Asterisks in Traceroute output do not always indicate that the connection was lost at that point. Devices on the road may treat diagnostic messages differently.
Basic approach
Windows tracert collects responses about the path with increasing TTL values. Some routers do not produce or limit the required ICMP response. Additionally, departure and return routes may be different; The hop list that appears is not the physical cable map.
Application steps
- Take several measurements on the same target and check whether the target has actually been reached.
- See if the hops after the star respond.
- Create records with measurement time and target address instead of guessing device location from DNS names.
Practical example
If the third hop shows an asterisk and the fourth hop and the final destination respond, traffic has passed the third point. Reporting this output alone as the third router is broken would lead to false intervention.
Interpret the result correctly
In different tests, the route change may be related to load balancing or routing update. Evaluate with the application result and delay change at the time of the error. There is no guarantee of receiving a consistent response from all intermediate routers on the Internet.
Source and follow-up reading
Protocol or command details: Microsoft Learn — tracert. The steps and example scenario are IPScans editorial narrative.