How to read traceroute

I recently did a traceroute from the command line on my Mac.

traceroute domain.org

Total newbie: I don't know what it means. :)

LInes 1 - 12 are populated with IP addresses. OK.

Lines 13 - 63 are this: * * *

The page loaded as expected in the browser so I'm wondering what all the packet loss symbols are telling me.

I ran several traceroutes for the same domain. There were all 64 lines, with lines 13 to 64 like the above.

There is no "trace complete" line at the bottom of the file. Just my computer name.

The host tech people were asking me to do a traceroute to diagnose a VERY slow loading page in my area. I guess the purpose was to see what router was causing the delay. However, by the time I figured out how to do a traceroute, the page loaded fine. Yet I still saw many lines of the * * *. It could be that some routers just don't respond.

Usually one * indicates a packet loss, but there must be a critical mass of losses, and where they occur along the route, that make a difference, I suppose.

I'll have to wait until there is a problem and redo the traceroute and compare my current one to a new one and go from there. I'm sure it is complicated by the many CDNs hosts use today. :)

The host claimed the site loaded fine from where they were (I didn't ask where, but I don't think it was US.) So the diagnosis had to begin from my end.

Of course I was chatting with the lowest level of tech support and in order to get the issue elevated, I had to do a traceroute to prove to them there was a problem. I will not be using them as a host. :)

Thanks for the pingdom link. It looks quite useful.

cheers.