If you suspect a network issue exists beyond your gateway/router, which command will you use to test connectivity to the router?

Using the command that allows you to determine the path a packet takes to get to a particular destination is the most appropriate choice when you suspect that a network issue exists beyond your gateway or router. This command displays the route packets take to reach the destination and provides useful information about each hop along that route, including identifying if traffic is being lost at a certain point.

In scenarios where you suspect problems past the initial router, tracing the route can highlight where the failure occurs, allowing for a more focused troubleshooting approach. For example, if the packets are reaching the router, but not the final destination, the output will indicate this and help identify whether the issue lies within the local network or the wider internet path.

The other commands serve different purposes; for example, using 'ping' checks connectivity directly to a specific IP address but does not show the route taken. 'nslookup' is used for DNS queries to obtain the IP address of a domain name, and 'arp -a' displays the current ARP table but does not test connectivity beyond the local network segment. Each has its particular use case, but for examining connectivity issues beyond the router, tracing the route is the most effective method.