System Advice

The Ping Command

The command utility "ping" is one of the simplest, and most universally useful, utilities used in computer networking. It asks just one question.


  Do I have connectivity to a given host?

It answers that question, and possibly one other.


  What is the publicly known IP address for that host?

Depending upon whether you specify a host by name or by IP address (and either is useful), and whether that host actually does respond, you may get a series of responses.

Ping host by name, host responds.
Ping host by name, host does not respond.
Ping host by IP address, host responds.
Ping host by IP address, host does not respond.
Ping host by name, host unknown.

You run Ping simply by opening a Command Window, and typing the command. You can:

Ping (hostname).
Ping (IP address).

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Ping host by name, host responds.

I enter


ping phil1

And I see


Pinging phil1 [192.168.100.100] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128



Ping statistics for 192.168.100.100:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), 
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

This tells me that:

Host "phil1" is online and responding.
It's IP address is 192.168.100.100.

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Ping host by IP address, host responds.

I enter


ping 192.168.100.100

And I see


Pinging 192.168.100.100 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.100.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128



Ping statistics for 192.168.100.100:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), 
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

This tells me:

Host "192.168.100.100" is online and responding.

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Ping host by name, host does not respond.

I enter


ping phil8

(I only wish I had 8 computers).

And I see


Pinging phil8 [192.168.100.107] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.



Ping statistics for 192.168.100.107:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

This tells me that:

Host "phil8" is not online, or is not responding.
It is thought to exist, and to have an IP address of 192.168.100.107.

Possible problems:

Physical connectivity problem.
Personal firewall problem.

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Ping host by IP address, host does not respond.

I enter


ping 192.168.100.107

(I only wish I had 8 computers).

And I see


Pinging 192.168.100.107 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.



Ping statistics for 192.168.100.107:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

This tells me:

Host "192.168.100.107" is not online, or is not responding.

Possible problems:

Physical connectivity problem.
Personal firewall problem.

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Ping host by name, host is unknown.

I enter


ping phil8

(I only wish I had 8 computers).

And I see


Ping request could not find host phil8. Please check the name and try again.

This tells me that:

Host "phil8" is unknown.

Possible problems:

The name was mistyped, or that host does not exist. This is a mild case of a CKI fault.
Physical connectivity problem.
Name resolution problem.
LSP / Winsock corruption.

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