---
title: "How to Run and Read a Traceroute: Troubleshooting Website Connectivity"
description: "Traceroute (or tracert on Windows) is a essential network diagnostic tool that maps the exact path data packets take from your local computer to a destination server, such as your website hosted on..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/read-traceroute/
date: 2025-06-11
modified: 2026-04-15
author: "Carrie Smaha"
categories: ["Website"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# How to Run and Read a Traceroute: Troubleshooting Website Connectivity

![Learn How to Read a Traceroute](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/How-to-Read-a-Traceroute-1024x538.png)

**Traceroute** (or **tracert** on Windows) is a essential network diagnostic tool that maps the exact path data packets take from your local computer to a destination server, such as your website hosted on an InMotion Hosting VPS or [dedicated server](/dedicated-servers). It measures the round-trip time (latency) at each intermediate router (“hop”) along the route and helps identify where slowdowns, packet loss, or connectivity issues occur.

When your website loads slowly, times out, or becomes unreachable, support teams often request a **ping** and **traceroute** report. Understanding how to run and interpret these tools empowers you to quickly determine whether the problem lies with your local network/ISP, an intermediate network, or the hosting server itself.

This thorough guide explains how traceroute works, provides platform-specific instructions, teaches accurate interpretation of results, covers common issues, and includes best practices for effective troubleshooting on InMotion Hosting servers as of 2026.

## How Traceroute Works

Traceroute operates by sending packets (typically ICMP on Windows or UDP on Linux/macOS) with incrementally increasing **Time To Live (TTL)** values in the IP header.

- The TTL starts at 1. The first router decrements it to 0, drops the packet, and returns an **ICMP Time Exceeded** message containing its IP address.
- The process repeats with TTL=2, TTL=3, etc., until the packets reach the destination or hit the maximum hop limit (usually 30).
- For each hop, traceroute sends **three probes** by default and records the **round-trip time (RTT)** in milliseconds for each response.

This creates a detailed “map” of the network path, revealing latency at every step. Unlike a simple **ping** (which only tests the final destination), traceroute pinpoints the exact location of delays or failures.

**Key limitations**:

- Results can vary over time due to dynamic routing.
- Some routers/firewalls block or deprioritize ICMP/UDP responses for security, resulting in asterisks (`*`) that do not always indicate real problems.
- Traceroute measures diagnostic packet latency, which may differ slightly from actual web traffic (TCP) due to routing policies or processing priorities.

## When to Use Traceroute

Run a traceroute when you experience:

- Slow website loading
- Intermittent timeouts or 502/504 errors
- High latency compared to other sites
- Connection problems that ping alone cannot diagnose

Combine it with **ping** for a complete picture. InMotion Hosting provides a free Traceroute Parser tool to help analyze results automatically.

![How to Perform a Ping and Traceroute](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/dFc0bUm_NEg/maxresdefault.webp)

*Don’t have time to read our article? Watch the full walk-through video.*

## How to Run a Traceroute (and Ping)

Always run both **ping** and **traceroute** to the same target (e.g., your domain or server IP).

InMotion Hosting has a free tool that can automatically and consistently analyze the results of a traceroute test. If you run the traceroute test as described below, you can use [our traceroute parser tool here](/support/tools/visual-domain-routing/) to see if you may be experiencing a connectivity problem.

### On Windows (tracert)

1. Press **Windows key + R**, type cmd, and press Enter to open Command Prompt.
2. Run the ping test (let it complete 4–5 replies or press Ctrl+C to stop):`ping example.com`
3. Run the traceroute:`tracert example.com`(Replace example.com with your actual domain or IP address.)

To copy results: Right-click in the Command Prompt window, select **Mark**, highlight the text, and press Enter.

### On macOS or Linux (traceroute)

1. Open **Terminal** (Applications → Utilities → Terminal on macOS).
2. Run the ping test (stop after 4–5 replies with Ctrl+C):`ping example.com`
3. Run the traceroute:`traceroute example.com`

**Useful options**:

- `traceroute -n example.com` — Disable DNS resolution for faster, cleaner output.
- `traceroute -I example.com` — Use ICMP mode (sometimes bypasses blocks).
- `mtr example.com` — Install **mtr** (My Traceroute) for a continuous, real-time version that combines traceroute and ping (highly recommended for ongoing issues).

### Advanced Alternative: MTR (My Traceroute)

MTR runs traceroute repeatedly and displays live statistics including packet loss percentage, average latency, and standard deviation. It is superior for spotting intermittent problems.

**Install on Linux/Ubuntu:**

```
sudo apt install mtr
```

**On AlmaLinux:**

```
sudo dnf install mtr
```

**Run:**

```
mtr example.com
```

Press **q** to quit.

## How to Read and Interpret Traceroute Output

Here is a sample Windows tracert output:

```
Tracing route to example.com [10.10.242.22]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1