Traceroute
Visual traceroute reference — understand how traceroute works and interpret hop-by-hop network path results.
About Traceroute
Traceroute (tracert on Windows) maps the network path between your computer and a destination host by sending packets with incrementally increasing TTL (Time To Live) values. Each router that decrements TTL to zero responds with an ICMP Time Exceeded message, revealing its IP address and response time. The output shows every network hop between you and the destination, helping diagnose where latency spikes or packet loss occur.
FAQ
How do I run a real traceroute?
Linux/Mac: traceroute github.com (or mtr github.com for continuous monitoring). Windows: tracert github.com. For HTTPS traceroute: traceroute -T -p 443 github.com. Browser-based traceroute is not possible due to security restrictions — use your terminal or online tools like ping.eu.