When to run a traceroute
When a website or server is slow, or won’t load at all, a trace shows whether the problem is the server or somewhere on the way to it.
A slow website
See whether the time goes on distance, a busy network on the way, or the server itself.
A site that won’t load
Find where the route stops answering, so you know whether to call your host or wait for a network to recover.
Proof for your host
Copy the results in one click, ready to paste into a support ticket. Hosts can act on a trace far faster than on “it’s slow”.
What every trace shows
Free for everyone, with no account needed.
A route map
Each network on the way as a stop, green, amber or red, with a line of plain English under each one.
Time at every step
How long each step takes, in milliseconds, so you can see where the time goes.
Packet loss
Which routers lose data, and whether the loss carries on to the server, which is when it matters.
Who runs each network
Each router’s name and its network, such as Cloudflare, BT or Telia, and its country.
Every hop, in full
Open the full table: every router’s address, name and the time of each probe.
Copy results
The summary and every hop on your clipboard as plain text, ready for an email or support ticket.
IPv4 and IPv6
Trace any public address, or type a domain name and we trace its server.
Private
We don’t keep what you trace. We only count how many traces there are, to stop misuse.
An API for your own systems
On a KT8 Tools plan, run traces from your own systems with an API key.
How to read the route map
Each stop is one network on the way to the server. The colours follow a few simple rules.
- Green means the stop adds little time and nothing goes missing.
- Amber means slower, but with a reason or no harm done: a long jump that comes from distance, such as an ocean crossing, or a router that skips some probes but passes traffic on. Busy routers answer these probes last, so this is normal.
- Red means a real problem: packet loss that starts at a stop and carries on to the server. That’s what makes pages slow or stall.
- Routers that don’t answer are common and harmless. Many networks set their routers to ignore these probes.
Getting to the bottom of it?
Pair your trace with these:
Speed test
How fast your pages load for real visitors, and what slows them down.
Test a pageMy domains
Uptime checks every 5 minutes, with an alert when your site or mail server stops answering.
Watch your sitesIP checker
Who holds any address on the route, and whether it’s on an email blocklist.
Look up an addressQuestions
Is the traceroute free?
Yes. Anyone can run 5 traces a day with no account. Signed in, you get more: 20 a day on a 14-day trial, 30 on Solo, 50 on Business, 100 on Business Plus and up to 1,000 on Agency plans. Business plans and above can use the API.
Where do the traces run from?
From our own server in Nuremberg, Germany. The route from there is close to what visitors across Europe see. Visitors elsewhere take a different route, so the time to the server will differ.
Some routers show no answer. Is that a problem?
Usually not. Many networks set their routers to ignore these probes while still passing traffic on. It only matters when the route stops answering and the website or server doesn’t work either.
The trace couldn’t reach my server, but my site works. Why?
Many servers and firewalls ignore these probes on purpose. If your site loads, there’s nothing wrong. If it doesn’t, the problem is near the last stop that answered, so send the trace to your host.
What do you send to the server?
Small ping-style probes, the same as the ping command sends: 3 for each router, up to 30 routers. Nothing else, and no port knocking.
Do you keep what I trace?
No. We count how many traces there are to stop misuse, but we don’t keep what was traced.