transit delays of packets across an Internet Protocol (IP) network".
A traceroute tool for Usenet - sometimes known as a reverse traceroute - does exactly what the name suggests: it traces the route taken by packets to a Usenet news server.
You can sometimes use traceroute results to help identify any network slowdowns.
How to Interpret Traceroute Results?
Run a traceroute and pay attention to the time between the "hops". Ideally, you should see a small, consistent increase, but nothing higher than 300 milliseconds.
Click on the buttons below to see the traceroute results for the following Usenet providers:
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Usenet Tools: Speed Test
These Usenet speed tools will give you an indication of the connection speeds you might experience connecting to these news servers.
But keep in mind that there are a lot of things that can come into play in determining your Usenet speeds.
Click on "Go" and wait for the results.
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Sample results for Usenet.Farm using a Usenet speed tool.
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Wrap-Up
Although there aren't too many Usenet tools available, the ones you have are pretty cool.
If you want some more tips on using them, see these posts on Reddit and a personal blog.
Any tools we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
