Question 1

Is Novabench free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Novabench Free runs ICMP traceroute to the default target alongside the speed test and DNS benchmark on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Plus adds UDP and TCP probes, custom targets, configurable hops and rounds, detailed IP lookup, and syncing tests results to your cloud dashboard.

Question 2

What does each hop actually tell me?

Accepted Answer

Every hop is one router between you and the destination. For that router you see the IP address, the reverse DNS name (if it has one), the round-trip time across several probe rounds, and the percentage of probes it failed to answer. A hop with stable low latency is healthy. A hop whose latency spikes and stays spiked for the rest of the route is where the path gets slow. A hop whose packet loss is high while the rest of the route is clean is probably where the trouble lives.

Question 3

How do I tell whether a slowdown is my ISP or further upstream?

Accepted Answer

Look at where latency first jumps. The first few hops are usually your router, your modem, and the first devices inside your ISP, so a big jump there points at your own equipment or the local ISP link. Hops after that sit inside the ISP backbone and its peering partners, so a jump there points at the ISP or the handoff to another carrier. The last few hops are the destination network, so a jump at the end usually means the server you are trying to reach is overloaded or far away.

Question 4

When should I use UDP or TCP instead of ICMP?

Accepted Answer

Start with ICMP. If the route trace shows asterisks in the middle (hops that never reply), a firewall or rate limiter is likely dropping ICMP. Switch to UDP or TCP; those probes look like ordinary traffic and often get through.

Question 5

Why do some hops show as asterisks or "unresponsive"?

Accepted Answer

Many routers are configured to ignore or rate-limit the ICMP replies that traceroutes use. The hop is still forwarding your traffic fine; it's just not answering the probe. Long runs of asterisks often mean a firewall is filtering the protocol.

Question 6

Does it work the same on Windows, macOS, and Linux?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Novabench runs the same traceroute logic on Windows, macOS, and Linux, using each platform’s native network stack under the hood. Linux requires elevated permissions to run traceroute, so the test will prompt you to enter your password before it can start.

Visual Traceroute

Four views of your route

Configuration

Frequently asked questions

Trace your network path