How to run a traceroute to diagnose network issues

A traceroute traces the path data takes from your computer to a destination server across the internet. When a website loads slowly or fails to respond, the problem might not be the server itself. Network delays can occur at any point along the route between your computer and the destination.

You will learn how to run a traceroute on Windows, Mac and Linux systems. The output shows each network hop along the route and reveals where delays or connectivity issues occur. This helps you determine whether problems originate from your local network, your internet service provider or the destination server.

Run a traceroute on Windows

Windows includes a built-in traceroute command called tracert. You will open a command prompt window and execute the command with your destination address.

1. Open the command prompt.
   Press Windows + R on your keyboard. Type cmd in the dialogue box and press Enter. A black command prompt window appears.
2. Enter the traceroute command.
   Type tracert followed by your destination. This can be a hostname, domain name or IP address. For example: tracert google.co.uk or tracert 192.168.1.1. Press Enter to start the trace.
3. Review the output.
   The command displays each network hop with timing information. A successful trace shows all hops from your computer to the destination with response times in milliseconds.

Here is example output from a successful traceroute to google.co.uk:

C:\Users\user>tracert google.co.uk

Tracing route to google.co.uk [142.250.187.195]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    13 ms    10 ms     9 ms  192.168.1.1
  3    18 ms    27 ms    15 ms  192.168.1.1
  4    18 ms    17 ms    17 ms  74.125.146.216
  5    19 ms    17 ms    24 ms  209.85.248.229
  6    19 ms    25 ms    27 ms  142.251.54.33
  7    19 ms    20 ms    15 ms  lhr25s33-in-f3.1e100.net [142.250.187.195]

Trace complete.

The trace reached the destination server in seven hops. Each line shows three timing measurements because Windows sends three test packets to each hop for consistency.

Run a traceroute on Mac

macOS includes the traceroute command in its terminal application. You will access the terminal through the utilities folder and execute the command.

1. Open the Terminal application.
   Navigate to Applications > Utilities and double-click Terminal. A terminal window opens with a command prompt.
2. Enter the traceroute command.
   Type traceroute followed by your destination address. For example: traceroute google.co.uk. Press Return to execute the command.
3. Review the results.
   The terminal displays each hop along the route with timing information. The trace completes when it reaches the destination or times out after 30 hops.

The macOS traceroute command produces similar output to Windows but may show different timing patterns depending on your network configuration.

Run a traceroute on Linux

Linux distributions include the standard traceroute command. You can also install MTR (My Traceroute), which provides enhanced network diagnostics with real-time statistics.

1. Open a terminal window.
   The terminal application location varies by distribution. On Ubuntu and Debian-based systems, press Ctrl + Alt + T. On other distributions, look in the applications menu under System Tools or Utilities.
2. Install MTR (optional).
   MTR provides continuous monitoring and additional statistics. Install it using your package manager. On Debian/Ubuntu systems: sudo apt install mtr -y. On Red Hat/CentOS systems: sudo yum install mtr -y. Skip this step if you prefer to use the standard traceroute command.
3. Run the traceroute command.
   Type either traceroute google.co.uk for a standard trace or mtr google.co.uk for continuous monitoring. Replace google.co.uk with your destination address. Press Enter to start the trace.
4. Review the output.
   The standard traceroute displays results similar to Windows and Mac. MTR shows a continuously updating table with packet loss statistics and average response times. Press Q to exit MTR.

MTR proves particularly useful for diagnosing intermittent network issues because it runs continuously and calculates statistics over time.

Understanding traceroute results

Traceroute output shows the complete path data takes from your computer to the destination. Each line represents a hop where data passes through a router or network device. Understanding this output helps you identify where network problems occur.

Each hop displays three pieces of information:

• Hop number: The sequential position in the route, starting from 1 at your local network.
• Round-trip times: Three timing measurements in milliseconds showing how long packets take to reach that hop and return. Traceroute sends three packets to each hop for consistency.
• Domain name and IP address: The router’s hostname (if available) and its IP address.

Here is the same example output analysed in detail:

C:\Users\user>tracert google.co.uk

Tracing route to google.co.uk [142.250.187.195]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    13 ms    10 ms     9 ms  192.168.87.123
  3    18 ms    27 ms    15 ms  192.168.56.78
  4    18 ms    17 ms    17 ms  74.125.146.216
  5    19 ms    17 ms    24 ms  209.85.248.229
  6    19 ms    25 ms    27 ms  142.251.54.33
  7    19 ms    20 ms    15 ms  lhr25s33-in-f3.1e100.net [142.250.187.195]

Trace complete.

Hop 1 shows your home router with response times below 1 millisecond. This represents your local network and should always show very low latency. Hop 2 shows your ISP’s first router with slightly higher latency around 10–13 milliseconds. This increase is normal because data now travels outside your local network.

Subsequent hops show gradually increasing latency as data travels further across the internet. Small variations in timing between the three measurements are normal. Large variations or consistently high latency at a specific hop indicate potential congestion or routing issues at that point in the network.

Interpreting timeouts

Sometimes a hop displays asterisks instead of timing information:

Tracing route to google.co.uk [142.250.187.195]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.

This indicates that the router at that hop did not respond to the traceroute packets. This does not necessarily indicate a problem. Many routers are configured to ignore traceroute requests for security reasons while still forwarding your actual traffic.

If the traceroute continues past the timeout and reaches the destination, the timeout hop is not blocking your connection. If the traceroute stops at a timeout and never reaches the destination, this suggests a genuine connectivity problem at that point. The issue could be a network outage, firewall blocking your traffic or a routing problem.

Further reading on network diagnostics

Traceroute forms part of a broader set of network diagnostic tools. Understanding how data travels across networks helps you diagnose a wider range of connectivity issues beyond slow websites.

The ping command tests basic connectivity to a destination and measures round-trip time without showing the complete route. This provides a quicker way to check if a server is reachable. Our guide on how to ping a server explains when to use ping versus traceroute.

DNS issues can also cause websites to appear slow or unreachable. If traceroute fails to resolve a domain name to an IP address, the problem might be DNS-related rather than a routing issue. The Cloudflare DNS learning centre provides detailed information about how DNS resolution works and common problems that affect website accessibility.

For persistent network issues, packet loss statistics reveal patterns that single traceroute runs might miss. MTR on Linux systems provides this continuous monitoring.

Wrapping up

You can now run traceroute commands on Windows, Mac and Linux to diagnose network connectivity issues. The output shows each hop along the route from your computer to a destination server, revealing where delays or failures occur. This helps you determine whether problems originate from your local network, your ISP or the destination server itself.

Run traceroutes when websites load slowly or fail to connect. Compare results from different times of day to identify patterns. Our web hosting platform includes network monitoring and performance optimisation to minimise connectivity problems.