How to use the MTR tool to analyze network problems

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This guide outlines how to use the MTR tool to analyze network issues that can cause problems like radio buffering. This tool is useful for identifying where a problem may be. The output of MTR should be submitted to us so we can get a better idea of what’s causing buffering problems.

What is MTR?

MTR also known as Matt's traceroute or more recently My traceroute is computer software which combines the functionality of the traceroute and ping programs in a single network diagnostic tool.

MTR probes routers on the route path by limiting the number of hops individual packets may traverse, and listening to responses of their expiry. It will regularly repeat this process, usually once per second, and keep track of the response times of the hops along the path.

Read more about MTR here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR_(Software)

Download MTR.

Windows : WinMTR - 0.8

Linux (Debain / Ubuntu): MTR or ('sudo aptitude install mtr')

How and when to use MTR.

The MTR tool should be used when you are getting buffering issues on your radio. You can use the MTR tool to test your connectivity to your radio server. This is done by using the hostname of your server with us. This is usually uk1.internet-radio.com or us1.internet-radio.com etc... You should run the MTR tool for at least 20 minutes, preferably longer. Once it has been running for a good amount of time (the longer the better) we need you to email the output to us at contact@internet-radio.org.uk including your username.

Example of MTR output.

Code:

                             My traceroute  [v0.71]

source-host.mydomain.com                           Sun Mar 25 00:07:50 2007

Keys:  Help   Display mode   Restart statistics   Order of fields   quit

                                       Packets                Pings

Hostname                            %Loss  Rcv  Snt  Last Best  Avg  Worst

1. hop1.mydomain.com                  0%   11   11     1    1    1      2

2. ae-31-51.ebr1.Chicago1.Level3.n   19%    9   11     3    1    7     14

3. ae-1.ebr2.Chicago1.Level3.net      0%   11   11     7    1    7     14

4. ae-2.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.ne   19%    9   11    19   18   23     31

5. ae-1.ebr1.Washington1.Level3.ne   28%    8   11    22   18   24     30

6. ge-3-0-0-53.gar1.Washington1.Le    0%   11   11    18   18   20     36

7. 63.210.29.230                      0%   10   10    19   19   19     19

8. t-3-1.bas1.re2.yahoo.com           0%   10   10    19   18   32    106

9. p25.[url]www.re2.yahoo.com[/url]              0%   10   10    19   18   19     19

There's a great article on MTR here : https://www.linode.com/docs/networking/diagnosing-network-issues-with-mtr

The two sections "Reading MTR Reports" and "Analyzing MTR Reports" are very good for understanding how to interpret the reports.

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