{"id":11421,"date":"2019-04-15T12:48:07","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T10:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/?p=11421"},"modified":"2026-02-26T17:23:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:23:17","slug":"what-is-a-traceroute-and-how-is-it-different-from-a-ping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/general\/what-is-a-traceroute-and-how-is-it-different-from-a-ping\/","title":{"rendered":"Traceroute vs Ping"},"content":{"rendered":"

A traceroute is a handy onboard utility that records and shows the route (the specific pathway a computers uses at each “hop”) the internet takes between your computer and a specified destination computer.<\/p>\n

What is the difference between a Traceroute and Ping?<\/h2>\n

The main\u00a0difference between a\u00a0Ping<\/a> and a Traceroute is that a Ping\u00a0is a quick and easy utility to help us tell if the destination server is reachable<\/strong> and how long will it take<\/strong> to send and receive data from that server. A traceroute\u00a0finds the exact route taken<\/strong> to reach the server and the\u00a0time taken by each step (hop) <\/strong>between each point and the next.<\/p>\n

Why would I need to do a Traceroute test?<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • You would run a traceroute if you experience routing problems (if your connection is very slow).<\/li>\n
  • Routing\u00a0is the process of moving data packets across a network from one host to another<\/li>\n
  • It traces the \u201chops\u201d between your computer and the final destination. For each hop, the traceroute will diagnose where any problem or delay lies. This allows us to diagnose issues and find the best resolution for you<\/li>\n
  • Use TRACERT\u00a0in Windows to get an accurate read on your traceroute<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    How do I run a Traceroute test?<\/h3>\n
      \n
    • Open the START menu<\/li>\n
    • Find the search icon and type in “RUN”<\/li>\n
    • Click Run<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n

        \n
      • To open the command line interface, type cmd<\/strong> and then click OK<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        \"\"\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

          \n
        • At the command line prompt, type: For IPv4 – > tracert example.com For IPv6 – > tracert -6 example.com.\u00a0<\/strong>(replace the word “example” with an actual URL)<\/li>\n
        • Press Enter<\/li>\n
        • You can copy or screenshot the results to save or email to your support consultant if they have asked you to run a traceroute test<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          We hope this helps you to understand what a traceroute is, why tech support teams sometimes ask for them, and how they can help us troubleshoot connection issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          A traceroute is a handy onboard utility that records and shows the route (the specific pathway a computers uses at each “hop”) the internet takes between your computer and a specified destination computer. What is the difference between a Traceroute and Ping? The main\u00a0difference between a\u00a0Ping and a Traceroute is that a Ping\u00a0is a quick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":11437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[443],"class_list":["post-11421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-gaming"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/traceRT-blog-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdAWxt-2Yd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11421"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14175,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421\/revisions\/14175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}