freshness

Author: halkazwini

articles/network-watcher/media/network-watcher-next-hop-overview/next-hop-view.png

@@ -1,19 +1,22 @@
 ---
-title: Next hop
+title: Next hop overview
 titleSuffix: Azure Network Watcher
 description: Learn about Azure Network Watcher next hop capability that you can use to diagnose virtual machine routing problems.
-services: network-watcher
 author: halkazwini
-ms.service: network-watcher
-ms.topic: conceptual
-ms.date: 03/28/2023
 ms.author: halkazwini
-ms.custom: template-concept, engagement-fy23
+ms.service: network-watcher
+ms.topic: concept-article
+ms.date: 03/13/2024
+
+#CustomerIntent: As an Azure administrator, I want to learn about Next hop feature so I can use it to get the next hop information of any virtual machine (VM) experiencing  routing issues to be able to diagnose and fix the issue.
 ---
 
-# Azure Network Watcher next hop
+# Next hop overview
+
+Next hop is a feature of Azure Network Watcher that gives you the *Next hop type*, *IP address*, and *Route table ID* of a specific destination IP address. Knowing the next hop information helps you determine if traffic is being directed to the intended destination, or whether the traffic is being dropped. An improper configuration of routes, where traffic is directed to an on-premises location or a network virtual appliance can lead to connectivity issues.
+
+If the route is defined using a user-defined route, next hop returns the route table that has the route. Otherwise, it returns *System Route* as the route table.
 
-Traffic from a virtual machine (VM) is sent to a destination based on the effective routes associated with the virtual machines' network interface (NIC). Azure Network Watcher next hop gives you the *Next hop type*, *IP address*, and *Route table ID* of a specific destination IP address. Knowing the next hop helps you determine if traffic is being directed to the intended destination, or whether the traffic is being sent nowhere. An improper configuration of routes, where traffic is directed to an on-premises location, or a network virtual appliance, can lead to connectivity issues. If the route is defined using a user-defined route, the route table that has the route is returned. Otherwise, next hop returns *System Route* as the route table.
 
 :::image type="content" source="./media/network-watcher-next-hop-overview/next-hop-view.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Azure Network Watcher next hop view in Azure portal.":::
 
@@ -32,6 +35,6 @@ Network Watcher returns the following next hop types:
 
 To learn more about each next hop type, see [Virtual network traffic routing](../virtual-network/virtual-networks-udr-overview.md?toc=%2fazure%2fnetwork-watcher%2ftoc.json).
 
-## Next steps
+## Next step
 
 To learn how to use next hop to diagnose virtual machine routing problems, see Diagnose VM network routing problems using the [Azure portal](diagnose-vm-network-routing-problem.md), [PowerShell](diagnose-vm-network-routing-problem-powershell.md), or the [Azure CLI](diagnose-vm-network-routing-problem-cli.md).