Managing Your Probe

I connected the probe. Now what?

The probe will automatically connect to the RIPE Atlas infrastructure, most likely upgrade its firmware to the newest version (which usually takes up to 30 minutes) and begin performing predefined measurements. Once we see that the probe is connected, you'll be able to see your probe listed under the "My Probes" tab on the probes page (opens new window) when logged into the RIPE Atlas website. Your probe will also begin earning credits you can use to perform your own user-defined measurements, which can provide valuable information about the performance of your own network. Find out more about user-defined measurements.

How do I access information about my probe and manage its settings?

You can get detailed information about your probe, including its connection history, built-in and user-defined measurements, firmware version, MAC address and much more on your probe's detailed information page. You can also manage different settings, such as setting a bandwidth limit, on this page. When you're logged in to the RIPE Atlas website, you can find your probe under the "My Probes" tab on the probes page (opens new window). Just click on your probe to access the detailed information page.

How do you measure probe uptime?

A probe is "connected" when it has a working Internet connection and is connected to the RIPE Atlas infrastructure. This means that if the probe has a working Internet connection, but it cannot connect to the central infrastructure (because it's firewalled for example) then it shows as "disconnected". This is also the reason why one can see more connect/disconnect events than expected; even though the local network was working fine, there may have been a connection reset on the probe's connection to its controller.

Can I transfer a probe to a new host?

If you are hosting a probe and would like to transfer it to a new host (for instance, if you are leaving a company but a co-worker will take over responsibility for your probe), you can do so using the "Transfer Ownership" function on your probe's detailed information page (click on your probe, listed under the "My Probes" tab on the probes page (opens new window) when you're logged in to the RIPE Atlas website.

RIPE NCC members who host a probe and want to transfer it to a colleague will now see a suggested list of contacts in their LIR when transferring a probe.

In either case, you must be sure about this, because normally you won’t be able to reclaim your probe in case you transfer it to the wrong person.

Can I delete a probe from my account?

If you have lost your probe or you know it's broken, you can write off the probe. You can do so using the "Write off your probe" function on your probe's detailed information page (click on your probe, listed under the "My Probes" tab on the probes page (opens new window) when you're logged in to the RIPE Atlas website.

When you write off your probe, it will be removed from your account. The only way to reclaim the hardware probe if you made a mistake is by having physical access to the probe and getting it to reconnect again. After that you can register it again to your account. Software probes can not be reclaimed in this way.

If you want to make changes to your probe such as changing the description or location of the probe, you have to do so before writing it off.

Can I deploy a probe on someone else's network, such as my company's, for instance?

That's your decision, but in our opinion you must ask permission first.

Can I assign static IP addresses to my probe?

Yes. Please check the static network configuration documentation for details. Note that we recommend using static configuration only if dynamic configuration is not possible, because in many cases the static information can become stale, making the probe useless, without the probe host noticing this.

Can I disconnect my probe?

You can, but we'd like to ask you to keep it connected at all times if possible, even while you're on vacation. If you want to shut it down for good, then please return it to us so we can redistribute it to someone else. You can return unused probes to:

RIPE Atlas

RIPE NCC

P.O. Box 10096

1001 EB Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Can I disassemble my probe to see what's inside?

No. You are not allowed to disassemble, reverse engineer, hack or otherwise damage your probe. If you still have questions about the probes after reading through the FAQ, please let us know.

I only host a probe or two, but I can see a lot of probes in the list. Why?

Anyone can look at the state and measurement results of public probes in the RIPE Atlas network. You can see these probes listed on the probes page (opens new window). When you're logged in to the RIPE Atlas website, this list will also include a tab called "My Probes" that lists the probes you personally host.

How can I embed the graphs from my probe's page on my own webpage?

You need to embed a RIPEstat widget by following these steps:

1. Click the "Enlarge" button on the graph on your probe page
2. Click "See this on RIPEstat"
3. Click the "embed code" button

The displayed HTML code can be added to your own page.