IPXpert · Network engineering
Read BGP paths as observations, not routing promises
For network engineers investigating reachability, the useful question is which peers observed a prefix, when they observed it and which origin and AS path they reported. IPXpert groups these reports; it does not operate your routers.
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A practical inspection workflow
- Open the BGP Looking Glass and enter the affected IPv4/IPv6 address or prefix. A hostname is supported by the main tool and must resolve before route inspection.
- Record the matched prefix and every reported origin ASN. Check whether a more-specific route explains a difference from the allocation you expected.
- Compare paths together with distinct peer and collector counts. Repeated reports of one path do not constitute independent proof that every network uses it.
- Check the observation/source time. Missing or partial upstream data is an uncertainty to investigate, not a zero or a healthy route.
What the visual path actually means
Read the displayed sequence in the direction indicated by the graph. A repeated ASN can reflect AS prepending; aggregation must not turn it into an invented physical link. The main route visualization and alternative groups preserve the reported AS order.
An illustrative path such as AS64496 → AS64497 uses documentation ASNs. It is not a claim about an actual announcement. A real lookup can return different origins or no route at all.
Primary, backup and transit are separate conclusions
The most observed path is a frequency summary of the available reports, not your router’s preferred route. BGP policy can depend on local preference and other information not exposed by a public collector.
An alternative observation is not evidence of a configured standby, a working failover, available capacity or a commercial transit contract. Confirm those claims with the operator and routing policy. A traceroute follows the data plane; an AS path is control-plane evidence.
When results disagree
Compare the same prefix, origin and time across collectors before escalating. Inspect RPKI for each origin and validate your own router’s policy and session state. IPXpert does not provide packet probes or a complete historical change feed for every query. Use RIPEstat or operator evidence when the investigation requires those capabilities.