How to Use TRACERT to Troubleshoot TCP-IP Problems in xPortalNet System

This article will guide users to use TRACERT to troubleshoot TCP/IP problems in xPortalNet system.

TRACERT (Trace route) is command-line tool, similar to Command Prompt. It is an important tool to understand networking connection problems, including packet loss and high latency issues.

If users are having trouble connecting to xPortalNet computer or MicroEngine's IP controllers, TRACERT can tell you where the problem is. It can also help to visualize the traffic path taken by an Internet Protocol (IP) packet to its destination.
 
Figure 1: Configuration Diagram of the Functionality of TRACERT

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Summary:

• Use the TRACERT Utility.

• Use TRACERT to Troubleshoot.

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Step-by-step Guide:

• Use the TRACERT Utility:

Step 1: Go to Start Menu > Search field > type Cmd > Open.
 
Figure 2: Launching Command Prompt

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Step 2: Type tracert, followed by a space then type controller of IP address and press Enter. User may see a response similar to the following.
  
Figure 3: Response by the Command Prompt

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Step 3: In the command prompt window, it shows the tracert command and its output; the data packet travels through five (5) router to get to host 192.168.43.1.

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Step 4: The format of each line of the output from the command prompt is as follows.

Figure 4: Format of the Response by the Command Prompt Using the TRACERT Command

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• Use TRACERT to Troubleshoot:

Step 1: If user received the following responses from the Command Prompt: 
 
Figure 5: Request Timed Out Message from Command Prompt

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Step 2: Based on the command prompt messages, users are able to identify where the packet stopped on the network. For example, the messages can indicate that a network / firewall issue is preventing the data packet from reaching the controller.

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Step 3: To understand the meaning of the response messages, user may refer to the knowledge base link as below.