How to use PING

This article is part of our Network troubleshooting series and covers the use of PING.

The PING command allows you to test whether a remote device is accessible on the internet (or your local network).

PING is available on Windows and macOS devices and either natively or via an app for other devices.

You can PING an IP address, or a hostname (which will return its IP address).

Windows and macOS

1. Open the Command Prompt (Windows) or the Terminal (macOS).
2. The below screenshot shows a PING to a hostname, in this case priorite.koboh.cloud and then a second PING to Priorite's IP address:

ping priorite.koboh.cloud

followed by

ping 185.199.220.93

[IMAGE - WINDOWS] [IMAGE - MACOS]

In both these cases you can see the Reply from lines which detail the IP replying, the size in bytes of the PING reply, the time to reply and the Time To Live (TTL).

3. A full list of PING options can be seen by typing ping /?

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What can you tell from a PING result

1. Incorrect hostname The message you see will depend on whether you are using a Mac or Windows PC - but it'll be something like:

ping: cannot resolve <hostname>: Unknown host

or

Ping request could not find host priorite.koboh.cloud. Please check the name and try again.

The message suggests that the hostname you've typed isn't being resolved by DNS to an IP address. Check the hostname and try again.

It may also indicate that you can't access a DNS server, in which case you may have a local internet connection issue. Try a PING to a different internet device, or using a browser to ensure you can access the Internet.

2. Request timeout

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Receiving consistent request timeout responses can mean one of a few things:

• the device you are trying to PING is shutdown or unreachable.
• the device you are trying to PING, or the firewall in front of it are dropping the Internet Control Messaging Protocol (ICMP) network packets that make PING work.
• you have no internet connection. You can rule this out by sending a test PING to another system or by using a browser to ensure you can access the Internet.

If you've confirmed you have internet access then you might try using TRACEROUTE to further investigate why you can't reach the remote device.

3. Intermittent PING replies

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Getting intermittent PING responses or high response times can mean one of a few things:

• the device you are trying to PING is under high load and unable to respond consistently.
• a section of the network between you and the device is under high load.
• there may be a network issue between you and the device.

Start by trying to rule out if this is device specific by PINGing a different device or site on the internet to see if that responds quickly. If so it's likely your systems and internet connection are working ok and this is a remote system/network problem specific to the device you were trying to connect to.

If other unrelated devices give similar results then this may be an issue with your device or internet connection. Try resetting your local modem/router, and other network devices (e.g. Wi-Fi repeaters/access points, network switches, home plug extenders) along with your device.

You can perform further investigation with TRACEROUTE to attempt to identify where between you and the remote device/site the connection slow down is occurring.