mtr
mtr combines ping and traceroute to show each network hop and its packet loss and latency over time.
Legal & ethical use. Use this tool only on systems, networks and data that you own or have explicit written permission to test. Unauthorised access or scanning can break computer-misuse laws (for example Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, and equivalents elsewhere). Practise in your own lab or in authorised environments such as CTFs.
What it is used for
- Diagnose where packets are lost between you and a server
- Collect evidence for an ISP complaint
Key features
- Continuous per-hop statistics
- Report mode for logging
- DNS and numeric display options
Installation
Install from your distribution (for example `sudo apt install mtr`).
Beginner usage guide
Run a short report against a host you operate and look for the hop where loss starts and continues to the final hop.
Example commands
Run these only against your own lab or authorised targets. Placeholder addresses such as 192.0.2.x are documentation ranges.
Run a 10-cycle report
mtr -rwc 10 example.com-r prints a report, -w uses wide hostnames, -c 10 sends ten probes per hop.
References
Source verification
Last reviewed: 2026-10-27
Links checked over HTTP: 2026-10-27 07:51 UTC — official: 200, docs: 200, repo: 200
Commands were written from the official documentation and have not been executed on this site; test them in your lab.