How do I read a traceroute?

Look for the point where latency jumps sharply and stays high, or where replies stop for good. The hop before it usually names the network where the trouble starts.

Why do some hops show no reply?

Many routers do not answer probes addressed to them, or answer only a few a second. A silent hop in the middle of a path that carries on is normal; replies that stop for good mean the path ends there or a firewall drops the probes.

Where does the trace start?

At the OpenVibe server, outside your network. To see the path from your own connection, run traceroute (Windows: tracert) on your machine.

Online Traceroute — See the Network Path to Any Host

About the Traceroute

A traceroute shows the routers between our server and the host, one hop at a time. Each hop is probed three times with ICMP echo (mtr), named by reverse DNS where it has a name, and tagged with the network (AS number) that runs it, so you can see where the path leaves one provider for the next and where the time goes.

Every hop with its name, address and network (AS number)
Best, average and worst time per hop, from three probes
IPv4, or IPv6 when the host has only an IPv6 address

Frequently asked questions

How do I read a traceroute?: Look for the point where latency jumps sharply and stays high, or where replies stop for good. The hop before it usually names the network where the trouble starts.
Why do some hops show no reply?: Many routers do not answer probes addressed to them, or answer only a few a second. A silent hop in the middle of a path that carries on is normal; replies that stop for good mean the path ends there or a firewall drops the probes.
Where does the trace start?: At the OpenVibe server, outside your network. To see the path from your own connection, run traceroute (Windows: tracert) on your machine.

OpenVibeNet

About the Traceroute

Frequently asked questions

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