a method is disclosed for implementing and reporting network measurements between a source of probe packets and an element , such as a router . the invention exploits commonly implemented features on commercial elements . by exploiting these features , the expense of deploying special purpose measurement devices can be avoided . in one aspect of the invention , a plurality of probe packets is transmitted in a packet network with each of the probe packets having the same key and the same aggregation characteristic . a report is then received from an instructionless element regarding the plurality of probe packets , thereby enabling measurement of a parameter of the packet network .