# Looking glass

Source: https://urbanx.co.za/network/looking-glass

A looking glass runs network tests *from* the UrbanX network *to* a destination you choose, which is the only way to separate a problem on your line from a problem on the path beyond it.

Enter an IP address or hostname and run a ping test. If UrbanX can reach the destination cleanly but you cannot, the fault is between you and UrbanX — your Wi-Fi, router, or the FNO access line. If UrbanX cannot reach it either, the problem is upstream of UrbanX and affects everyone using that path.

Pair this with a local traceroute (`tracert` on Windows, `traceroute` on macOS and Linux) or with WinMTR for sustained measurement. A single traceroute snapshot is not enough to diagnose intermittent loss — routers deprioritise ICMP replies, so mid-path loss that does not persist to the final hop is usually a measurement artefact rather than a real fault.