An embodiment of the present invention is a system and method for measuring round trip times in a network, such as the Internet, by utilizing a packet, such as a transmission control protocol (TCP) packet. The TCP packet may be a packet which is typically utilized during establishment of a reliable connection, such as a SYN or a SYN ACK. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a mirrored service is selected for a client by sending the TCP packet from an approximate location of each of the mirrored service to an approximate location of the client. A response is then received by each mirrored service from the approximate location of the client, and a round trip time for each mirrored service is measured from the time the TCP packet was sent to the time the response was received. The various round trip times of each mirrored service are compared with each other and a best round trip time, such as the shortest time, is selected. A mirrored service associated with the best round trip time is selected for use with the client.