About Traceroute

Traceroute is a utility for testing the path that information takes between a browser and the site you're trying to contact. When you send a request to a server, your request travels through a series of routers. The traceroute program works by sending packets of information through to your destination and mapping the number of hops (steps) to reach the destination. The program can potentially reveal network problems related to latency (slowness) & when packets take a longer than average time between routers and other issues when packets are lost in the transmission. Learn more about a traceroute.

Using a traceroute utility can help you to identify when specific problems you're having are due to network issues in your local environment, your ISP, a regional issue, or an issue with the Turbify network. To help determine where the problem may be located, Turbify recommends using a traceroute utility called WinMTR. WinMTR makes it easy for you to send multiple packets, read the results, and, if necessary, export the results as a text file for further investigation.

Downloading WinMTR

1. Go to the WinMTR download page at SourceForge.
2. Choose to Open the file when prompted. (The ZIP utility on your computer should open the ZIP file and show the contents.)
3. Extract the files to a folder on your computer.

Performing a traceroute using WinMTR

1. Go to the folder where you extracted the contents of the ZIP file.
2. Double-click the WinMTR.exe file to open WinMTR.
3. Enter the following in the Host field based on the problem you're seeing:
   • Slow page loading -- store.yahoo.com
   • Editing problems -- edit.store.yahoo.com
   • Checkout problems -- order.store.yahoo.com
4. Click Start. WinMTR will begin sending packets to the IP address specified.
5. When the Sent number reaches 50, click Stop.

Getting an Unable to get raw socket error? Try this:

1. Close WinMTR.
2. Right-click WinMTR.exe, and select Run as administrator.
3. Click Yes in response to the warning message.
4. Go back to Step 3 under Performing a traceroute using WinMTR.

macOS Sierra users

macOS Sierra users can utilize the Network Utility to perform traceroutes and pings:

• Trace the paths of your network traffic
• Test whether you can contact another computer
• Network Utility Help

Reading the results

The table below shows a range of average and worst acceptable response times for a traceroute based on Internet connection type.

When the problem seems to be local or regional

If the Sent columns shows several more than the Recv column (such as you sent 50 packets but received only 40 replies), this indicates packet loss, which can indicate a network problem. At what point in the traceroute are the packets lost?

• Packet loss before Turbify -- If the packets are lost prior to seeing yahoo.com in the host name, this indicates the problem isn't with Turbify, but rather with your ISP, or possibly a regional issue. Note that packet loss may not necessarily be an indication of a problem, as routers can be set to block packets for security reasons.
  • Next steps -- Contact your ISP and provide the details of the traceroute to determine the cause of the problem.
• Packet loss at Turbify -- If the packet loss appears to be happening when you see yahoo.com as part of the host name, the problem may be a network issue at Turbify.
  • Next steps -- Read the following section for instructions on if the problem is related to Turbify.

If the Average and Worst times are high for your connection type (also known as a latency issue), this can indicate a network problem.

• Slowness before Turbify: If the average and worst acceptable response times you see are higher than those shown in the table for rows where yahoo.com isn't in the host name, this can indicate a problem with network speed at your ISP, or a regional issue.
  • Next steps: Contact your ISP and provide the details of the traceroute to determine the cause of the problem.
• Slowness at Turbify -- If the average and worst acceptable response times you see are higher than those shown in the table for rows where yahoo.com is part of the host name, the problem may be a network issue at Turbify.
  • Next steps: Read the following section for instructions on if the problem is related to Turbify.

When the problem seems to be with Turbify

• If the Sent column shows several more than the Recv column (such as you sent 50 packets but received only 40 replies) indicating packet loss, and the received packets are lost where yahoo.com appears in the host name of the results, send your results to Turbify Customer Support using the instructions below.
• If the Average and Worst times are high for your connection type (also known as a latency issue) and the slowness is happening where yahoo.com appears in the host name of the results, send your results to Turbify Customer Support using the instructions below.

Sending your WinMTR traceroute results to Turbify

Important: Please include the time and date of your test, along with the name of your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

1. In WinMTR, click Copy text to clipboard.
2. Go to Turbify Customer Support.
3. Click the domain name for your service.
4. Select the proper options in Step 1 and Step 2.
5. Click Continue.
6. Click Open a Case.
7. Enter a subject in the SUBJECT field.
8. Describe the issue and paste your test results in the DESCRIPTION field (press Ctrl + V to paste).
9. Click Submit.