Traceroute

Trace network route to any host online. Free traceroute tool showing each hop with IP addresses, hostnames, and response times. Diagnose routing issues and latency.

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APIPOST /api/v1/network/traceroute
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Try also: Ping Test
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Key Features

100% Free

No registration required, unlimited checks

Instant Results

Real-time analysis with detailed output

REST API Access

Integrate into your workflow via API

Accurate Data

Live queries to authoritative sources

What is Traceroute?

Traceroute maps the complete network path from our server to any destination host, revealing every router hop the packets traverse along the way. For each hop, the tool displays the router's IP address, hostname (via reverse DNS), and three response time measurements in milliseconds. This makes it easy to identify exactly where latency spikes, packet loss, or routing anomalies occur in the network path.

Traceroute works by sending packets with incrementally increasing TTL (Time to Live) values — each router that processes the packet decrements the TTL, and when it reaches zero, the router sends back a 'time exceeded' message, revealing its identity. This free online traceroute tool is essential for network administrators diagnosing slow connections, ISP support teams identifying routing problems, DevOps engineers troubleshooting connectivity between servers, and anyone trying to understand why a website or service is slow or unreachable from a specific location. Unlike command-line traceroute (tracert on Windows), this tool runs directly in your browser and traces the route from our globally distributed servers.

How to Use

  1. 1Enter the destination domain name or IP address (e.g., example.com or 8.8.8.8)
  2. 2Click 'Run Check' to begin tracing the network route hop by hop
  3. 3Review each hop in the results — look at IP addresses, hostnames, and response times (RTT)
  4. 4Identify hops where latency suddenly increases — the network segment before that hop is likely the bottleneck
  5. 5Note any hops showing asterisks (*) or timeouts — this usually means the router blocks ICMP, not necessarily a problem
  6. 6Compare results with a ping test to confirm whether the identified bottleneck affects actual traffic

Who Uses This

System Administrators

Monitor and troubleshoot infrastructure

Developers

Debug network issues and integrate via API

SEO Specialists

Verify domain configuration and performance

Security Analysts

Audit and assess network security

Frequently Asked Questions

What is traceroute and how does it work?
Traceroute is a network diagnostic tool that maps the path packets take from one point to another across the internet. It works by sending packets with incrementally increasing TTL (Time to Live) values. Each router along the path decrements the TTL by 1, and when TTL reaches 0, the router discards the packet and sends back an ICMP 'time exceeded' message. By starting with TTL=1 (first router responds), then TTL=2 (second router responds), and so on, traceroute discovers each hop in the path. Three packets are sent per hop to measure response time consistency.
How do I read traceroute results?
Each line represents one network hop (router). The columns show: hop number (1, 2, 3...), the router's IP address and hostname, and three response time measurements in milliseconds. Look for patterns: a sudden jump from 20ms to 150ms at a specific hop indicates a bottleneck at that network segment. Consistent high times from a certain hop onward suggest the issue is at or beyond that point. Asterisks (*) mean the router didn't respond — this is common and usually not a problem, as many routers are configured to deprioritize or block ICMP packets.
Why does traceroute show asterisks or timeouts?
Asterisks (*) appear when a router doesn't respond to the traceroute packet within the timeout period. This is very common and usually not an indication of a problem. Many network administrators configure routers to block or rate-limit ICMP traffic for security reasons. Corporate firewalls, cloud provider networks (AWS, Google Cloud), and ISP backbone routers frequently filter traceroute packets. If the final destination is reachable (confirmed by ping) but intermediate hops show timeouts, those hops are simply not responding to ICMP — traffic is still flowing through them normally.
What is the difference between traceroute and ping?
Ping tells you whether a destination is reachable and how fast the round-trip is, but nothing about the path. Traceroute shows every hop along the path and the latency at each one. Use ping first to check if there's a connectivity or latency issue, then use traceroute to identify exactly where in the network the problem occurs. For example, if ping to a server shows 200ms latency, traceroute might reveal that hops 1–8 are fast (5–20ms each) but hop 9 adds 150ms — pointing to a specific network segment as the bottleneck.
How many hops should a traceroute have?
A typical traceroute to a server on the same continent has 8–15 hops. Intercontinental routes may have 15–25 hops. Routes over 30 hops are unusual and may indicate suboptimal routing. The number of hops doesn't directly determine latency — a 10-hop route through well-connected networks can be faster than a 5-hop route through congested ones. What matters more is the latency at each hop and whether there are significant jumps that indicate bottlenecks.

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API Endpoint

POST /api/v1/network/traceroute
View Documentation