Traceroute
Trace network paths to IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, identify routing issues, and analyze latency.
How Traceroute Works
What is Traceroute?
Traceroute is a network diagnostic tool that maps the path packets take from this server to a destination. It reveals every router (hop) along the route, measuring the round-trip time for each one.
By incrementing the TTL (Time to Live) field in each packet, traceroute forces successive routers to reveal themselves, building a complete picture of the network path.
How to Use
- Enter a hostname, IPv4, or IPv6 address as the target.
- Choose a protocol: ICMP is the default. Try TCP if most hops show timeouts, since TCP port 80 is rarely blocked by firewalls.
- Increase max hops for distant targets (default: 20). Most paths complete within 15 hops.
- Raise the timeout for slow or congested networks.
- Click any IP address in the results to open it in IP Lookup, or any hostname for DNS Lookup.
- Use Stop to abort a running traceroute at any time.
What You'll See
| Hop # | Sequence number of each router in the path |
| IP Address | The router's network address, linked to IP Lookup |
| Hostname | Reverse DNS name if available, linked to DNS Lookup |
| Probe 1/2/3 | Three independent round-trip time measurements in ms |
| Avg | Average latency across all successful probes |
| * | Probe timed out, the router did not respond |
Protocol Options
ICMPMost common method. Sends ICMP Echo packets, works with most networks. Some firewalls may block it.
UDPTraditional Unix traceroute method. Sends UDP packets to high ports. Default on most Linux systems.
TCPUses TCP SYN packets. Most effective when ICMP and UDP are blocked by firewalls, since TCP port 80 is rarely filtered.
Important Notes
- Some routers are configured not to respond to traceroute probes (shown as
*). This does not indicate a problem. - Network paths can change between runs due to load balancing and routing changes.
- High latency at one hop does not necessarily mean a problem. Routers often deprioritize ICMP responses.
- Private and reserved IP addresses cannot be traced from this server.
Privacy & Security: Traceroute runs server-side to protect your real IP address. Intermediate routers and the destination only see this server's address, not yours.
Starting traceroute...
| # | Host | Probe 1 | Probe 2 | Probe 3 | Avg |
|---|