Read an MTR result

Run an MTR

1. 1.Open the looking glass.
2. 2.Under Location, click a city, then choose MTR.
3. 3.Leave My IP address in Target, then click Run the test.
4. 4.Wait for the test to finish: the result appears in the Result box.

Understand the table

Each line is a hop: a router crossed between our datacenter and your connection. The last line is your destination.

Loss% is the share of lost packets and Snt the number of packets sent.

Last, Avg, Best and Wrst give the latency in milliseconds: last packet, average, best and worst. StDev measures the spread between packets: the higher it is, the more irregular the latency.

What is normal

A ??? or * * * line: the router does not answer tests. This is often normal, many routers ignore them.

Loss on one hop but not on the following ones: it comes from the router, not from the path. It simply limits its answers to tests.

Latency that rises on one hop then drops on the next: same explanation.

When to worry

Only the loss on the last hop really matters. If it also shows on the previous hops, all the way to the end, packets really are lost along the path.

Latency that jumps at one hop and stays high to the end: that is where the path gets longer, for example over a long distance. Compare with the other cities to see if it is expected.

Run the test several times, at different hours. A single MTR can hit a temporary spike.

If you open a ticket from your client area, paste the full MTR result in the message: it helps to see where it gets stuck.

To pick between several cities using these measurements, read Choose the location of your VPS.