How to Ping an IP Address

Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux

Open the Command Prompt or Terminal. Every operating system has a command line interface that will allow you to run the Ping command. The Ping command operates virtually identically on all systems. If using Windows, open the Command Prompt. Click the Start button and enter cmd into the Search field. Windows 8 users can type “cmd” while on the Start screen. Press Enter to launch the Command Prompt. If using Mac OS X, open the Terminal. Open your Applications folder, and then open the Utilities folder. Select Terminal. If using Linux, Open a Telnet/Terminal window. It is most often found in the Accessories folder in your Applications directory. In Ubuntu, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + T to open the terminal.

Enter the Ping command. Type ping hostname or ping IP address. A hostname is typically a website address. Replace hostname with the website that or server that you want to ping. For example, to ping wikiHow’s main web server, type ping www.wikihow.com. An IP address is a computer’s location on a network, either locally or on the internet. If you know the IP address that you want to ping, replace IP address with it. For example, to ping the IP address 192.168.1.1, type ping 192.168.1.1. To have your PC ping itself, type ping 127.0.0.1.

Press Enter to see your ping output. The results will be displayed beneath the current command line. See the lower section for how to read the output.

Mac OS X Network Utility

Open the Network Utility. Open your Applications folder and select Utilities. Look for Network Utility.

Click on the Ping tab. Specify a hostname or IP Address. A hostname is typically a website address. For example, to ping wikiHow’s main web server, type www.wikihow.com in the field. An IP address is a computer’s location on a network, either locally or on the internet. For example, to ping the IP address 192.168.1.1, type 192.168.1.1 into the field.

Set how many pings you want to send. You can typically get a good measurement with only 4-6 pings. Click Ping when you are ready and the output will be displayed in the lower part of the window.

Reading Ping Output

Read the first line. The first line tells you what the command is doing. It will repeat the address you put in and tell you how much data is being sent. For example:Pinging www.wikihow.com [173.203.142.5] with 32 bites of data:

Read the body of the output. A successful Ping command will return lines that display how long it took the address to respond. TTL represents the number of hops that occurred during the packet transfer process. The lower the number, the more routers the packet passed through. Time is how long in milliseconds the connection took: Reply from 173.203.142.5: bytes=32 time=102ms TTL=48Reply from 173.203.142.5: bytes=32 time=105ms TTL=48Reply from 173.203.142.5: bytes=32 time=105ms TTL=48Reply from 173.203.142.5: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=48 You may need to press Ctrl + C to stop pinging.

Read the summary. After the operation is completed a summary of the results will be displayed. Lost packets mean your connection to the address is unreliable, and data is being lost in the transfer. The summary will also display the average time the connection took:Ping statistics for 173.203.142.5:Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:Minimum = 102ms, Maximum = 108ms, Average = 105ms

Troubleshooting

Check your entry. One of the common error reports looks similar to:Ping request could not find host www.wikihow.com. Please check the name and try again.This usually means that the you have misspelled the hostname. Try retyping it to correct any spelling errors. If that doesn’t fix the problem, then try another well-known hostname, such as a search engine or news site. If that reports “Unknown host,” then the problem is most likely the address of the domain name server. Ping using the host’s IP address instead of its name (ex. 173.203.142.5). If this is successful then either the address you are using for the domain name server is incorrect or it is unreachable or down.

Check your connection. Another error message is: sendto: No route to hostThis may mean the address of the gateway is incorrect or that the connection from your PC is not up and running. Ping 127.0.0.1: that's your own PC. If this fails, your TCP/IP is not functioning correctly, and your network adapter needs to be reconfigured. Check your wireless connection or the connection from your PC to your router, especially if it was working previously. Most PC network ports have an indicator light that indicates a good connection and one that blinks as data is transferred. As the ping command transmits packets at about 1 per second, you should be able to see the data light blink. Check that the router has the proper indicators light (and no faults), including the one that indicates a good connection to your PC. If a fault indicator is on, follow the cable from your PC to the router to make sure it is properly connected, then call your cable or broadband provider if necessary.