1. A system for determining path stability of a pre-determined path between two nodes of a wireless network using source routed packets comprising: a processor configured to: select first and second source routes on which to send one or more probing packets, wherein the first source route begins with an originating node, and wherein the first and second source routes are selected to each comprise a distinct ordered list of nodes and to each include the pre-determined path between a first node different from the originating node and a second node different from the originating node; cause a probing packet to be transmitted from the originating node for routing along the ordered list of nodes of the selected first source route; in response to transmitting the probing packet along the first source route, receive a packet reporting a location of a transmission failure from a node of the first source route; cause a probing packet to be transmitted on a periodic basis for routing along the ordered list of nodes of the selected second source route; in response to transmitting the probing packet along the second source route, receive at least one of a packet reporting a location of a transmission failure from a node of the second source route and an acknowledgment packet from an end node of the second source route; calculate the path stability of the pre-determined path between the first and second nodes based at least in part on the packet reporting a location of a transmission failure received in response to the probing packet sent along the first source route selected to include the pre-determined path and on the at least one of the packet reporting a location of a transmission failure and the acknowledgment packet received in response to the probing packet sent along the second source route selected to include the pre-determined path; and adjust a periodic interval for transmitting the probing packet along the second source route on the periodic basis based on the at least one of the packet reporting the location of the transmission failure and the acknowledgment packet received in response to the probing packet sent along the second source route; and a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide instructions to the processor, wherein the calculated path stability is used as an input to a network optimization algorithm, and wherein a single source route failure along a path results in the path being penalized in future optimization scores.