Ping is a word widely used in the language of networks. This is a command widely used by Internet specialists to analyze computer network connections and detect possible problems. We explain what the Ping command is and what it is for .
What is the ping command
Ping is an acronym for Packet Internet Groper , it can be translated as “packet search engine in networks”. In essence, it is a diagnostic tool, used to verify the status of a certain connection of a local computer, with at least one remote computer through a TCP / IP type network.
In other words, Ping allows us to determine if a specific IP address is accessible from the network or not .
The Ping command is frequently used to detect errors on the network. Its operating mechanism is very simple, as it is based on sending a series of information packets to an IP address, and then receiving a response.
By analyzing the response produced, as well as its delay if there is one, network specialists can detect a myriad of connection problems. This delay between sending a packet and receiving the response is known as latency .
A fast ping indicates low latency, which is representative of a good quality Internet connection. On the other hand, a high ping translates into high latency, which may be an indication that our Internet connection has a problem, or that it is of low quality.
Unfortunately, the latter is not always reliable, since Ping can be affected by a series of factors, such as the distance from the server with which we are trying to communicate.
How to use the ping command
Using the Ping command in Windows 10 operating system is very simple. All we need to do is open a CMD command window from the Start menu.
Once the CMD window has opened, we will use the following command.
ping "ip address"
We can also use a domain instead of an IP address. For example, suppose we want to do a Ping test with the server where your expert.com is hosted. In that case the enter command would be the following:
ping tuexperto.com
In this case we can see that the connection to the server where this website is hosted has an average latency of 56 ms, which is a very good value. It is considered that a connection starts to be bad after a ping of 200 ms.