RIPE Atlas

RIPE Atlas is a global, open, distributed Internet measurement platform, consisting of thousands of measurement devices that measure Internet connectivity in real time.
History.
RIPE Atlas was established in 2010 by the RIPE Network Coordination Centre. As of November 2015, it was composed of nearly 9,000 probes and 150 anchors around the world.
Community.
Anyone can volunteer to host a RIPE Atlas probe. Probes are free of charge, low maintenance, and can be plugged in behind a home router or in a data center.
Organisations that want additional RIPE Atlas measurements targeting their network can host a RIPE Atlas anchor.
Tools for visualizing and analyzing RIPE Atlas measurement data are used by network operators for troubleshooting and network monitoring.
Open source software tools, written by RIPE Atlas users, are available in the repository for community contributions on GitHub.
Several hundred individuals also support RIPE Atlas as "ambassadors" by promoting participation and distributing probes. Organizations also support RIPE Atlas as sponsors.
Multiple hackerspaces have installed RIPE Atlas probes and have their own project about displaying the probes presence.
Research papers.
All the data collected by RIPE Atlas is open data and is made publicly available to users and the wider Internet community.