Pinging your way to network troubleshooting success: A beginner's guide to using the ping command

Ping can check if you can connect to another computer or website and find out what’s wrong with your network.

Ping sends a small message to the other computer or website and waits for an answer. If the other computer or website gets that message, it will send a message back. The ping command measures how long it takes for the messages to go back and forth.

Ping is a common way to fix network problems. Here’s how to use the ping command:

1. Open a command prompt or terminal: On Windows, you can open the Command Prompt by typing “cmd” in the Start menu. On Mac or Linux, you can open the terminal by looking for “terminal” in the applications menu.

2. Type the ping command followed by the number or name of the other computer or website: For example, if you want to ping Google’s website, type “ping www.google.com” and press Enter.

3. Look at the output: Ping sends messages one after another to the other computer or website. When you stop it, ping tells you how long it took for each message. It also tells you statistics on how many messages were lost and how fast they were.

For example:

— 4.2.2.1 ping statistics —

11 messages sent, 11 messages received, 0.0% messages lost

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 25.838/26.571/27.892/0.585 ms

4. Find the problem: If the ping command tells you high numbers or lost messages, it may mean there is a problem with your network connection. You can use this information to figure out where the problem is and contact your network person or internet provider for help.

In summary, the ping command is a useful way to check your network connection and fix problems.