Predictive indicator of network slowdown

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

identifying one or more network delay indications for an HTTP communication initiated from a computing device;

automatically performing a network diagnostic test in response to the one or more network delay indications, wherein the network diagnostic test generates connection information for a network connection associated with the HTTP communication;

determining a location within a network communication path where a delay is being caused based on the connection information; and

automatically in response to the determining, providing for display to a user of the computing device a description of the location within the network communication path where the delay is being caused.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more network delay indications comprise a determination that a query transmitted by the computing device has been unanswered for a predetermined time period.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more delay indications comprise a determination that the computing device has transmitted a request for an amount of data exceeding a predetermined threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more delay indications comprise a determination that the computing device is en route to or is at a geographic location predetermined to have limited network availability.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining that the geographic location has limited network availability based on a connection history for the geographic location stored for use by the computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more network delay indications comprise a determination that the network connection is not available.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying one or more network delay indications comprises:

determining the network connection is for a destination having a history of network delays.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing a network diagnostic test comprises:

determining a status of two or more of a DHCP address for the computing device, a DNS query sent by the computing device, a query sent to an NTP server, and an HTTP response for a destination of the network connection; and

identifying a location of a network delay based on the determining;

wherein the connection information identifies the location of the network delay.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing a network diagnostic test comprises:

measuring one or more transit times for packets sent by the computing device to one or more nodes along a network route for the network connection; and

identifying a network problem at one of the nodes in the network route based on the measuring;

wherein the connection information identifies the network problem.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing a network diagnostic test comprises:

determining whether data is received from a destination of the network connection, and, if received, an amount of the data received over a period of time; and

identifying a host problem at the destination based on the determining;

wherein the connection information identifies the host problem to the user.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computing device, causes the computing device to perform operations comprising:

identifying one or more network delay indications with respect to an HTTP communication made over a network communication path;

automatically performing a network diagnostic test in response to the one or more network delay indications, wherein the network diagnostic test generates connection information for the network communication path;

determining a location within a network communication path where a delay is being caused based on the connection information; and

providing a description of the location within the network communication path where the delay is being caused for display in a web browser associated with the HTTP communication.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the one or more network delay indications comprise a determination that a query made to a computing device has been unanswered for more than a predetermined time period.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the one or more delay indications comprise a determination that a request was made for an amount of data exceeding a predetermined threshold.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the one or more delay indications comprise a determination that a location-aware computing device is en route to or is at a geographic location predetermined to have limited network availability.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , the operations further comprising determining that the geographic location has limited network availability based on a stored connection history for the geographic location.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein identifying one or more network delay indications comprises:

determining the network communication path is related to a destination having a history of network delays.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein performing a network diagnostic test comprises:

determining a status of two or more of a DHCP address, a DNS query, a query sent to an NTP server, and an HTTP response for a destination of the network communication path; and

identifying a location of a network delay in the network communication path based on the determining;

wherein the connection information identifies the location of the network delay.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein performing a network diagnostic test comprises:

measuring one or more transit times for packets sent to one or more nodes along the network communication path; and

identifying a network problem at one of the nodes in the network communication path based on the measuring;

wherein the connection information identifies the network problem.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein performing a network diagnostic test comprises:

determining whether data is received from a destination in the network communication path, and, if received, an amount of the data received over a period of time; and

identifying a host problem at the destination based on the determining;

wherein the connection information identifies the host problem.

20. A system for automatically providing an indication of network delay, the system comprising:

a display screen;

one or more processors; and

a computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform operations that:

identify one or more indications of a network delay for an HTTP communication initiated over a network communication path;

automatically perform a network diagnostic test in response to the one or more indications, wherein the network diagnostic test automatically generates connection information for the network communication path;

determine a location within a network communication path where a delay is being caused based on the connection information; and

automatically in response to determining the location, provide a description of the location within the network communication path where the delay is being caused for display on the display screen.