bgpscout.io - A routing-intelligence platform

HiveDCNick · April 7

Hey all,

I'd like to introduce you all to bgpscout.io.

Introducing bgpscout.io

bgpscout.io is a routing intelligence platform built for network operators, ISPs, peering folks, and anyone curious about how the internet is actually stitched together.

The goal is simple: make it easier for all of us to understand real-world network behavior and use that insight to improve connectivity, performance, and collaboration across networks.

With it, you can:

Explore ASNs and network relationships
View registry and peering data
Analyze IXP presence and facility footprint
Compare networks side by side
Run traceroute-based checks (e.g., spotting traffic “boomeranging” out of a country and back)
Identify potential peering, transit, or colocation opportunities

In plain terms, it helps visualize how traffic flows and where things could be improved, both technically and commercially.

Community-driven data

The platform is free to use, and its value grows with community participation.

If you’re open to contributing, you can submit traceroute data from your network. This helps build a more accurate, shared view of routing across different regions and providers.

Here’s a simple one-liner for Linux systems with mtr installed (using a public key). You can also generate your own key and attribute contributions to your account via the contribute page:

curl -sL https://bgpscout.io/mtr-client.sh | bash -s -- --key 6e1554c4b27c198336709321e11567b5fb062007869db5240080f7ae722c19b1 --count 50 --parallel 10 --no-ipv6 --non-interactive

⚠️ As always, please take a moment to review any script before running it locally. Transparency and trust matter here.

forest · April 7

Why is everyone normalizing curl | bash crap these days? 🤦

Is this vibe coded?

Fubukibox · April 7

Don't we already have things like bgp.tools or bgp.he.net?

concept · April 7

@Fubukibox said:
Don't we already have things like bgp.tools or bgp.he.net?

yea bgp.tools is great.

yoursunny · April 7

@HiveDCNick said:
--no-ipv6

⚠️

MaxTakeba · April 7

why does MTR need sudo?

# Write targets to file for parallel processing
    TFILE="$DIR/targets.txt"
    printf '%s\n' "${TARGETS[@]}" > "$TFILE"
    HELPER="$DIR/run_one.sh"
    # Test if mtr works without sudo
    MTR_NEEDS_SUDO=0
    mtr --json -n -4 -c 1 -m 3 localhost > /dev/null 2>&1 || MTR_NEEDS_SUDO=1
    if [ "$MTR_NEEDS_SUDO" -eq 1 ]; then
        MTR_PREFIX="sudo"
        echo "  Note: mtr requires sudo on this system"
    else
        MTR_PREFIX=""
    fi
    cat > "$HELPER" << HELPEREOF

maybe I am stupid... and I'm a network engineer... not a script kiddie... but why does mtr need sudo?

sshbox · April 7

Why do I need this?

How about some clear explanations, examples and screenshots?

The website is almost totally bereft of any useful information.

Also, I'm not going to sign-up with Gmail just to try this. Why does it need an account anyways?

JasonM · April 7

nice. but it should be without signup for free usage (as it still seems to be in beta)

forest · April 7

@MaxTakeba said:
why does MTR need sudo?

# Write targets to file for parallel processing
    TFILE="$DIR/targets.txt"
    printf '%s\n' "${TARGETS[@]}" > "$TFILE"
    HELPER="$DIR/run_one.sh"
    # Test if mtr works without sudo
    MTR_NEEDS_SUDO=0
    mtr --json -n -4 -c 1 -m 3 localhost > /dev/null 2>&1 || MTR_NEEDS_SUDO=1
    if [ "$MTR_NEEDS_SUDO" -eq 1 ]; then
        MTR_PREFIX="sudo"
        echo "  Note: mtr requires sudo on this system"
    else
        MTR_PREFIX=""
    fi
    cat > "$HELPER" << HELPEREOF

maybe I am stupid... and I'm a network engineer... not a script kiddie... but why does mtr need sudo?

It doesn't. That check is there to "prevent" flooding by refusing to let you set an interval lower than one second. I think there are some other stupid checks it does, but the limitation is entirely within mtr itself. There is no kernel-level privilege check that mtr is simply passing on to you. It's super easy to circumvent:

/*
 * compile with: cc -o libfakeroot.so fakeroot.c -O2 -fPIC -shared
 * run with: LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PWD/libfakeroot.so mtr ...
 */
int getuid(void)
{
    return 0;
}

int getgid(void)
{
    return 0;
}

MaxTakeba · April 7

@forest said:
@MaxTakeba said:
why does MTR need sudo?
# Write targets to file for parallel processing
    TFILE="$DIR/targets.txt"
    printf '%s\n' "${TARGETS[@]}" > "$TFILE"
    HELPER="$DIR/run_one.sh"
    # Test if mtr works without sudo
    MTR_NEEDS_SUDO=0
    mtr --json -n -4 -c 1 -m 3 localhost > /dev/null 2>&1 || MTR_NEEDS_SUDO=1
    if [ "$MTR_NEEDS_SUDO" -eq 1 ]; then
        MTR_PREFIX="sudo"
        echo "  Note: mtr requires sudo on this system"
    else
        MTR_PREFIX=""
    fi
    cat > "$HELPER" << HELPEREOF
maybe I am stupid... and I'm a network engineer... not a script kiddie... but why does mtr need sudo?
It doesn't. That check is there to "prevent" flooding by refusing to let you set an interval lower than one second. I think there are some other stupid checks it does, but the limitation is entirely within mtr itself. There is no kernel-level privilege check that mtr is simply passing on to you. It's super easy to circumvent:
/*
 * compile with: cc -o libfakeroot.so fakeroot.c -O2 -fPIC -shared
 * run with: LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PWD/libfakeroot.so mtr ...
 */
int getuid(void)
{
    return 0;
}

int getgid(void)
{
    return 0;
}

Thank you for the explanation.

forest · April 7

(Oops, I meant LD_PRELOAD not LD_LIBRARY_PATH. I am tired.)

HiveDCNick · April 7

Hi everyone,

I appreciate the feedback.

I should have mentioned it in the original post that the site is still very much early stages and we are still improving the service. Feedback is very welcome at this stage.

BGPscout is not a replacement for sites like bgp.tools or bgp.he.net and other similar tools. As a matter of fact those tools compliment and are referenced on the ASN Information Dashboard pages.

What's different is that we provide insights relating to the different paths that are taken when reaching certain destinations. It also allows to better visualize things like "boomerangs" routes, when traffic leaves the source country before returning back to it and better understand how traffic from one ASN reaches another.

the mtr-client.sh will check if mtr runs without sudo and if it does will not require elevated access. AI is being used to speed up the development of this project.

MannDude · April 7

At first I thought your site was offline.

Then I thought it was just blocking requests from non-residential connections. I typed a venting response wondering why this was, as I'm the only user in this entire /24 (experimental / dev VPN subnet) and I just browse the web.

Then I tested it on Tor, and it worked. Weird.

Looking into it, for some reason, it was being blocked by DNS. My VPN+DNS setup is a non-production so sometimes things break, but I do see:

        "Data": {
          "InfoCode": "Blocked",
          "ExtraText": "source=block-list-zone; blockListUrl=https://big.oisd.nl/domainswild2; domain=bgpscout.io"
        }

In my local DNS server logs.

Looks like the domain is on the OISD.nl big list.

Anyways, I'll whitelist it and take a peak.

Andreix · April 7

meh...

Server Not Found

Firefox can’t connect to the server at bgpscout.io
What can you do about it?

Try connecting on a different device. Check your modem or router. Disconnect and reconnect to Wi-Fi.

Learn more…

MannDude · April 8

@Andreix said:
meh...

Server Not Found

Firefox can’t connect to the server at bgpscout.io
What can you do about it?

Try connecting on a different device. Check your modem or router. Disconnect and reconnect to Wi-Fi.

Learn more…

Domain is in some DNS based ad-blocking blocklists. At least in the ones we use.

Andreix · April 8

@MannDude said:

@Andreix said:
meh...

Server Not Found

Firefox can’t connect to the server at bgpscout.io
What can you do about it?

Try connecting on a different device. Check your modem or router. Disconnect and reconnect to Wi-Fi.

Learn more…

Domain is in some DNS based ad-blocking blocklists. At least in the ones we use.

I see.
Well... at this point, I kinda trust my blocklists more. Thanks!

HiveDCNick · April 8

@MannDude said:
At first I thought your site was offline.

Then I thought it was just blocking requests from non-residential connections. I typed a venting response wondering why this was, as I'm the only user in this entire /24 (experimental / dev VPN subnet) and I just browse the web.

Then I tested it on Tor, and it worked. Weird.

Looking into it, for some reason, it was being blocked by DNS. My VPN+DNS setup is a non-production so sometimes things break, but I do see:
        "Data": {
          "InfoCode": "Blocked",
          "ExtraText": "source=block-list-zone; blockListUrl=https://big.oisd.nl/domainswild2; domain=bgpscout.io"
        }
In my local DNS server logs.

Looks like the domain is on the OISD.nl big list.

Anyways, I'll whitelist it and take a peak.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We've made a request to get this domain removed from their list.

sshbox · April 8

@HiveDCNick said: What's different is that we provide insights relating to the different paths that are taken when reaching certain destinations. It also allows to better visualize things like "boomerangs" routes, when traffic leaves the source country before returning back to it and better understand how traffic from one ASN reaches another.

How about, you know, some actual examples?

With pictures, you now, to actually visualize things.

fluffernutter · April 8

@forest said:
Is this vibe coded?

do you even have to ask nowadays?

stable_genius · April 8

A vibe coded user data harvester. Lame!

I guess I'll pass.

HiveDCNick · April 8

@sshbox said:

@HiveDCNick said: What's different is that we provide insights relating to the different paths that are taken when reaching certain destinations. It also allows to better visualize things like "boomerangs" routes, when traffic leaves the source country before returning back to it and better understand how traffic from one ASN reaches another.

How about, you know, some actual examples?

With pictures, you now, to actually visualize things.

Hey there, sure thing! Here are a few screens for you.

sshbox · April 8

That's better. Why don't you put this on your front page and write a more detailed blog post about it?

Answer questions like:

What does this tools do?
What problem does it solve?
Why should I use it?
What do I do with this data?
What do the pictures mean?

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bgpscout.io - A routing-intelligence platform

Introducing bgpscout.io

Community-driven data

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In this Discussion

bgpscout.io - A routing-intelligence platform

Introducing bgpscout.io

Community-driven data

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