Traceroute Tool

Traceroute lists the routers ("hops") your data passes through on the way to a destination, along with the delay to each one. It is the standard way to find where on the path a slowdown or outage happens.

Tool status: Requires a separate server Cannot run reliably on shared hosting or in a browser. See the page for the planned approach.

Online traceroute is not available yet

A reliable traceroute needs a dedicated probe server. Rather than show simulated hops, we explain how to run a real traceroute from your own device – which traces the path from your location.

Windows

  1. Press Win + R, type cmd, press Enter.
  2. Type tracert ipandnet.com and press Enter.

macOS / Linux

  1. Open Terminal.
  2. Type traceroute ipandnet.com and press Enter.

Tip: mtr (Linux/macOS) and pathping (Windows) combine traceroute with loss statistics per hop.

What this tool can and cannot do

Traceroute needs raw network packets with special time-to-live values. Browsers cannot send these, and shared web hosting does not allow the required system commands. A trustworthy online traceroute therefore needs a dedicated probe server (a small VPS) running a locked-down traceroute service. This is planned for a later phase. Until then, below is how to run traceroute on your own device – which actually gives a more useful result, because it traces from your location.

Data sources: Requires a dedicated probe server (planned)

Understanding the results

Each line is one hop. Rising times are normal. Asterisks (* * *) mean that router does not reply to traceroute – it is only a problem if every later hop also fails.

Troubleshooting

  • Windows: open Command Prompt and run tracert example.com
  • macOS / Linux: open Terminal and run traceroute example.com (or mtr example.com for a continuous view).

Frequently asked questions

Why is a hop in the middle slow but the destination fine?

Routers give low priority to answering traceroute. If later hops are fine, that "slow" hop is not slowing your traffic.