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 12, 2026, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred 115 km north-northeast of Teluknaga, Indonesia. The event, classified at a green alert level by authoritative sources, affected the surrounding region but did not trigger significant disruptions. Monitoring systems and response frameworks remain in place to assess any developments in the area.
The submarine cable infrastructure near the event demonstrated robust resilience. Key systems such as Apricot (connecting regional hubs with an average latency of ~129ms) and JAKABARE (~125ms) continued to perform within expected parameters. These cables, along with others landing at Tanjung Pakis, Indonesia, carried traffic seamlessly through the seismic activity, showcasing the reliability of critical connectivity links in the region. Across the last 24 hours, 2781 latency checks across 713 monitored systems confirmed steady performance across these vital corridors.
Real-time monitoring of these and all other monitored systems remains active, ensuring continuous oversight of submarine cable performance. The infrastructure's ability to maintain stability during such events highlights its critical role in global communications.
The network remained stable today with no anomalies detected across the monitored submarine cables. We conducted 2,663 latency/route checks involving 664 submarine cables over the past 24 hours, and while there were some fluctuations noted in real-time metrics, they were within expected ranges. Six active alerts were observed, primarily due to increased round-trip times (RTT) on several key cables including Pishgaman Oman Iran (POI), INDIGO-West, Bosun, Asia Connect Cable-1 (ACC-1), Palapa Ring West, and Australia-Singapore Cable (ASC). These increases, while notable, are within the bounds of normal network jitter and do not indicate any significant issues.
Additionally, the Jakarta-Bangka-Bintan-Batam-Singapore (B3JS) and Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE)/Cahaya Malaysia cables experienced some normal fluctuations, but these were not severe enough to trigger alerts. The FALCON cable saw an increase in RTT by 77%, which is a significant change but does not indicate any immediate concerns.
Earthquake of magnitude 5.1 off Guam caused anomalies on submarine cables, including PPC-1. Data analysis and further monitoring.
Analysis of the impact of the September 8, 2026 earthquake in Greece on submarine cables, including Jonah, Adria-1, and others. Anomalies were detected on the Jonah cable.
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.
| Point A | - |
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| Point B | - |
| Coordinates A | - |
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| 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.