MTR

Traceroute combined with continuous per-hop ping statistics.

Monitor this automatically

NetTests can run this check on a schedule, preserve historical results, compare changes over time, and alert you the moment something breaks.

Start monitoring free → See all monitoring products

Frequently Asked Questions

What is MTR and how does it differ from traceroute?

MTR (My Traceroute) combines ping and traceroute into a continuous probe. Where traceroute takes a single snapshot, MTR sends hundreds of packets and computes per-hop statistics — average RTT, worst RTT, standard deviation, and packet loss percentage — making it far better at catching intermittent problems.

How do I read the MTR output?
  • Host — the router at this hop (or ??? if it doesn't respond).
  • Loss% — percentage of probe packets that got no reply.
  • Snt — packets sent so far.
  • Last / Avg / Best / Wrst — most recent, average, minimum, and maximum RTT in ms.
  • StDev — jitter; high values indicate an unstable link.
Is packet loss at a middle hop always a problem?

Not necessarily. Many routers rate-limit or deprioritize ICMP responses — they forward traffic normally but don't always reply to probes. If only a middle hop shows loss while later hops and the destination respond fine, the link is healthy and the loss is just ICMP rate-limiting. Concern arises when loss persists from a hop all the way to the destination.

What does high jitter (StDev) indicate?

High standard deviation means RTT varies wildly between probes, which points to congestion, overloaded queues, or an inconsistent routing path. Jitter is especially damaging for real-time traffic like VoIP and video calls.