Hopcount
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The hopcount is a measure of distance across an IP-based network. It is a count of the number of routers an IP packet has to pass through in order to reach its destination.
Hopcount is usually not used by itself, since any in between router or cable may have or be subject to varying data throughput (bandwidth), load (see: QoS), reliability (especially of cable), and latency.
Hopcounts are often useful to find faults in a network (see: Time to live), or to discover if routing is indeed correct.
Some common tools that can measure hopcount are:
