Being able to measure the time between hops of your network is really important, especially if you are responsible for ensuring uptime and network performance as part of your daily system admin roles.
Here is our list of the best TraceRoute alternatives:
- Site24x7 – EDITOR’S CHOICE This cloud-hosted platform of system monitoring and management tools provides three alternatives to Traceroute and one of them is free forever. Try all of the TraceRoute options without paying by getting the 30-day free trial.
- Path Analyzer Pro This straightforward tool offers a graph of the route that shows the response time to each router. Runs on Windows and macOS.
- VisualRoute Lite by VisualWare Free for non-business use, this graphical tool shows the route with the IP address of each router in the path plus its response times. Runs on Windows and macOS.
- PingPlotter This popular connectivity tester has three versions for individuals that test networks and run on Windows. There is also a cloud-based version for businesses that can test the route over a network or across the internet.
- SolarWinds TraceRoute NG This free tool can be set to run continuously across the network or to a remote location and it will spot when the standard path changes. Runs on Windows Server.
- CountryTraceRoute Nirsoft offers a list of free tools and this is one of them. The system is just the output of the command line traceroute shown in a graphical user interface. Runs on Windows.
- NetScanTools Basic This free utility contains a bundle of useful network testing tools, including Ping and TraceRoute. Runs on Windows.
- HyperTrace by AnalogX This free GUI system presents a straightforward traceroute across the internet and enables results to be stored in a file. Runs on Windows.
Tracert is a command line tool that lets you measure the path that your packets are taking over the network, and can tell you how long each hop takes.
If you experience a network outage, Tracert can help you to determine how far the data packet is traveling, and at which IP address, or hop, it is failing at.
Some of these include the same commands and more on top of the basic list of them, along with some cool mapping features and more!
What should you look for in a TraceRoute alternative?
We reviewed the market for TraceRoute replacements and analyzed options based on the following criteria:
- A consecutive list of the routers on the path to a location
- Options for network path detection and internet routes
- The roundtrip time to each router in the path
- Nice to have a real-world map showing the route over the internet
- A topology map showing the route across the network
- A free trial for a risk-free assessment opportunity or a free tool
- Value from a tool that offers competent services at a fair price or a free tool that is worth installing
With these selection criteria in mind, we looked for a range of systems from highly complex network and cloud monitoring systems to simple visual equivalents of a quick TraceRoute run.
1. Site24x7 – FREE TRIAL
Site24x7 is a cloud-based platform of system monitoring and management tools. The brand provides three different Traceroute functions and one of them can be accessed directly for free. That free system is the Traceroute to your domain facility. You don’t need to sign up or log in to use the tool but it shows the results of a path trace in the site and anyone else can access the trace. The system lets you run a test from one of a long list of locations around the world.
Unique Feature
This platform provides path traces for networks and across the internet. One of the utilities lets you see the route from different locations around the globe.
Why do we recommend it?
Site24x7 is a large package of tools and it includes methods to troubleshoot your digital assets as well as automated monitoring and management systems. The Traceroute functions are comprehensive and provide great graphics that ease the task of understanding how connections are made across your network and across the internet.
The paid section of the Site24x7 system offers two Traceroute utilities. The first of these is based on a well-known package called My Traceroute, or MTR. A screenshot from this utility is shown at the top of this Site24x7 review. That unit shows a great map with illustrations of the actual path and the best path encountered recently.
The third Traceroute option in Site24x7 is part of the Website Monitoring part of the platform. This tool can be accessed through the Real User Monitoring functions of the package and it will generate a path on demand. A support technician could use this in response to a complaint by a site visitor about slow responses or a failed connection. The layout of the results illustration is almost identical to that used by the MTR-based option.
Who is it recommended for?
The entire package isn’t just about troubleshooting; most of the package provides automated monitoring tools. The Site24x7 plans are suitable for any size or type of organization. The automated processes save time for network administration technicians and that also saves money. The base packages are sized and priced for small businesses but the service is easily expandable and larger businesses pay extra for capacity expansion packs.
Pros:
- Network monitoring, including traceroute, to help identify and diagnose network issues quickly
- Proactive alerts for network issues
- Real-Time Data: Offers real-time monitoring and historical data analysis, which is crucial for effective troubleshooting.
- You can create customized dashboards to visualize network performance and pinpoint issues more effectively.
- Site availability checks from multiple locations, helping in identifying geographically specific issues.
Cons:
- Not all the Traceroute utilities are free to use
While the domain Traceroute test is free, the rest of the utilities on the Site24x7 platform are part of the services offered in the paid plans. You can get a 30-day free trial of the entire platform.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Site24x7 is our top pick for a TraceRoute alternative because it offers a comprehensive, user-friendly solution for diagnosing network performance issues, providing deeper insights than traditional TraceRoute tools. While TraceRoute is effective at tracking the path data takes across the network, Site24x7 extends its capabilities with real-time monitoring, historical data, and detailed visualizations, making it an ideal choice for IT teams seeking advanced network diagnostics. Unlike standard TraceRoute tools, Site24x7 integrates multiple diagnostic features into one platform, allowing users to not only trace network paths but also monitor network health, latency, packet loss, and bandwidth in real time. This multi-faceted approach provides a broader context for troubleshooting network issues, which can help identify underlying problems more effectively than a simple trace of hops. The platform’s network performance monitoring includes customizable alerts, which notify users when issues such as high latency, packet loss, or degraded performance are detected. This proactive feature ensures that IT teams can address network problems before they affect end users. Additionally, Site24x7’s global network of monitoring locations allows users to test connectivity and trace routes from multiple geographical locations, providing a more comprehensive view of network performance than a local TraceRoute command.
Download: Access 30-day FREE Trial
Official Site: https://www.site24x7.com/signup.html?pack=44&l=en
OS: Cloud-based
2. Path Analyzer Pro
Next, we have Path Analyzer Pro. This is an advanced network tool that can obviously run traceroute, but has additional functionality with its performance testing, DNS queries, whois, and network resolution.
Why do we recommend it?
Helps to investigate network issues with its advanced network route-tracing capabilities. It also offers performance tests, DNS, whois, and network resolution.
This all helps to investigate network issues and connectivity problems on the network. All of these features are rolled up into a single powerful application that makes it far easier for system admins to use.
It runs on both Windows and Mac OS, so you can map out the current state of your network, regardless of what type of environment you are trying to troubleshoot from. Other great features are things like performance improvements over traditional tracerout, with over 20 times the speed.
It has built-in report generation and a very easy-to-use interface. The charting option brings a visual component that helps with fault finding, which is great as well.
Who is it recommended for?
A good choice for network administrators who want to optimize their work environments and speed up data transfers.
Pros:
- Available for Mac and Windows
- Can detect network drops, latency, and jitter, making it a solid option for troubleshooting VoIP networks
- Features simple network graphing
Cons:
- Clunky – especially around the protocol and tracing mode options
- Reporting lacks customization options and isn’t as user-friendly as some of the competing tools
Anyone wishing to try out Path Analyzer Pro can download the trial from here. Pricing starts at $29.95 for the personal version and goes up to $89.95 for the business version.
3. VisualRoute Lite
VisualRoute Lite is a free program for home users, and is intended primarily as an internet connection diagnostic. This is because it uses hops between routers on your internet connection’s path to the internet. If a particular piece of equipment, or path is giving issues, then users are able to track the new path, or point of failure via the software.
Why do we recommend it?
It provides a detailed connectivity analysis, including continuous testing, application port testing, and more. It also generates real-time and historical reports.
Even if your connection is working, but slow you can get valuable latency information from the user interface. There is both a Windows version, as well as a Mac OS version available for users, so you can use it on the device that suits you best. Other valuable info includes a route information analysis, packet loss data, DNS lookup information and response times, a visual graph, and information about alternate routes. Overall, this is a very basic application, but because it is aimed at home users it doesn’t need to have many other features other than the ones we have looked at here.
Who is it recommended for?
This tool works well for anyone who wants to analyze connectivity issues between a client and a server to better understand network issues.
Pros:
- Highly visual tool
- Supports both Mac and Windows
- Displays routes, response times, and network health
Cons:
- Free version is not designed for business usage
VisualRoute Lite is free for home use.
4. PingPlotter
PingPlotter is another good application for network troubleshooting and route mapping for your network traffic. It helps you to detect and inspect the route and issues relating to speed with alerts and conditions, which is quite useful for Network monitoring purposes.
Why do we recommend it?
PingPlotter identifies the source of connection problems, and more importantly, helps to prove it to the concerned stakeholders. It can come in handy for network troubleshooting as well.
You can set up conditions that start logging as soon as routing issues become apparent so that you can record any deviations from normal operating procedures over your network. There are visual tools such as graphs as well, which help with visualization and understanding problems much easier.
There is a standard and pro version of this application, with the standard features focusing more on small businesses and home users, while the pro version is more geared towards larger organizations with enterprise requirements.
Who is it recommended for?
It works well for any individual who wants to identify the cause of a network problem.
Pros:
- Three options including a freeware version
- Offers lightweight visualization into latency across devices
- Good for both one-off tests as well as continuous testing
Cons:
- Could benefit from a longer trial period
- TCP and UDP tests are not included in the free version
The pricing is set at $39.99 for the Standard edition and $199.95 for the Professional edition.
5. SolarWinds TraceRouteNG
SolarWinds Tracert NG is a great free tool for your network that can help you with performance measuring and path changes on your network. It allows for continuous probing when troubleshooting connectivity issues, so you can monitor changes to any fault while you continue investigating a fault.
Unique Feature
Provides accurate path analysis and visibility. Plus, it’s standalone and free.
Why do we recommend it?
This tool is adept at finding network paths and measuring their performance. In the process, it can quickly identify response-time issues.
Traceroute NG is especially useful in the network path analysis segment of your network because it can easily monitor both TCP and ICMP. It stores log files in the form of TXT logfiles and can support IPV4 and IPV6, ensuring that your diagnostics are future-proof.
Overall, SolarWinds Traceroute NG is a basic tool that offers great functionality in a simple package. It does exactly what it says, and provides valuable diagnostic information in times of network issues, giving you a better understanding of where your network might have failed.
Who is it recommended for?
Ideal for network administrators who want to understand network issues like delays, dropped packets, router problems, and more.
Pros:
- Lightweight tool allows you to run it on virtually any network off of any machine
- Supports both IPv4 and IPv6, making it flexible or larger networks utilizing more modern protocols
- Acts as a troubleshooting tool to detect packet loss, jitter, and latency
- Offers simple visual representations of network traffic
- Is completely free
Cons:
- Advanced features such as enterprise reporting are supported but can be found in products like SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds Tracert NG is 100% FREE. If you think that it might be useful in your network setup, why not try downloading it here?
6. CountryTraceRoute by Nirsoft.com
CountryTraceRoute is another traceroute utility that uses a graphical user interface instead of the old-style, command line interface that many system admins are familiar with. It uses a window that shows valuable information such as the IP address of each hop, the host name, country that the IP address resides in, the time of each hop, and the total hops to the destination.
Why do we recommend it?
This tool is much faster than Tracert and also comes with a GUI. Plus, it also displays the country of the owner of every IP address.
The only thing that this app is lacking is a map overlay, but that may or may not matter to you. Perhaps the best feature of this application is the fact that it runs much faster than traditional traceroute applications, which is a big plus if you are troubleshooting in a hurry.
The next great thing about this application is the fact that it is completely free to use. This means no trials, no sign-ups, and no credit card details required.
Who is it recommended for?
CountryTraceRoute is a good choice for any individual who wants to do traceroute operations to know the route and the transit delay of packets.
Pros:
- Extremely lightweight scanning tool
- Older interface, but it does the job
- Provides a better verbose look into traceroutes than the command line interface
Cons:
- Lacks reporting capabilities
- Not good for long-term monitoring
CountryTraceRoute is FREE.
7. NetScanTools Basic
NetScanTools Basic is a freeware tool that runs in Windows and has compatibility with Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Server 2016, Server 2012, Server 2008, and Server 2003.
Why do we recommend it?
A suite of tools that include Ping, traceroute, whois, ping scan, DNS tools, and more. This makes it a one-stop tool for your basic network diagnostics.
It comes with additional tools as well as the traceroute application, and it allows users to perform Ping, Ping Scan, Graphical Ping, Traceroute, and Whois operations. This is handy as it all resides in a single application, and commands are easy to execute from within the application.
Again, as with many of the freeware applications, some people might not find exactly what they are looking for with this application as it lacks some of the basic functionality such as a global map. Although it does have some graphical output in the form of graphs and visual hops, it doesn’t seem to have much in the way of report generation and export. This means that this application might be more suitable for a home user than for a professional environment.
Who is it recommended for?
Ideal for network engineers or for anyone who wants to test their network connection.
Pros:
- Can run whois, DNS lookups, and simple queries with a simple push of a button
- User-friendly, even for non-technical users
- Supports hostname resolution
Cons:
- Interface feels unnecessarily crowded at times
- Lacks visualization capabilities
- Available only for Windows
NetScanTools Basic is a freeware tool.
8. HyperTrace by AnalogX
If you have ever been stuck with connectivity options but wanted to know where the break in connectivity resides, then HyperTrace can help. It performs basic Traceroute operations via an easy-to-use graphical interface.
Why do we recommend it?
Displays the route taken by packets as they move from one machine to another on the Internet. Its GUI is highly helpful to trace the packets.
It allows you to visually inspect the route that your data packets are taking over the internet and provides valuable insight into the current state of your internet connection. It is compatible with all versions of Microsoft Windows, and best of all, it is free to use.
This is very basic as far as Traceroute tools go, but that may or may not be a good thing, depending on the requirements that you may have for using traceroute and similar network utilities within your environment.
You can safely open this application without having to worry about it draining valuable system resources, as it has a very minimalistic memory footprint, due to the simplistic interface and light resource requirements.
Who is it recommended for?
A good choice for network engineers as it is fast and efficient in identifying the traceroute.
Pros:
- Lightweight traceroute tool
- Easy to use – very intuitive
- Can store and export results
Cons:
- Fairly barebones – power users may require more features
HyperTrace by AnalogX is a freeware tool.
Conclusion
Traceroute is an invaluable diagnostic tool to have in your bag of tricks, especially if you are a network technician or system administrator.
Being able to quickly visualize where the break in connectivity resides on your network, or over the internet, is greatly important.
Finding the right application for your environment is important, especially if you have specific requirements, such as reporting, mapping, and visually showing your managers exactly what is happening on your network at any given time.
TraceRoute Alternatives FAQs
Why might I need an alternative to Traceroute?
There are several reasons why you might need an alternative to Traceroute, including:
- Traceroute may not work with certain network configurations or firewalls
- Traceroute may not be available or installed on all operating systems
- Traceroute may not provide the level of detail or accuracy you need for your network diagnostics.
What are some popular alternatives to Traceroute?
Some popular alternatives to Traceroute include:
- SolarWinds TraceRouteNG
- MTR (My Traceroute)
- WinMTR
- PingPlotter
- tcptraceroute
What information can I gather from hop analysis?
Hop analysis can provide information about several aspects of network performance, including:
- Network topology and routing paths
- Latency and packet loss at each hop along the path
- Bandwidth and throughput of each network device along the path
- Network errors and anomalies, such as dropped packets or high levels of retransmission.
How can I troubleshoot hop analysis errors?
To troubleshoot hop analysis errors, you can try the following:
- Verify that your network configuration and routing paths are correct and up-to-date
- Check for network congestion or bandwidth limitations that may be affecting network performance
- Try adjusting network device settings or configurations to see if this improves performance
- Use additional network diagnostic tools, such as packet sniffers or network performance monitoring tools, to identify specific issues with network traffic or devices
Traceroute is a popular network troubleshooting tool that will trace the route of a package as it moves from one computer to another. This is a useful tool that not only tests connectivity, but also the path through which data packets travel, and through it, the possible issues that could affect this path such as delays and losses.
This is an old tool that was released way back in 1987. It was first introduced in Unix systems and has since then been adapted to work well on other operating systems too such as Linux, OS X and Windows.
Though traceroute is a widely used tool, it is also highly limited in what it can do from a troubleshooting perspective. For example, this tool will show the path from source to destination, and not the path back. This obviously doesn’t give a complete picture, especially when there are problems in the return path.
Also, the results tend to be inaccurate when destinations are load-balanced on many servers. To overcome these limitations, many developers have come up with alternative for traceroute, so administrators like you can get more out of it.
Below is a list of some of the Best Traceroute alternatives available today online – including both free & paid download.
Methodology for selecting the Best TraceRoute Alternatives
Let us look at different criteria that one must consider when selecting the Best TraceRoute Alternatives:
- Check if it supports automated testing of network connections
- Can a user save query results for analysis and later discussions
- Can you run an analysis for both network and internet connections?
- Does it have the ability to create a visual representation of connection performance?
- Does it support recursive scanning?
- Can you test for packet loss or latency?
- Check if it is compatible with the network infrastructure.
- Check if a free trial or any free assessment is available for the tool.
Let’s now take a detailed look into each of these alternatives to Traceroute.
1. Traceroute NG – FREE TOOL
Traceroute NG comes from SolarWinds and it helps to perform an accurate analysis of the network path.
Key Features
The key features of Traceroute NG are:
- Identifies IP addresses and host names
- Gives detailed information about packet loss
- Detects changes in path and sends notifications
- Allows continuous probing
- Offers TCP and ICMP network path analysis
- Creates a log file in text format for reference
- Supports IPv4 and IPv6.
- Identifies latency issues during packet transmission
Why do we recommend it?
Traceroute NG, with its pedigree from SolarWinds, offers unparalleled precision in network path analysis. Not only does it generate comprehensive insights into packet loss and latency issues, but its capabilities for continuous probing, detailed logging, and instant notifications on path changes affirm its superior position in network analysis tools.
Who is it recommended for?
This tool is designed for network administrators and IT professionals who need an accurate and real-time overview of their network paths. Its notification system and logging make it invaluable for those wanting immediate updates and comprehensive records of their network’s performance.
Pros:
- Helps analyze the network path with precision
- Generates in-depth insights related to packet loss
- Supports continuous probing
- Users can create a text log file for reference
- Instantly notifies administrators on detecting path changes
Cons:
- Limited compatibility with certain hardware and software platforms
- Lack of detailed documentation
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Traceroute NG is an editor’s choice for it is a powerful tool that allows users to analyze the performance of their networks using its intuitive graphical user interface quickly and accurately. With Traceroute NG, users can identify potential routing problems, measure latency and packet loss, and monitor bandwidth utilization.
Additionally, Traceroute NG provides detailed reports on network performance, allowing users to make informed decisions about their network infrastructure. Traceroute NG helps users save time by providing automated analysis of large datasets with minimal effort. As such, it is an essential tool for any network administrator or IT professional looking to optimize their networks’ performance. It is easy to operate and a good option for network analysis
Download: Download 100% FREE Tool
Official Site: https://www.solarwinds.com/free-tools/traceroute-ng/registration
OS: Windows Server
2. Open Visual Traceroute
Open Visual Traceroute is a cross-platform tool that also acts as a packet sniffer and Whois tool.
Key Features
The salient features of Open Visual Traceroute are:
- Displays data in a 3D or 2D map format.
- Shows the path that a packet takes to reach from source to destination.
- Analyzes packets to understand the contents that are sent from one computer to another. This feature is particularly useful for identifying security loopholes.
- Comes with a “whois” feature using which you get public information about a domain.
- Data can be exported to an image or text.
- Also, provides Gantt view
Why do we recommend it?
Open Visual Traceroute sets itself apart with its visually engaging 2D and 3D map displays, providing an intuitive understanding of network routes and hops. The combination of packet sniffing, Whois integration, and multi-platform support, alongside its capability for data export, positions it as a dynamic and essential tool for network analysis.
Who is it recommended for?
Open Visual Traceroute is tailored for IT professionals, network administrators, and security enthusiasts who appreciate a graphical representation of data and are keen on pinpointing security vulnerabilities. Its versatility in data visualization makes it suitable for both seasoned professionals and beginners.
Pros:
- Displays network routes and hops in maps and graphical form for easy understanding
- Works great with Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems
- It can be used with 2D maps, which use fewer resources
- Uses network packet sniffer for data identification
- Easy to use and supports exporting data to an image or text
Cons:
- Does not have the ability to perform long-term monitoring
- Offers fewer features than basic traceroute
Open source and free to use.
3. MTR (My Traceroute)
MTR (My Traceroute) was originally developed by Matt Kimball in 1997 and this is why it was initially called Matt’s Traceroute. This tool was taken over byRoger Wolffe in 1998 and he changed the name to My Traceroute.
Key Features
The features of MTR are:
- Works well in UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems.
- Probes routers on the route path by limiting the number of hops a packet can make as it goes from source to destination. Keeps track of the response time of hops to identify problems.
- Probes continuously, about once every second.
- Works well in a text console and a GTK+ based graphical user interface.
- Relies primarily on ICMP, but also has a UDP mode.
- Provides information such as list of routers traversed by a packet, average round-trip time and packet loss.
- Helps to identify network overuse problems.
- Licensed under GPL
Why do we recommend it?
MTR has carved its niche as a stalwart in network diagnostics, especially for UNIX and UNIX-like systems. Its ability to probe routers continuously, combined with real-time monitoring of hop response times and comprehensive packet data, makes it indispensable. The dual functionality with both text console and GTK+ graphical interface ensures versatility in use.
Who is it recommended for?
MTR is a match for network administrators, IT professionals, and individuals using UNIX or UNIX-like operating systems who seek a reliable, in-depth tool for route path diagnostics. Its continuous probing feature is also beneficial for those requiring immediate identification of network overuse or bottlenecks.
Pros:
- It performs well on UNIX and similar operating systems
- Users can monitor the response time of hops and discover issues faster
- Performs well with graphical user interfaces that are GTK+ based
- Updates administrators about routers list traversed by a packet as well as packet loss
- Aids in locating issues with network overuse
Cons:
- Potential for inaccurate results
- MTR can be used to track user activity and location which raises privacy concerns for users
This tool is 100% free
There is a slight variation to this tool called WinMTR. This tool is designed for Windows and follows the same working mechanism of MTR.
4. Monitis Online Visual Traceroute tool
Online Visual traceroute tool from Monitis is a simple online tool that allows you to trace the route of your packets and in the process, helps to identify network issues.
Key Features
The features of Monitis Online Visual Traceroute tool are:
- Simple and easy-to-use interface.
- Available online, so there is no download or installation. You can get the information you want within minutes.
- You can perform a traceroute test from around the world right from your browser.
- Diagnoses network connectivity problems.
- Identifies routers that experience high latency.
- Available on all devices, including mobile ones.
- Monitors users, websites, applications and more.
- Comes with API
- Supports standard web protocols
- Gives detailed reports based on preset and custom data ranges.
Why do we recommend it?
Monitis Online Visual Traceroute tool stands out due to its accessibility and simplicity. Being an online tool, it circumvents the hassle of downloads or installations, making it effortlessly convenient for users. Its ability to diagnose connectivity issues, identify high latency routers, and provide detailed reports straight from a browser on any device demonstrates its modern approach to network diagnostics.
Who is it recommended for?
This tool is ideal for IT professionals, website administrators, and individuals who prioritize flexibility and ease of access. Its online nature caters to those who require on-the-go diagnostics without being bound to specific installations. Additionally, its detailed reporting feature is perfect for those keen on in-depth network insights without a steep learning curve.
Pros:
- Helps trace packets routes and discover network issues
- It has an easy-to-use interface and supports API
- Allows running traceroute test directly from your browser from any location
- Helps identify issues related to network connectivity
- Generates insightful reports using pre-defined and custom data ranges
Cons:
- Offers limited accuracy
- It can be difficult to interpret the results, as they are often presented in a complex way
This tool is fFree to use.
5. Gsuite Tools Traceroute
Gsuite.Tools traceroute is an online tool that measures the time taken for a packet to do a return trip from host to destination.
Key Features
You have the following features in Gusite.Tools.
- Sends 1 to 30 packets to the target, incrementing the time-to-live (TTL) for each ping.
- Measures the response time of each node within the path of an IP packet.
- Available online, so no need for downloads
- Gives the hostname associated with each hop, whenever possible.
- Has a color-coded schema to help you better understand the path
- Relies heavily on ICMP protocol
Why do we recommend it?
Gsuite Tools Traceroute offers a straightforward and intuitive way to evaluate network paths. Its color-coded schema, coupled with the feature that reveals the hostname associated with each hop, provides a user-friendly experience. The capability to send up to 30 packets incrementally and measure the response time of each node sets it apart, making network diagnostics more thorough and comprehensive.
Who is it recommended for?
This tool is tailored for those who are looking for quick, online solutions to trace packet routes without any installation hassles. Its user-friendly interface makes it apt for beginners and non-tech-savvy individuals. IT professionals and network administrators who require a clear visualization of packet paths will also benefit immensely from the color-coded schema.
Pros:
- Evaluates the speed of each node along an IP packet’s path
- Users can transfer up to 1 to 30 packets to the target using G Suite. Tools
- Uses the ICMP protocol extensively
- No downloads are required because it is online-only
- To understand the path, you can use color-coded schema
Cons:
- Does not allow users to use their own email addresses, for example, name@gsuite.com
- Compatibility issues with external servers
Gsuite.Tools is free to use
Conclusion
In short, traceroute is one of the oldest and most widely used tools for monitoring network and for identifying problems in packet transmission. The original traceroute is more than 30 years old and is highly limited in the information it can provide.
This is why many developers and companies have come up with their own traceroute alternatives, so you can get more information from the traceroute utility.
The above discussed options are free. Some of it require a download while others can be accessed online. We hope you find it useful!
Rate This Post:Loading…
Traceroute is a popular but very basic diagnostic tool that helps you track an ICMP data packet from one network host to another. When a computer is communicating with other devices on a network, the communication data must first be sent through a number of small networks otherwise referred to as hops before reaching its target device. Of course, the average user is not aware of this but as a network admin, it’s important you know the exact route taken by the data. This will help you determine why a device or web-server is unreachable and the additional data collected will help fix network delays.
For a tool that was developed in 1987 and has not received any major upgrade since then, it’s easy to see why Traceroute would not fit in the modern networks and hybrid IT environment. One big limitation of Traceroute is that it only gives insights for one way. That is from the source to the destination. This, therefore, means that the data collected can be inaccurate since it’s possible that connection delays are happening as the data moves back from the destination back to the source computer.
Some people may also have a problem with the use of a command line interface. Note that some of the alternatives we will be listing also use a command line interface but we have also included some great alternatives that come with a Graphical User Interface. The good thing with GUI tools is that they involve simple mouse clicks instead of having to type in commands. They also tend to have a better display of the path analysis data which is all great for beginners.
Now, there is one question I have come across a number of times that I feel it’s important we address. What’s the difference between Traceroute and Ping? And to fully explain that I will first need to explain how Traceroute works.
How does Traceroute Work?
This tool functions by assigning what we call Time To Live (TTL) value on the data being sent. The TTL represents the number of hops the packet of data can make and begins from 1 and is gradually increased until it reaches the destination device.
So for instance, if there are 5 hops between the source and the destination host, the first packet with a TTL value of 1 is sent. The first router will receive the packet decrement the value to zero and then send a ‘Time exceeded’ error message back to the source computer. The computer then uses this information to identify the router on the first hop and then sends another packet with a TTL value of 2. Again this will be decremented to zero after it reaches the second hop and an error message is sent back to the source computer. This process is repeated until the packet data finally reaches the target host and at the end of it all, you will have a list of all the routers along the path from the source to the destination. Traceroute also records the time taken for the data to reach each router which helps to identify exactly where the latency is coming from.
Compare that to a ping which involves sending an ICMP echo request to a target IP address and waiting for a reply and you already have the answer to our question.
What’s the Difference between Traceroute and Ping
Ping is primarily used to determine whether a network host is available and the amount of latency in your network. Traceroute on the other follows the exact path taken by the packet data and will, therefore, pinpoint where exactly the connection problem is coming from. A ping is significantly faster than traceroute and can be replied to in milliseconds. In essence, you use a ping when you want to establish whether a network device is up or down. Once you have established it’s down, then you use a traceroute to identify where the problem is.
With that out of the way let’s now look at 5 tools and software you can use instead of Traceroute.
When it comes to Network Management and Monitoring software, SolarWinds are always outdoing themselves. The Network Performance Monitor (NPM) was their flagship product and it cemented their names as industry leaders. In fact, the NPM can be used to perform hop by hop analysis of data. However, it’s not the perfect alternative to Traceroute because of its price point. The NPM is a full-suite network monitor and therefore comes at a price.
So instead we will be looking at the SolarWinds Traceroute NG. It is a completely free tool that comes with a number of extra features on top of data path analysis.
For instance, Traceroute NG is equipped with a built-in logging function and also allows you to copy the analysis data to the clipboard and consequently paste it somewhere else like in a CSV file. This is an upgrade over Tracert that is only limited to taking screenshots of the data. The tool also collects useful data such as the time between each hop, IP addresses for all the devices, the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), the percentage loss of packet data among others.
Traceroute NG is similar to the native Tracert in that it uses a command line interface. But this is a good thing because it won’t take you long to adjust to the shift. The other great feature about this tool is that it performs continuous probing. This means it will continuously be analyzing the network path data and in case of any path changes, you will be notified.
Like all the other SolarWinds product, Traceroute NG performs automatic discovery of your Network. It uses TCP and ICMP standards to trace data paths and can penetrate through most firewalls. Traceroute NG is compatible with both IPv4 and IPv6 and only works for Windows systems.
MTR is also a command line network diagnostic tool but one that combines both ping and traceroute. This means you will be able to easily determine the availability of a network host and consequently pinpoint the exact problem by performing hop by hop analysis of the data path. MTR uses ICMP echo requests to derive the performance data on each hop but it can also operate on UDP mode.
This tool can also be used to establish packet loss and network jitter. The performance data is presented in a tabular view for easy understanding. And unlike the native Traceroute, MTR also supports IPv6 addresses.
MTR also performs continuous path scans which means that the network performance data is always being updated. This is definitely better than having to manually execute the scans every time you want to check if there are any changes in the network performance metrics.
MTR is designed for Unix systems by default but it allows you to use Autoconf to configure it so that it can work on a different system. Autoconf scans the target system and then generates header files and a makefile from existing templates. These are then added to the MTR source code to make it installable on the said system. This is true even for Mac OS.
Open Visual Traceroute is an open source traceroute software that can be used on multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. Unlike the other two tools we have reviewed, OVT uses a graphical interface. Its highlight feature is the 3D representation of the data path on the world map. Once the traceroute is complete you can zoom and spin the map around to view all the locations where your data went through. And if your computer is having problems using the 3D visualization you can make use of the 2D maps.
Open Visual Traceroute also provides you with a tabular view of all the data that you are interested in when executing a traceroute. These include the hostname and location, network latency, DNS lookup time and distance between the various nodes. It does not come with a built-in logging functionality but it allows you to copy the analysis data and save it in a CSV file. You can also take screenshots.
It’s also important to note that this tool is more than just a traceroute tool. It comes with additional features such as the packet sniffer which gives you a clear overview of the type of data being transmitted from the source to the destination servers. It also has a ‘Who Is’ feature that you can use to easily access all the public information about a particular domain.
Path Analyzer Pro is also an excellent recommendation if you are not big on Command Line Interface tools thanks to its user-friendly GUI. But the highlight feature is the advanced path discovery engine that makes the tool considerably faster than the native traceroute software. According to the developers, Path Analyzer Pro is 20x faster.
Other features that distinguish it from the traditional traceroute is the detection and traversal of firewalls, the analysis of multiple performance metrics for every hop and stunning graphical visualizations. The latter will be essential in creating a better understanding of your network problems.
Path Analyzer Pro also allows you to generate, print and export reports which can help when you want to store the performance data for future reference or simply share the data with the management and other admins.
Similar to Open Visual, this tool has a map tool that gives you a great overview of the location of the IP addresses you are probing. You can zoom and pan the map for a better view. It also has a ‘Who Is’ feature which helps you collect information about a particular domain.
Additional features include DNS and Address resolution and email address tracing which could be useful in establishing the source of your emails. This can help you unmask spammers or people sending threatening messages.
The last tool on our list is Visual Route which is an excellent tool to perform hop by hop path analysis. It also collects additional performance data such as packet loss and response time. However, the highlight feature of Visual Route is the ability to reverse trace the data packet and thus overcoming one of the major shortcomings of the original Traceroute. It executes this by creating remote agents on the destination which facilitate the backward tracing. Also related is the reverse DNS lookup that allows you to deduce an IP address from a domain name.
Visual Route also stores historical data which can help quickly diagnose present problems by comparing it with the past data. The tool also performs continuous path analysis while continuously logging the performance data which gives rich insights into the performance degradation occurring over time.
This tool combines path tracing with IP location reporting to give you the physical geographical location of the servers and routers which is essential in understanding your routing problems.
Visual Route also has ping functionalities that it further enhances by including ping plotting. It maps the network response time against a time period to help you quickly diagnose a problem. So then you spend less time troubleshooting and consequently put more time in the problem resolution. The tool is available for Windows and Mac Systems.
Traceroute is a tool that many IT pros can’t live without. It is a network application that sends data requests to a target device, and then relays information about its trip both to and from the target. This is useful in troubleshooting network issues and also in checking the quality of the connection being tested.
Each hop displays the latency of the transition from device to device and can show you where a failure in the trip occurs. You can use this information to isolate troublesome network devices and it makes your job so much easier, taking the guess work out if your investigation.
Here is our list of the best Traceroute alternatives:
- ManageEngine OpManager – EDITOR’S CHOICE A system of network and server monitors that can also track activities on cloud platforms and in virtual systems and it includes Ping and Traceroute. Runs on Windows Server, Linux, AWS, and Azure. Get a 30-day free trial.
- Site24x7 – FREE TRIAL This cloud platform provides a range of network monitoring and troubleshooting functions, including path tracing that matches the services of Traceroute. Get a 30-day free trial.
- Path Analyzer Pro This utility provides a range of network address services and also includes Ping and Traceroute. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- VisualRoute This pack of network troubleshooting tools includes Traceroutre as well as a port scanner and network discovery. Available for Windows and macOS.
- Open Visual Traceroute This utility shows your route overlaid on a real world map and also provides other tools, such as a packet sniffer. Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- PingPlotter Ping and Traceroute presented as data and graphs that will help you spot connection quality of service issues. Available for Windows, macOS, and iOS.
- SolarWinds TraceRouteNG This free software package provides a tabulated layout of a standard command line Traceroute but as a GUI utility within the Windows environment.
- CountryTraceRoute A straightforward tabulated Traceroute for WEindows that is free to use.
- NetScanTools This package provides Traceroute, packet capture, and a traffic generator in free and paid editions. Runs on Windows.
You might be asking yourself why, if traceroute is so good then do we need an alternative? There are many offerings out there that perform the same functionality as traceroute, but with additional features as well.
Traceroute has been around for many years, and it is the most basic of command line tools.
This means that there is not much in the way of a graphical user interface or experience, requiring users to have knowledge of how the command line works.
These newer alternatives make the process of troubleshooting and diagnosing network issues a much simpler affair but making the applications modern and easy to use.
We will be looking at some of the most popular products that are currently available, and we will see how you can use them to get the job done.
1. ManageEngine OpManager – FREE TRIAL
ManageEngine OpManager is an automated network monitoring package that also covers servers, virtual systems, and cloud platforms. As well as providing automated systems, this package includes troubleshooting tools. Traceroute is one of those testing tools and Ping is another. The package actually has three types of Ping.
The package also provides DNS resolution for each stage in a path to a destination. The tool can be used to test paths across a network or across the internet to a remote location. The service is integrated into the dashboard of OpManager, which is mainly filled with pages that show the results of the automated features in the package.
The full package is available for on-premises installation on Windows Server or Linux. Customers who want cloud-hosted systems can access the OpManager package on AWS Marketplace and Azure Marketplace. Those AWS and Azure versions are not SaaS packages, however, they are software packages that you manage yourself and host it on your cloud virtual server accounts.
You can access OpManager with a 30-day free trial.
Pricing: There are four editions of OpManager:
- Free for 3 devices – $0
- Standard for 25 devices – from $245
- Professional for 25 devices – from $345
- Enterprise for 250 devices – from $11,545
EDITOR’S CHOICE
ManageEngine OpManager is our top pick for a Traceroute alternative because it provides Ping analysis and hop-by-hop troubleshooting. This package includes network monitoring capabilities that extend far beyond the functionality of Traceroute. While Traceroute is a valuable tool for diagnosing network issues, it lacks the depth of analysis and automation needed for modern IT environments. OpManager has a multi-hop tracing utility for detailed insights into network performance across multiple routes. This helps network administrators identify performance bottlenecks at any stage of the data transfer process. OpManager’s built-in network maps and visualizations allow users to quickly understand their network topology and identify affected nodes with ease. This platform provides proactive monitoring through alerts and automated responses, allowing network issues to be addressed before they affect performance. It supports the monitoring of a wide variety of network devices such as routers, switches, and firewalls, offering a comprehensive view of an organization’s network health. OpManager’s reporting features help with historical analysis, trend monitoring, and understanding the long-term performance of the network. The integration with other ManageEngine IT management tools, such as ServiceDesk Plus and Applications Manager, enhances its overall value, making it an all-in-one solution for network and IT infrastructure monitoring.
Download: Start a 30-day FREE Trial
Official Site: https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/download.html
OS: Windows Server, Linux, AWS, and Azure
2. Site24x7 – FREE TRIAL
The Traceroute function in Site24x7 is a powerful network diagnostic tool designed to help users trace the path that their data packets take from one network to another. It works by sending out a series of Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Requests, each with an incrementally increasing Time to Live (TTL) value. As the packets travel across the network, routers along the way send back ICMP Time Exceeded messages once the TTL expires, revealing each hop’s IP address.
The path analysis feature gives users visibility into the route taken by their data, identifying any delays or issues encountered at each hop, which can be crucial for troubleshooting network performance. One of the main advantages of Site24x7’s Traceroute function is its ability to provide detailed insights into network latency and packet loss across each hop.
By showing the response times of individual hops, it allows users to pinpoint where performance bottlenecks or failures are occurring. For example, if packets are delayed or lost at a specific router or network segment, the tool will highlight it, making it easier for network administrators to take corrective actions. This is especially valuable for monitoring complex, multi-hop networks, including those with varying service providers or cloud infrastructures.
This Traceroute alternative is integrated into Site24x7’s broader suite of monitoring tools. It is accessible within the same dashboard used for performance, uptime, and server monitoring. Users can schedule regular Traceroute tests to monitor network performance over time, and the results can be analyzed in real time or through historical reports. Any degradation in network performance can be quickly identified and addressed before it impacts users. Integration with other monitoring features further enhances usefulness by providing a unified view of both network and application health. Try Site24x7 with a 30-day free trial.
Site24x7
Start a 30-day FREE Trial
3. Path Analyzer Pro
Path Analyzer Pro is another trace route alternative that allows users to perform WHOIS, DNS, and pinging operations from the same application. With this tool you can quickly and easily check the current route that your network is tracking and identify any choke points and issues. This application offers far more than a traditional trace route such as path discovery and. This allows you to detect firewalls and also traverse them so that your requests are not blocked, in some instances. You can also expect multi-metric hops, a graphical interface, reporting and analysis and other features.
Many people run MacOS, so having the option to install a network diagnostic suite such as this on that platform will make a lot of remote troubleshooting call outs a lot more convenient for engineers and technicians that prefer to run the Apple based operating System. That’s not to say that Microsoft Windows users have been left out in the cold though. Windows is also supported and this application runs from there with no problems.
It allows you to dig deeper into an IP address and discover information such as email address associations, network paths and other network information. You can track and find network availability and performance problems and detect SIP, router, server and network problems too. Firewalls can often block connections, so finding out if one is blocking you is important as it helps you to differentiate between a connection issue and a firewall blocker. You can graph out the traffic and routes that you are monitoring which will give you a visual idea of what is happening.
Other features of this product include:
- Speeds up to 20 times faster than legacy trace route functions
- It has report generation for presenting a professional information source to your management teams
- Simple interface that is intuitive and easy to use
- A charting function that highlights issues easily
- A mapping function that lets you zoom in on locations based on IP addresses
- Tons more features listed here
Here is a download link if you would like to try it out for yourself. Pricing starts at $29.95 for the Personal Snapshot, $49.95 for the Personal Premier, $89.95 Business Premier, $399 for Business Premier which covers 5 users, and Business Premier for $749 for 10 users.
4. VisualRoute
VisualRoute is another graphical trace route alternative that gives you a better idea of how your network connections are performing. It integrates multiple tools as into its main console so that you can enjoy the benefits of multiple data sources. From these tools you can get graphical connection details. You can receive packet loss and latency issues per network hop, which is you can then expand upon with additional details by simply hovering the mouse over each individual hop.
IP Location Reporting is also available in this tool. There are physical geographical details available too. This means that servers, routers and other devices will report back to you about where they are located. This is useful if you experience network outages in a specific geographical location, allowing you to map out the fault according to the area that it occurs. Like other applications in our review, VisualRoute also provides the tools to perform WHOIS Lookups so that you can determine who the owners are of an IP address registration.
There is a port testing and probing feature that lets you perform DNS tests, giving you a much more comprehensive tool than the standard trace route applications.
It has proprietary technologies called OmniPath and NetVu which offer multiple path and multiple route technologies which can give you detailed information about load balancers and network nodes. This is an advanced suite of tools that will give you a much more detailed view about the current state of your data networks and paths. It also provides you with the ability to test specific applications and programs.
Visualware also provides their own servers for you to test your internet connection against. They have 2 servers that are based in Washington and London. This is just another testing avenue that you can use to try and pinpoint network providers such as ISPs and third-party providers.
There is also a reporting service that allows you to identify long term trends through continuous testing. If you would like to try it out then you can find the download link here.
Home licensing options start at $59.95 and Business Use Licenses start at $89.95.
5. Open Visual Traceroute
OpenVisual Traceroute is a free to use, open source application on our list. It is a fully featured tool that operates as a trace route tool at its core.
It has a 3D world mapping section that gives you a geographically accurate map which overlays your IP address and what path the network packets take from the source to destination IP address. Another great feature that this open source project offers is a built-in packet sniffer.
It allows you to investigate the information within the packets of data and will give you greater insight into the nature of the traffic that your connection is sending and receiving.
Like some of the other examples that we have already looked at, there is also a Whois option that will give you the ability to find out who an IP address or DNS name is registered to.
The overall appeal of this application is the fact that you can quickly and easily identify the quality of the links of your organization while visualizing the regions and areas that you are experiencing issues in. Once you have identified trouble spots then you can call out the correct teams to go to the remote sites to investigate and repair the issues as you find them.
It is multi-platform capable which means that it will run on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS too. This makes it especially useful if you are using it in an environment where different operating system types interoperate with one another.
There is also the ability to use 2D maps as well as 3D maps so that you can give your data new meaning and impact, especially when you need to show it to a manager or colleague. If you would like to try it out for yourself and see what this open source project is like then you can find the download page here.
Pricing is free and open source, but you can donate to the project if you wish to support the creators of the app.
6. PingPlotter
PingPlotter is well known among network professionals that need to consistently monitor links to different offices, regional branches and even remote sites. PingPlotter works by constantly checking in with devices. PingPlotter comes in 4 different flavors that will suit different scenarios, depending on your requirements. Professional Edition, CloudConnect Remote Testing and Standard Edition.
PingPlotter runs on Windows, macOS and iOS so you can monitor your infrastructure from a wide array of devices. It gives you an important network tool that gives you increased network visibility without the hassle of needing to understand difficult commands to remember to type. It features a trace graph that gives you the details about the current status of your network infrastructure, including the latency of each hop between your network devices.
Latency graphs make it very easy to visualize the errors on your network so that you can make sense of a performance degradation instead of needing to por over data to find a numerical trend in the numbers of your report. You can download a free 14 day trial from here. You can swap between the trial and free versions during the trial period so that you can see how the application runs once the trial period is over. After the trial version expires you can purchase standard or the professional version, or you can run the stripped down, free version for as long as you like, minus some features.
Professional Editions of PingPlotter have no limits on endpoints and starts at $349 for a perpetual license, and the monthly subscription is $29 per month. Standard Edition costs $39.99 for a perpetual license but has only 2 active endpoints at once. Monthly subscriptions for the Standard Edition costs $6.99.
7. SolarWinds Traceroute NG
SolarWinds not only offers premium, enterprise level products for IT and networking professionals, they also offer free tools to help users get the job done quickly and efficiently. Their Traceroute NG application is one such tool that really gets to the heart of networking issues without using too many resources. It might not be as sophisticated as some of the products that we have come to expect from SolarWinds, but for what it does, it is very useful, and free!
SolarWinds Traceroute NG is not a very modern looking interface by today’s standards, but what it lacks in aesthetics I certainly makes up for in features. It gives you critical information relating to single path analysis as well as source and destination data. It will allow you to properly count and identify the hops that are made by the data packets being sent and received, as well as other important stats like round trip time and percentage of packets received.
You can find out about hostnames and IP addresses as well as the latency on the data’s trip. Speed is where this app is very useful, taking as little as 2 seconds to start responding once the traceroute request has been sent. Something that the original traceroute application didn’t handle well was the issue of path changes. SolarWinds Traceroute NG is able to notify users when a path change occurs. In TCP/IP networks, a path change normally indicates that a faster route has been found. This is indicative of a network issue such as network congestion, or a failing network device that is performing below its best.
This is a great tool to use if you find yourself troubleshooting network issues regularly, and it can be downloaded for free. All you need to do is enter in your data and then download the tool once you have completed it. Traceroute NG is 100% FREE to download!
8. CountryTraceRoute
CountryTraceRoute is an older looking application but it still has plenty of good features that makes it quite useful, even if it does look a little outdated. It features a graphical user interface that is actually faster than the legacy version of tracert that ships with most operating systems. By default, it displays the geographical region of each device that responds to the trace route request, as well as the host name, IP Address and the time taken between each hop. It also features color status lights that show if each hop was successful or not. This is a good visual indicator and it shows you a lot of details at a glance.
Although the functionality is quite old school, there is still a lot you can do with the results of your trace route tests. For instance, you can select all the data in the application window and then save it to popular file formats such as a CSV file, which you can then open up with a text editor or a spreadsheet editor such as Microsoft Excel. Not the most advanced type of reporting that we’ve ever seen, but it gets the job done.
There are some limitations to this current version of CountryTraceRoute that might not make it a good choice for everyone. At this stage there is no IPv6 support, and the country that is displayed is indicative only of the owner of the IP address, and not the actual device itself. So, using this as a geographical locator indicator might not be the best idea. It has command line support so you can use it to script with and it also runs as a standalone application, so no installation is needed. If you would like to check it out for yourself then you can download it from their website here.
This product is licensed under freeware and is free to use as per the EULA specified on their website.
9. NetScanTools
Netscan Tools is a multi-tool that lets you perform various network operations, including packet analysis and trace route operations. It has 2 different versions, the Basic Edition and the Pro Edition.
It has been around for quite a while and was originally developed back in 2009 but has undergone various updates over the years. It is still under active development and has received updates this year.
There is a bandwidth utilization graph that shows you how much data is being consumed over certain time frames, as well as the ability to send specific data packet types to specific IP addresses. This makes this tool very useful for security professionals that are trying to perform penetration testing.
There is a built-in packet flooder, packet generator, as well as various packet sniffing tools. This is an advanced tool with a great interface that will make any network or security professional glad that they have everything that they need in a single application.
Other things you can do with this tool you can use DNS, Ping, Scan tools, Trace Route and WhoIs. This makes it very useful because it is all wrapped in a usable GUI that has a lot of information. The interface is easy to use and has a lot of features that are all integrated into it.
The Pro version has additional tools including IPv6 support and is a firm favorite among network professionals that need a Microsoft Windows based tool to let them get the job done.
If you would like to try out the software then you can download the trial version of the full license from here. If you would like to try out the basic version then you can download it from here.
NetScanTools Basic is freeware, while NetScanTools Pro starts at $249 for 1 license, $498 for 2 licenses, $710 for 3 licenses, and $1,155 for 5 licenses. These licenses come with a 1-year maintenance plan.
Conclusion
We have looked at a wide array of tools that help you to get your trace route operations completed quickly and easily. There are many options out there regardless of what your budget is. There are plenty of free tools to choose from, as well as some very useful paid for and premium solutions. The decision you make in selecting the tool of your choice will depend on several different factors.
If you are troubleshooting many different networks, then it makes sense to carry around a tool that does the most in terms of different tools available within the application. You might prefer the way that a certain tool performs a trace route, while the visual maps of another tool work better for you. There is no reason why you can’t run many different tools from the same laptop, depending on your requirements.
The key thing to remember is that no matter which tool you choose, it has to work for you and perform all of the necessary trace route operations that you need. We hope that this guide has been helpful, and that you have learned a little more about what is available in 2020 for your trace route needs.
We are reader supported and may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Read Disclosure
Traceroute — or tracert if you’re coming from the Windows world — is, together with ping, one of the most basic network troubleshooting tool. As its name implies, traceroute will trace the route from one computer to another. It’s a pretty useful tool that will not only test the connectivity to a host but also reveal a lot about the path to get there and some issues that may be plaguing it. But as useful as traceroute is, it’s also a pretty limited tool. Fortunately, many developers have worked on trying to create better versions of traceroute. This is what this article is all about. We’re uncovering some of the best alternatives to traceroute. We have a mix of GUI and command-line tools and even a couple of online tools.
Before we reveal our top 5 alternatives to traceroute, we’ll start off by explaining what traceroute is and how it operates. We’ll then discuss some of the limitations of the utility. And to address the limitations, we’ll discuss the possible improvement that could be made to traceroute. We’ll try to define our ideal “traceroute on Steroids”. After we’re done with all this theory, we’ll dive right into our core matter and review the best five traceroute alternatives we could find. We have three locally-installable packages and two online utilities.
What Is Traceroute?
The definition of traceroute from Wikipedia is pretty straightforward: “Traceroute is a computer network diagnostic tool for displaying the route (path) and measuring transit delays of packets across an Internet Protocol (IP) network”. As good as that description is, it fails to give much detail on what it is concretely. We’ll try to explain. Traceroute will tell you the IP address of every router located between your computer and the remote computer. But that’s not all, traceroute will also report on the response time of each of these routers.
Traceroute is a very old tool. The first version was released back in 1987. This is over 30 years ago; an eternity in computer years. It is also a very common tool. First introduced on the Unix operating system, it is now present on every Unix-like OS including Linux and OS X. It even eventually got ported to the Windows platform where it was renamed to tracert for reasons that I’ve never been able to understand.
Traceroute is a tool that every network administrator should understand and use. Unfortunately, many of its users don’t completely understand how it works and can, therefore, run into some of the utility’s pitfalls. For example, the path could be asymmetrical with traffic in taking a different route than traffic out and the tool wouldn’t see it.
How Does Traceroute Work?
First, a few prerequisites. The Internet–or any IP network, for that matter–is made of interconnected routers. Routers talk to each other, exchanging information about what networks they know how to reach. They use this information to build routing tables. Whenever a data packet reaches a router, it looks up the destination in its routing table and proceeds to send it to the next router on the path. The router only knows about the next router and has no idea of the complete path. It doesn’t have to.
In order to limit propagation delays due to excessive routing hops, the header of every data packet contains a field of data called the TTL or Time To Live. This is a true misnomer as the value of the TTL has nothing to do with time but with distance instead. When the packet leaves its origin, the TTL is set to 32. From then on, every router that handles it decrements the TTL by one before routing the packet. When the TTL value reaches zero, the router will not route the packet and will instead return an ICMP “Time Exceeded” message back to the origin.
Traceroute exploits this error detection and reporting system to perform its magic. Traceroute will first send a packet to the destination with the TTL set to 1. The very first router on the path will decrement the TTL and return the Time Exceeded message, allowing traceroute to learn about the IP address of that first router–or hop, as it is often referred to. Traceroute will then send another packet with the TTL set to 2 and learn about the second hop. And it will keep doing that, incrementing the TTL each time until it eventually gets a response from the destination, telling it that it has been reached.
Traceroute will typically also measure the time it takes to get each successive response, allowing it to build a table of the response time for each hop. It will often also do a DNS lookup of each hop’s IP address to display each host’s FQDN instead of IP address in its results.
What’s Wrong With Traceroute?
The easy answer to this question is simple: There’s nothing wrong with it. Does that mean it’s perfect? Certainly not. Traceroute, as good and useful as it is, could be improved. Here are a few of its shortcomings.
As we indicated earlier–and it’s obvious now that we know how it works–traceroute will only show you the path to the destination but has no way of discovering the path back. That could pose a problem, especially in situations where the return path is somehow delayed. Traceroute measures the time it takes to get each response but it has no way of knowing if any delays were encountered on the way out or on the way back, potentially providing misleading results.
There’s also a potential problem with destinations that are load-balanced on several hosts. Nothing guarantees the user that each successive packet is sent to the same host. And if the two are in different locations, this could lead to widely inaccurate results.
And finally, some routers are configured, for security reasons, not to respond to the type of requests that traceroute uses. This won’t stop traceroute from functioning and the utility will simply ignore those hops and report them as unreachable.
What If There Was A Traceroute “On Steroids”?
Using traceroute is not the most exciting task one can think of. And anyone who used it extensively has dreamed of a better traceroute. Fortunately, some developers have also thought of it and have done something about it. This is why we can find many alternatives to traceroute.
Some only have cosmetic improvements and will, for instance, wrap the tool with a nicer looking GUI. Others add some seriously useful functionality. Some advanced traceroute utilities will, for example, pull extensive information about each hop from the Internet. That could include information such as the owner of the router or it’s physical location, gleaned using IP address-based geolocation techniques.
Some will push the envelope even further and will plot the results of the traceroute on a map giving the user a way to effectively visualize the path to the destination.
Our Top Three Plus Two Best Traceroute Alternatives
We’ve searched the web for the best traceroute alternatives. Some of the products we’ve found are profoundly different from the original traceroute. Others offer more minor improvements. Those that made our list either have the best feature set and/or reputation or are the most used.
We’ve also included a mix of locally installed tools that you run from a computer and a couple of web-based tools as well. Both types of tools can be useful. The local software can help you figure paths on a large corporate network and identify which segments of the network experience issues such as latency.
Web-based traceroute tools are run from a remote server–with some tools allowing you to choose the source server or running the test from several sources simultaneously–and are best used to troubleshoot issues such as poor website response.
1. Traceroute NG From SolarWinds (FREE DOWNLOAD)
SolarWinds is a well-known name in the field of network management tools. The company makes some of the best monitoring tools starting with its flagship product, the Network Performance Monitor, a complete network monitoring solution. SolarWinds also has a solid reputation for making great free tools that address specific needs of network administrators. Traceroute NG is one such tool.
TracerouteNG leverages the SolarWinds Netpath technology to offer continuous TCP and ICMP tracing. It claims to be faster than other traceroute utilities and to return results in mere seconds. Of course, this mostly depends on the network.
But Traceroute NG not only improves on the speed of traceroute. It also returns quite a bit more information, giving you a deeper insight into the situation. For each hop, Traceroute NG will use ping to return the packet loss percentage, the current and average response time as well as a latency bar graph. Also important, Traceroute NG will use a reverse DNS lookup to find and display the Fully Qualified Domain Name, or FQDN, of each hop.
Another great feature of Traceroute NG is its automatic detection of path changes. If there are multiple paths to a given host, the tool will figure it out and display each path individually. This is very useful when troubleshooting load-balanced environments. The tool will also let you choose to perform the test using either TCP or ICMP packets. This can be useful if some device along the path blocks ICMP, for example. And last but not least, Traceroute NG will write the results of its test to a .txt log file.
Traceroute NG runs on Windows only but, deceptively, it’s not a true Windows application. While it does run under the Windows OS and inside a window, it is mostly a text-based tool. But then again, would a GUI increase the tool’s usefulness? Probably not.
The tool, which is downloaded as a .zip file requires no installation but it relies on Winpcap which must be installed if it’s not already present on your computer. Traceroute NG, however, will detect its absence when it starts and will automatically launch the Winpcap installer which is included in the .zip file.
2. Open Visual Traceroute
If what you’re after is a true GUI-based traceroute tool, Open Visual Traceroute is what you need. The tool, which is available for Windows, most flavors of Linux, or Mac OS X is simply amazing. The tool is free and open-source, released under the LGPL V3 license.
The main component of this software is the Visual Traceroute per se. It is a visual, GUI-based utility that will let you see on a World 3D map–or 2D if you prefer–what path the data is taking to go from your computer to the target host. The map can be zoomed and scrolled at will, providing any level of detail you might want.
Open Visual Traceroute also comes with a few more tools, making it an even more useful product. First, there’s a “packet sniffer”. It’s not a packet sniffer like Wireshark, though. Its purpose is solely to allow you to see what data is being sent back and forth from the local system to the Internet. There is also a Whois feature that will pull information about domain names from the Internet.
3. MTR (My Traceroute)
MTR was first developed by someone named Mike and the acronym stood for Mike’s Traceroute. Someone else has taken over and renamed it to My Traceroute but it’s still the same product. The software has been around since 1997. If longevity is a testament to quality, this ought to be a pretty good tool.
And it is. Functionally, it is almost identical–or at least very similar–to Traceroute NG reviewed above. The main differences between the two are that while Traceroute NG is a Windows application, MTR runs on Linux and can be used with a GUI or from the command line.
Concretely, MTR combines the functionality of traceroute and ping in one network diagnostic tool. When you run MTR, it first operates exactly like traceroute to learn the network path to a specified host. Once it knows the path, MTR goes a bit further. It will send a sequence of ICMP ECHO requests to each hop to measure the quality of the link to each router. And as it does that, it displays the measured statistics on the screen. In fact, it prints it to the standard output, meaning that it can be redirected to a file.
4. Monitis Online Visual Trace Route Tool (Online Tool)
Monitis is a TeamViewer company that makes a well-known website performance monitoring platform. The cloud-based virtual service will allow you to monitor your websites, servers, applications, and more anytime and from anywhere. With close to a quarter million users, this is a rather popular platform.
Like many other vendors, Monitis has a few free tools available on their website. The Online Visual Trace Route, despite the unusual spelling, is exactly what it says it is. It will trace the route between Monitis’ server and the host you specify and plot it on a map of the World. Unfortunately, the map display rarely includes all hops. This is normal as the tool won’t be able to geolocate every hop and some hos won’t respond at all. And this is true of any such tool, not just this one.
If you scroll down the screen, you’ll see that the tool also present the information in a tabular form, much like a traditional traceroute tools would. You might also notice that, at the top of the tabular display, there are three tabs labeled United States, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. You’d be lead to think that clicking on a tab runs the test from a different source located in those three geographic areas but, looking at the results, it doesn’t seem to be the case. Both the table and the map display change from one tab to the other but I haven’t been able to figure how they operate.
5. G-Suite.Tools Visual Traceroute (Online Tool)
Don’t let yourself be fooled by the name, G-Suite.Tools is in no way related to Google. The website proposes a handful of useful network and Internet tools. Among those is a visual traceroute tool. Using it is pretty simple. You simply type in an IP address or FQDN and click the TRACE button. Pretty soon, a smallish map on the page will visually display the path to the specified host.
Like most other similar tools, a table is available. It shows IP address and FQDN (when resolvable) as well as the cumulative round-trip time to each hop. One thing we particularly loved about this tool–and it is particularly well-suited for newcomers–is the wealth of information about the traceroute process that can be found on the page.
While you’re there, G-Suite.Tools has a few other tools you might want to use. Each can be easily accessed from a ribbon menu at the top of the page. There’s DNS Lookup, Whois lookup, ping, my IP address, IP address location as well as a tool to verify the operation of email addresses.
Conclusion
Traceroute has been with us for a while and it’s b=obviously here to stay. It is one of the most used–and most useful–basic diagnostic tool one can find. And with all the improved versions of traceroute that can be found, it has become an even better and more useful tool. There are way more than 5 such tools but we had limited space and decided to limit our selection to the best five we could find but that doesn’t mean that there are not many more great traceroute tools available.