Which tool provides insights into network latency and packet loss?

The tool that provides insights into network latency and packet loss is Pathping. Pathping is a network diagnostic tool that combines the functionality of both Ping and Tracert (Traceroute). It not only measures the time it takes for packets to travel from the source to the destination (which helps in assessing latency) but also detects packet loss along the route.

Pathping works by sending out packets to each hop in the path to the destination and measuring how many packets were lost at each hop, thereby giving a comprehensive analysis of both latency (the time taken for packets to route) and packet loss (the percentage of packets that did not reach their destination). This makes Pathping particularly useful for diagnosing network issues that could cause slow performance or connectivity problems.

While Ping can measure round-trip time and determine if a destination is reachable, it does not provide detailed information on the entire path or on packet loss at intermediate hops. Conversely, tools like Nslookup are used primarily for DNS lookups and resolving domain names, and Ipconfig displays configuration settings for the network interface, without any latency or packet loss insights. Thus, Pathping uniquely combines the capabilities necessary for analyzing both aspects of network performance.