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What is ping?
- Authors
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- Skip2 Networks
- Title
- Content Manager
Ping
pong!
What is Ping?
Not to be confused with latency. Ping is a fundamental network diagnostic tool that measures the round-trip time for data packets to travel from one device to another across a network and return with a response. Named after the sonar technique used by submarines to detect objects underwater, ping sends small Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request packets to a target host and waits for echo reply packets to return. The tool calculates the time difference between sending the request and receiving the response, providing valuable insights into network connectivity, latency, and packet loss. This simple yet powerful utility has become an essential troubleshooting tool for network administrators, developers, and anyone diagnosing connectivity issues.
Beyond basic connectivity testing, ping serves as a crucial performance monitoring tool that reveals network health and quality metrics. The tool typically sends multiple packets in sequence, allowing users to observe consistency in response times and identify intermittent connectivity problems that might not be apparent from a single test. Ping results help distinguish between various network issues – consistent high response times suggest latency problems, while sporadic packet loss indicates network congestion or hardware issues. For CDN operations, ping measurements help determine optimal server placement, monitor edge server performance, and validate that content delivery infrastructure is responding appropriately from different geographic locations.
Ping Command Example
A website administrator notices users in Europe reporting slow loading times for their US-based application. Running ping google.com from their New York server shows consistent 15ms response times, indicating good local connectivity. However, when testing from a monitoring service in London using ping app.company.com, results show 180ms average response times with occasional packet loss. This ping data confirms the need for European CDN edge servers to reduce transatlantic latency and improve user experience for international visitors.
Ping Command Syntax and Options
| Command | Purpose | Example Output |
|---|---|---|
ping google.com | Basic connectivity test | 64 bytes from 172.217.164.110: time=12.3ms |
ping -c 4 server.com | Send 4 packets only | 4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss |
ping -i 2 host.com | 2-second intervals | Useful for monitoring over time |
ping -s 1000 site.com | Large packet size test | Tests network handling of bigger payloads |
Interpreting Ping Results
- Response Time - Lower values indicate better performance (typically measured in milliseconds)
- Packet Loss - Percentage of packets that failed to return (0% is ideal)
- TTL (Time To Live) - Shows how many network hops packets can make
- Sequence Numbers - Help identify out-of-order or duplicate packets
- Statistics Summary - Min/max/average times and standard deviation
Common Ping Response Times
| Network Scenario | Typical Ping Time | Performance Level |
|---|---|---|
| Local Network | 1-5ms | Excellent |
| Same City | 5-20ms | Very Good |
| Same Country | 20-50ms | Good |
| Cross-Continental | 100-200ms | Acceptable |
| Satellite Connection | 500-700ms | Poor for real-time apps |
Limitations of Ping
- ICMP Blocking - Some firewalls and servers disable ping responses
- Not Application-Specific - Doesn't test actual web server or application performance
- Limited Scope - Only measures basic connectivity, not bandwidth or throughput
- Protocol Differences - ICMP behavior may differ from HTTP/HTTPS traffic handling