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How to do a ping test on the most popular Operating Systems

What is a Ping Test

Everyone using the internet has heard the term "ping test", but few understand what it does. This neat utility will send packets known as "ICPM" packages towards a targeted server to receive a specific type of information. Once ping fetches this data, it will return the information to you, giving you details about the network's state and if there is a packet loss.

This knowledgebase article will explore how to perform a ping test on the most widespread operating systems used by everyday users, developers, and webmasters.

Performing a Ping Test on Windows 8

Please navigate to the Start Menu on your Windows 8 machine and expand the search menu. To do so, please move your mouse cursor to the right corner of the screen to create the side menu referred to as the charm bar. Click the search icon, and when the search field appears, please click on it and type in "cmd". Finally, press the enter key to open the Windows 8 terminal.

You will notice a black screen appear, and at the very left side of it, you will see a pulsating white marker. This marker will be an indication that you can start typing. To do a ping test towards a domain/IP/hostname, please type in:

ping <IP/hostname/domain> 

Here is an example:

ping google.com

After you have typed in the above command, and you hit the "ENTER" button, the command line interface will initiate the ping test and display the process below.

Performing a Ping Test on Windows 7 and Vista

To perform a ping test on Windows 7, you need to access the Windows Terminal. To do so, please hit the "Windows" button on your keyboard. You will find it between the "CTRL" and "ALT" keys. After the start menu appears, please type in "cmd" and hit "ENTER" to open the command-line interface. 

You will see a black screen reveal itself, and on the very left side, you will notice a pulsating white marker. This marker will be an indication that you can start typing. To perform a ping test on a domain/IP/hostname, please type in:

ping <IP/hostname/domain> 

Here is an example:

ping google.com

After typing in the command mentioned above and hitting the "ENTER" button, the command line interface will initiate the ping test and display the process underneath.

Performing a Ping Test on Windows 10

To perform a ping test on the Windows 10 Operating System, please open the start menu located on your screen's bottom-left corner. Doing so will allow you to start searching, and this is the time to type in "cmd". This action will locate the Command Prompt and will show it on the start menu. Please click on it.

You will see a black screen reveal itself, and on the very left side, you will notice a pulsating white marker. This marker will be an indication that you can start typing. To perform a ping test on a domain/IP/hostname, please type in:

ping <IP/hostname/domain> 

Here is an example:

ping google.com

After typing in the command mentioned above and hitting the "ENTER" button, the command line interface will initiate the ping test and display the process underneath.

Performing a Ping Test on macOS

To start a ping test on macOS, please press the "Go" tab in the top menu and chose the "Utilities" option from the drop-down menu. Inside the search field on the top right corner, please type in "network utility" and press the "ENTER" key.

When you notice the "Network Utility" icon shows up underneath, please double-click on it to open the application. You will see a menu on the top containing a couple of tabs - please select the "Ping" tab.

Your Mac will show a text field underneath where you have to enter the desired domain/IP/hostname to do the ping test. After typing it in, please click on the "Ping" button on the text field's right side.

Performing a Ping test on Linux

This article will not cover the ping test on Linux, as we have a great article reviewing the ping command on a UNIX server, which you can check here.

Reading your Ping Test Results

Now that you have performed the ping test, let's go over it and read what it means! After completing the ping test, the Command Prompt or Application will give you data regarding the packets it received from the remote server. Typically, Windows-based Operating systems will show four lines of data, but others, such as macOS or Linux, can continue showing ping results until you cancel the ping test. If the destination is reachable, you will see a stream of events, indicating the time to connect to the remote server in milliseconds. The mere fact that your computer can connect to the other server means no network issues. If the result is "Cannot find host", this means that you entered a wrong IP/Hostname/Domain name, and we advise you to double-check what you typed in. However, if the result is one of the following:

  • Destination host unreachable
  • Transmit failed, error code #
  • Request timed out

The above results mean that there is a connectivity issue between your machine and the remote destination. We recommend contacting your ISP provider or the remote server's administrators and asking them to look into the matter in such a situation.

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