VPS: Network troubleshooting with MTR/WinMTR

Introduction

WinMTR is a network diagnostics program that combines the features of ping and traceroute. The program was developed by Matt Kimball based on the well-known MTR program for Linux. It offers the possibility to get detailed information about possible network problems. The program also allows to track the time between sending a signal and receiving the corresponding response packet. In the following screenshot the outgoing route to ZAP-Hosting.com is shown as an example:

All nodes are listed, which are used to reach the destination. In case of possible problems you can see if there are problems on the server side or if they already occur on your own. The starting point starts with the first value and the end (ZAP - 104.xx.xx) with the last value.

Installation

Windows

WinMTR for Windows can be downloaded from the ZAP-Hosting page. Once installed, the program must be started and the host name or IP address of the affected case needs to be filled in:

Linux

MTR on Linux requires an SSH connection to the server. If you don't know exactly how to do this, you can have a look at the following instructions: Initial access (SSH)

Now the package can be installed with the following command:

apt install -y mtr

The evaluation can then be started with the command mtr IP address. By pressing CTRL+C you can stop the test at any time as desired.

Create report

The network diagnostic test should be performed when the problem actively occurs. The person who is affected by the problem should perform the test. In order to be able to analyze the network problems as well as possible, an evaluation of the outgoing and ingoing route should be made. Depending on the operating system either WinMTR (Windows) or MTR (Linux) is used.

Evaluate report

The program provides several kinds of information. You have to check this information carefully in order to identify the problem correctly.

While evaluating a route, the message No response from host may appear from time to time, reporting 100% packet loss. However, this is often not the direct cause. In such a case it is possible that only the packets are filtered by the firewall and therefore no response comes or is generally unreachable. The next possible option for the route is then selected. Only if the packet loss starts at one point and continues through others is there active packet loss.

Value	Meaning
Host	Name of the network node
Loss %	Percentage of packet loss
Sent	The number of packets sent to the node
Recv	The number of received packets
Best	Best ping of the node
Avrg	Average ping of the node
Wrst	Worst ping of the node
Last	Last ping of the node