How to Run a WinMTR Test (Video + Free Download)

WinMTR shows the ping and the packet loss at every router between your PC and the server — so we can see exactly where lag comes from. Watch the 3-minute video, download WinMTR above, and send us the result in a ticket.

Quick answer

Download WinMTR (free, nothing to install), type your server's IP in the Host field, press Start and let it run for 2–3 minutes — ideally while the lag is happening. Then click Copy Text to clipboard and paste the result into a support ticket. When you read it yourself, start with the last line: that is your connection to the server.

What WinMTR does

WinMTR combines ping and traceroute in one window. It finds every router (hop) on the route from your PC to the server, then keeps pinging all of them, nonstop, and counts the replies. After a few minutes you get one line per hop with its packet loss and its ping — so a problem can be pinned to a place: your Wi-Fi, your internet provider, the route between networks, or the server end.

Step 1: Download and open WinMTR

1. Click Download WinMTR (zip) under the video. It is the official WinMTR v0.92 — the same file as on the project's SourceForge page.
2. Right-click the downloaded zip file and choose Extract All.
3. Open the WinMTR_x64 folder (the 64-bit version) and double-click WinMTR.exe. On a 32-bit Windows, use the WinMTR_x32 folder instead.

There is nothing to install — WinMTR runs straight from the folder.

Step 2: Run the test

1. In the Host field, type the IP address of your server. You find it in the client area, on your service's page. The IP in the video (217.156.22.100) is only an example — replace it with your own.
2. Click Start. WinMTR finds every hop on the route and starts measuring each one.
3. Let it run for 2–3 minutes — until the Sent column shows at least 150. Don't stop it early: short tests miss the spikes.
4. If you can, run it while the lag is actually happening. A test taken when everything is fine usually shows a clean route.

What the columns mean

• Hostname — every router on the way. Line 1 is your own router; the last line is the server, and it is the line that matters most.
• Nr — the hop number: the order of the routers on the route.
• Loss % — pings that never came back. On the last line you want to see 0%. Loss on one middle hop only is usually harmless.
• Sent / Recv — pings sent, and replies received. Equal numbers mean no loss.
• Best — the fastest ping to that hop, in milliseconds: your best-case latency.
• Avrg — the average ping, and the most useful number for latency.
• Worst — the slowest ping seen. If it is much higher than Avrg, you have spikes (jitter).
• Last — the most recent ping. It changes every second, so don't judge by it alone.

How to read the result

Rule number one: look at the last line first. It is your real connection to the server. If the last line shows 0% loss and a steady Avrg, the route is fine — whatever the middle hops say.

• Loss on one middle hop only — harmless. That router just answers pings slowly (routers give pings low priority). It does not drop your game traffic, and the last line shows 0%.
• Loss that starts at one hop and continues to the end — real packet loss. The hop where it starts is where the problem is. Hop 1 is your router or Wi-Fi; the next two or three hops usually belong to your internet provider.
• Ping jumps at one hop and stays high to the end — latency added on the route. Usually a long or congested path between networks. Send us the result and we will check the route.

Here is example two as WinMTR copies it — 12% loss that starts at hop 3 and stays to the server:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                      WinMTR statistics                                   |
|                       Host              -   %  | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
|                             192.168.1.1 -    0 |  150 |  150 |    1 |    1 |    4 |    1 |
|                               10.20.0.1 -    0 |  150 |  150 |    6 |    8 |   21 |    7 |
|                   core1.isp.example.net -   12 |  150 |  132 |    9 |   15 |   45 |   12 |
|                     ae2.buc.example.net -   11 |  150 |  134 |   12 |   18 |   48 |   17 |
|                    xe-0.fra.example.net -   13 |  150 |  131 |   30 |   36 |   66 |   35 |
|                   decix.fra.example.net -   12 |  150 |  132 |   31 |   37 |   67 |   36 |
|                   edge.esagames.example -   12 |  150 |  132 |   32 |   38 |   68 |   37 |
|                          217.156.22.100 -   12 |  150 |  132 |   32 |   38 |   68 |   37 |
|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|

Step 3: Send us the result

1. When the test is done, click Copy Text to clipboard.
2. Open a support ticket and paste the result into the message with Ctrl + V.
3. Add the time the lag happened and which server or game it was, then submit the ticket.

You can also click Export TEXT and attach the .txt file instead. Please send the text rather than a screenshot — a cropped screenshot often cuts off the last line.

Have a VPS or dedicated server? Test the other direction too

Internet routes are often asymmetric: the way to the server and the way back can go through different networks. With a VPS or dedicated server you can test the way back with mtr, the Linux version of the same tool.

1. Find your home IP: search for "what is my IP" on the same connection you play on (not mobile data).
2. Connect to your server with SSH and install mtr — apt install -y mtr-tiny on Debian or Ubuntu, dnf install -y mtr on AlmaLinux or Rocky.
3. Run the report below with your server IP after -a and your home IP at the end. Both IPs in the example are placeholders.
4. Wait about 100 seconds, then copy the whole output into the same ticket.

# Debian / Ubuntu
apt install -y mtr-tiny
# AlmaLinux / Rocky
dnf install -y mtr

# replace both IPs: -a YOUR server IP, then YOUR home IP
mtr -rwbzc 100 -a 217.156.22.100 198.51.100.23

What the options mean:

• -r — report mode: run, then print a summary.
• -w — wide: show full hostnames.
• -b — show both the IP and the hostname of every hop.
• -z — show the AS number (the network) of every hop.
• -c 100 — send 100 pings, about 100 seconds.
• -a — send from this address: your server IP. The last IP is your home IP.

Common mistakes

• Stopping after a few seconds. Let it reach at least 150 pings — short tests miss the spikes.
• Testing to google.com instead of your server. Google's route tells us nothing about the route to your server.
• Testing when there is no lag. A clean trace at a quiet hour does not show an evening problem.
• Leaving a VPN on. It changes the route; test without it, or send both.
• Sending a cropped screenshot. Use Copy Text so we get every hop, including the last one.