Traceroute

Traceroute will show each hop along the connection route from a local to a remote host.

What you will need to know:  IP address in either numerical or mnemonic format. Example: To trace an Internet connection from your host to CompuServe, enter COMPUSERVE.COM or 149.174.0.0.

Example of reliable Traceroute output: 

traceroute to one.net (198.30.92.106), 30 hops max, 38 byte packets

 1  rain (198.180.60.133)  0 ms  0 ms  20 ms

 2  oar-gw (198.180.60.141)  0 ms  0 ms  0 ms

 3  clp-iac.oar.net (199.18.107.101)  0 ms  0 ms  20 ms

 4  onenet-clp.oar.net (199.18.107.98)  40 ms  0 ms  20 ms

 5  onenet.clp.oar.net (199.18.107.118)  20 ms  40 ms  20 ms

 6  onhubgw.one.net (205.133.31.1)  20 ms  20 ms  20 ms

 7  shell.one.net (198.30.92.106)  20 ms  20 ms  20 ms
In this case, the traceroute ends in the ONE.NET domain. Because the traceroute completes without any errors or asterisks, it can be assumed that the host data is correct and that the network is stable.

Example of unreliable Traceroute output: 

traceroute to lestat.shv.hb.se (193.10.174.40), 30 hops max, 38 byte packets

 1  rain (198.180.60.133)  160 ms  20 ms  0 ms

 2  oar-gw (198.180.60.141)  0 ms  0 ms  20 ms

 3  clp-iac.oar.net (199.18.107.101)  0 ms  0 ms  0 ms

 4  clp4-e0.cincinnati.oar.net (199.18.106.4)  20 ms  0 ms  20 ms

 5  oeb/1-clp.oar.net (199.18.105.13)  20 ms  20 ms  20 ms

 6  sl-dc-8-H2/0-5M.sprintlink.net (144.228.28.5)  40 ms  40 ms  40 ms

 7  sl-dc-6-F0/0.sprintlink.net (144.228.20.6)  20 ms  40 ms  40 ms

 8  sl-pen-1-H2/0-T3.sprintlink.net (144.228.10.34)  40 ms  20 ms  40 ms

 9  sl-pen-2-F0/0.sprintlink.net (144.228.60.2)  40 ms  20 ms  60 ms

10  icm-pen-1-F0/0.icp.net (192.157.69.30)  40 ms  40 ms  40 ms

11  icm-uk-1-H0/0-T3.icp.net (198.67.131.26)  120 ms  100 ms  100 ms

12  icm-stockholm-1-H0/0-5M.icp.net (198.67.131.42)  120 ms  160 ms  140 ms

13  upper-gw.sunet.se (192.36.148.196)  140 ms  140 ms  140 ms

14  lower-gw.sunet.se (193.10.80.34)  140 ms  160 ms  140 ms

15  gbg-sthlm-34m-gw.gbg.sunet.se (193.10.85.18)  140 ms  140 ms  140 ms

16  gbg2-ether-gw.gbg.sunet.se (193.10.160.18)  140 ms  140 ms  140 ms

17  hb-gbg-gw.gbg.sunet.se (193.10.85.130)  140 ms  140 ms  140 ms

18  * * *

19  * * *
In this case, the traceroute does not complete. It ends at HB-GBG-GW.GBG.SUNET.SE. SE=Sweden, so we know that the network is fine until it gets to Sweden. However, Traceroute cannot find LESTAT.SHV.HB.SE. You can then assume that either the host is not live, the host is unstable, or there is some sort of obstacle in the network between the last 'hop' and LESTAT.SHV.HB.SE. If you chronically receive output like this for a site you really need to get to, you may want to ask your administrator if there is anything that can be done to permit or improve access.