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Overview

ApexLink runs a Looking Glass in each of its data centers, so you can test routing, latency and download speed from our network to yours — before you order or while troubleshooting.
  • Pre-sales evaluation: measure latency, packet loss and throughput from each location to pick the best fit for your users.
  • Troubleshooting: run a traceroute or MTR from our side to your IP to see whether an issue sits in our network, a transit carrier, or your local network.
  • Route lookup: check the BGP path and AS path we use toward any prefix.
All Looking Glass tools are free to use and require no login.

Looking Glass locations

The location code is also used in the speed test file URLs below.

Supported diagnostics

On any Looking Glass page, pick a command and enter a target IP or hostname; results stream live in your browser. Tip: test in both directions — from the Looking Glass to your IP, and from your machine to the Looking Glass hostname. Forward and return paths often differ, so a one-way test can mislead.

Speed test files

Each location hosts test files for measuring download speed. Replace {code} with the location code from the Looking Glass locations table (for example, hk). A single TCP connection is limited by window size and latency. To test full line rate, use a multi-connection tool such as aria2c -x 8.

Reading results and opening a ticket

Many results that look like problems are normal. Check this table before opening a ticket.
What you seeLikely causeAction needed
A middle hop shows * * * or high loss, but later hops are cleanThat router rate-limits ICMP repliesNo — only the final hop matters
Latency jumps at one hop and stays high for every hop afterSubsea link or a routing detourDepends on the increase; send us the result if unsure
Sustained loss at the final hopCongestion at the target host or its upstreamYes
Download speed far below your planSingle-connection limit, Wi-Fi, or peak-hour congestionRetest with multiple connections over a wired link first
If you still need help, include the following in your ticket so our engineers can act quickly:
  1. Your public IP address
  2. An MTR from the Looking Glass to your IP (at least 100 packets)
  3. An MTR or traceroute from your machine to the same Looking Glass hostname
  4. When the issue occurred (with time zone) and whether it is ongoing
Paste results as text rather than screenshots, so they can be copied and compared.