Analyzing Network Paths and Latency with mtr

1. What Is mtr?

mtr (My Traceroute) is an interactive network diagnostic tool that merges the capabilities of ping and traceroute. It monitors the path to a given host and provides live statistics on response times and packet loss for each hop.

2. Installing mtr on Linux

Use your package manager based on the distribution:

sudo apt install mtr         # Ubuntu / Debian

sudo yum install mtr         # CentOS / RHEL

sudo pacman -S mtr           # Arch Linux

3. Basic Usage

To trace a host interactively:

mtr google.com

To use ICMP echo (like ping):

mtr -e google.com

4. Understanding mtr Output

Host: IP or name of each hop
Loss%: Percentage of packet loss
Last / Avg / Best / Worst: Response time (ms)
StDev: Standard deviation


Host            Loss%   Snt   Last   Avg  Best  Wrst StDev
192.168.1.1     0%      10    1.1    1.2   1.1   1.3   0.1
10.0.0.1        0%      10    3.4    3.3   3.1   3.5   0.2
...

5. Key mtr Options

Option	Description	Example
-n	Don't resolve hostnames	`mtr -n 8.8.8.8`
-r	Run in report mode	`mtr -r -c 10 google.com`
-c NUM	Number of ping cycles	`mtr -c 20 8.8.8.8`
-e	Use ICMP echo packets	`mtr -e google.com`
-b	Show both hostnames and IPs	`mtr -b google.com`
-o	Customize displayed columns	`mtr -o "LRS" google.com`

6. Saving mtr Output

Store results in a text file for analysis:

mtr -r -c 15 google.com > mtr_report.txt

7. Comparison with ping and traceroute

Feature	ping	traceroute	mtr
Path discovery	❌	✅	✅
Interactive display	❌	❌	✅
Packet loss analysis	✅	❌	✅
Protocols	ICMP	UDP / ICMP	UDP / ICMP

8. Security and Limitations

Some hops may block ICMP or UDP packets
Root permissions may be needed for