Route Tracer
Trace the complete internet route from our global probes to your target. See every hop and identify where packets travel.
About Traceroute
Visual traceroute tool that shows the complete network path between our global probes and your target. Identify routing issues and network hops.
Key Features
Multi-region traceroute
Hop-by-hop latency
RTT visualization
Packet loss detection
Destination reach status
Route tracing shows the path your data takes across the internet—every router "hop" between you and your destination. When a website is slow or unreachable, route tracing helps answer "where is the problem?" by showing exactly which network segments are responding (or not).
Think of it like tracking a package: you see each stop along the way, how long it spent at each location, and where it might be stuck. Asterisks (*) in results mean a router didn't respond—often normal due to firewall rules, not necessarily a problem. Our route tracer runs from 6+ global locations so you can see the path from different parts of the world.
New to route tracing? Start here, then use uptime checking to verify if a site is actually down, or port checking to test if specific services are accessible.
**Methodology:** Standard traceroute (ICMP/UDP) from 6 regions showing each hop's response time and hostname resolution.
Common Errors & How to Fix Them
3 relevant issuesThe traceroute couldn't complete—no response received from destination. Packets may be blocked by a firewall, or the destination is unreachable.
1) Verify destination is reachable: ping target.com. 2) Try different protocols: traceroute -I (ICMP) vs traceroute -U (UDP) vs traceroute -T (TCP). 3) Check if destination firewall blocks traceroute. 4) Test from different source location. Some hosts simply block all traceroute traffic.
Traceroute shows the same IP addresses repeating. Packets are going in circles due to misconfigured routing tables.
1) Note the IPs involved in the loop. 2) If it's within your network: check router configurations for circular routes. 3) If it's external: report to ISP with traceroute output. 4) Try alternative route: use VPN to bypass problematic path. Routing loops are usually resolved within hours by network operators.
Traceroute shows hops up to a point, then only asterisks. Traffic is being blocked or dropped at that hop.
1) Identify the last responding hop—that's where blocking occurs. 2) Check if it's your ISP, a transit provider, or destination's network. 3) Try TCP traceroute: traceroute -T -p 443 target.com. 4) Contact the network operator if it's a provider issue. 5) If destination's network, firewall is blocking.
Frequently Asked Questions
3 relevant questionsTraceroute shows the path network packets take from source to destination, revealing each router (hop) along the way. It works by sending packets with increasing TTL (Time To Live) values—each router decrements TTL and returns a response when it reaches zero. This maps the complete route and measures latency at each hop.
Asterisks indicate the router at that hop didn't respond within the timeout period. Common reasons: firewall blocking ICMP/UDP, router configured to deprioritize or ignore traceroute packets, or rate limiting. If subsequent hops respond normally, it's not a problem—some routers simply don't respond to diagnostic traffic.
Ping tests if a destination is reachable and measures round-trip time, but only shows the final result. Traceroute shows every hop along the path, helping you identify WHERE problems occur—not just that there IS a problem. Use ping for quick reachability checks; use traceroute to diagnose routing issues.
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