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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: 'Network Diagnostic Tools' |
| 3 | +description: 'Network Diagnostic Tools in Checkly' |
| 4 | +sidebarTitle: 'Network Diagnostic Tools' |
| 5 | +--- |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +When troubleshooting network issues like DNS resolution failures, dropped packets, or broken TCP handshakes you often require low-level visibility into what's happening on the network. |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +That's where network diagnostic tools come in. They help you understand how data moves through a network and where things might be breaking down. |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +Checkly provides: |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +- **TCP Dumps:** capture network traffic to inspect packet-level behavior |
| 14 | +- **MTR (My Trace Route):** trace the path your request takes across the internet |
| 15 | +<!-- - **Ping (ICMP):** test basic reachability and measure latency to a target host --> |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +Whether you're debugging a slow response or tracing a connection failure, these tools help you get to the root of the problem. |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +## TCP Dumps |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +TCP dumps give you a detailed look at what's happening at the packet level when a request fails. They capture the packets exchanged between Checkly and your target, letting you analyze things like: |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +- Did the TCP handshake complete? |
| 24 | +- Was the TLS handshake successful? |
| 25 | +- Were packets dropped, delayed, or malformed? |
| 26 | +- Did DNS resolution succeed? |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +This level of visibility is especially helpful for diagnosing flaky networking behavior. |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +### How to access |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +<Note> |
| 33 | +TCP dumps are currently only available for API checks. |
| 34 | +</Note> |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +On failed checks, you'll find a Download PCAP button in the *Network Diagnostics* section of the check results page. This gives you a `.pcap` file with the raw packet data from that request. |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +You can open this file using tools like Wireshark to inspect each packet in detail. |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +## MTR (My Trace Route) |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +MTR shows the path your request takes across the network and how each hop behaves. A report typically includes: |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +- The sequence of network hops between Checkly and your target |
| 45 | +- Packet loss percentage per hop |
| 46 | +- Latency statistics (last, average, best, worst, standard deviation) |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +This makes it especially useful for diagnosing: |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +- Where along the route packets are being dropped |
| 51 | +- Which hops introduce unusual latency or instability |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +### How to access |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +<Note> |
| 56 | +MTR is currently only available for API checks. |
| 57 | +</Note> |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +On failed checks, an MTR report is displayed directly in the Network Diagnostics section of the check results page. The table shows each hop, its IP or hostname, along with metrics such as packet loss, latency, and jitter. |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +<!-- ### Ping (ICMP) |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +[coming in Q4 2025] --> |
| 64 | + |
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