Trace the route
A great utility included with Windows 98 is a program called Trace Route. Open a DOS window and type tracert <location name>. The location name can be any IP address or Internet domain like tracert www.chip-india.com.
The program will then trace the route from your Internet service provider to that location, and show you every server along the way. This could be useful for when you can't connect to a site - it will show you if some server is down along the way.