Online Traceroute Tool

Trace the full network path from our server to any hostname or IP. See every router hop and its latency in real time.

Hostname or IP Address

Max Hops

Quick:

Frequently Asked Questions

Traceroute maps the path packets take from source to destination across the internet. It works by sending packets with increasing TTL (Time To Live) values — each router decrements TTL by 1, and when TTL reaches 0, the router sends back an error message revealing its IP address and latency.

* * * means that hop did not respond within the timeout. It could be a router configured to silently drop TTL-exceeded packets (common on backbone routers), or ICMP is filtered by a firewall. If only some intermediate hops show * * * but the destination responds, the route is still working fine.

Large RTT increases at a hop indicate a slow link — often a transatlantic or transcontinental submarine cable crossing. For example, going from Europe to the US typically adds 70–120 ms in a single hop. High latency at one hop doesn't necessarily mean that hop is the problem — what matters is the final destination's RTT.

They are the same concept: traceroute is the Linux/macOS command, tracert is the Windows equivalent. Both trace the path to a destination, but they use different protocols by default — traceroute uses UDP, while tracert uses ICMP echo requests.

How It Works

TTL Probes

Packets are sent with TTL=1, 2, 3… Each router decrements TTL by 1 and sends back an ICMP "time exceeded" message when TTL hits 0.

Real-Time Streaming

Each hop line appears as it arrives via Server-Sent Events. Hops with * * * are routers that silently drop TTL-expired packets.

Hop Summary Table

After completion, each hop is parsed into a table showing the hop number, hostname or IP, RTT, and whether it responded or timed out.

Reading Traceroute Output

1 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 1.234 ms

A responding hop. #1 is the hop number. The hostname/IP is the router that responded. RTT is the round-trip time to that router.

5 * * *

No response from this hop within the timeout. The router either blocks ICMP or de-prioritizes TTL-expired responses. Doesn't mean the path is broken.

8 ae-2.r01.fra01.de (1.2.3.4) 12.5 ms

The hostname reveals the router's location (e.g., fra01.de = Frankfurt, Germany). ISP backbone routers often have descriptive hostnames showing city and carrier.

12 dest.example.com 95.3 ms

The final destination hop. This RTT is the true end-to-end latency. A large jump from the previous hop usually means a transatlantic or intercontinental link was crossed.