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Traceroute Reveals Internet Topology — How to Read Autonomous Systems, IXPs, and Network Boundaries in Your Results

Traceroute Reveals Internet Topology — How to Read Autonomous Systems, IXPs, and Network Boundaries in Your Results

Traceroute doesn't just show latency — it reveals internet topology: which Autonomous Systems your traffic crosses, where it hits an Internet Exchange Point and stays local, and where it traverses a transit provider and potentially crosses continents. Here's how to read ASN changes as network boundary crossings, what IXPs like LINX and AMS-IX do for routing efficiency, and why traceroute RTT values are cumulative (explaining why hop 3 can show lower latency than hop 2).

Jun 23, 2026
Traceroute Only Shows One Direction — and ECMP Means That Direction Changes Between Runs

Traceroute Only Shows One Direction — and ECMP Means That Direction Changes Between Runs

Traceroute shows the path your packets take to a destination — but the return path is completely different and invisible, and even the forward path can vary between consecutive traceroutes due to ECMP load balancing. Here's how TTL-based probe discovery works, why ECMP makes each probe potentially follow a different path through multi-path networks, how Paris traceroute solves this, and why "* * *" in the middle of a traceroute usually isn't a problem.

Jun 18, 2026
Beyond a Single Traceroute: MTR, Asymmetric Routing, and Diagnosing Intermittent Network Issues

Beyond a Single Traceroute: MTR, Asymmetric Routing, and Diagnosing Intermittent Network Issues

A single traceroute that "looks fine" doesn't rule out intermittent problems — and the path it shows is only the outbound direction, while routing is frequently asymmetric. Here's how MTR's continuous measurement reveals intermittent loss that single snapshots miss, why a hop showing loss often isn't "the problem" (ICMP rate-limiting), and how to localize issues to your network, the path, or the destination.

Jun 12, 2026
How to Read a Traceroute: What the Output Actually Tells You

How to Read a Traceroute: What the Output Actually Tells You

A single high-latency traceroute hop usually isn't a problem. Asterisks don't mean the hop is down. Here's how to read traceroute output, identify where latency is actually introduced, and distinguish ICMP rate limiting from real network issues.

Jun 8, 2026