Ping is a network utility command line that is used in Windows (Command Prompt (cmd)) and OS X (Terminal). Ping in its basic form is a packet of data sent form you a requester to a host, which then a host sends a packet of data back to the requester acknowledging the transaction. During this process of ping measures two things packet-loss and latency.

Packets

A packet is the basic unit of information in network transmissions or Internet Protocol. Most common Internet Protocols are HTTP, TCP, UDP, & ICMP. Each protocol splits information into packets that contain both a segment of data to be transferred and the address where the data is to be sent. If you are receiving packet-loss when communicating with a destination then you are most likely dealing poor signal/line quality from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and you should contact them. Packet loss will increase load time on things such as websites because packets that are lost have to be resent.

Packet-Loss

Packet-loss occurs when a packet of data being send is not received or is incomplete. During this process a host will request that the requester (you) resends the packets lost during this transaction or vice versa. Packet-loss in most cases is result of poor signal/line quality and will require you to contact you Internet Service Provider (ISP). In the event of 100% packet-loss there can be several reason for this: Your Internet is down and you should contact your (ISP), Router or Modem maybe be preventing access to the Internet, and last the connection between your computer and your Router/Modem may be severed or blocked.

Latency (ms)

Latency is the time that it takes for a transaction of packets to finish (Requester to Host to Requester). This round trip is recorded in milliseconds or one one-thousandths of a second. If you are seeing high latency this could be cause by many things, such as: distance between requester & host, poor routing between requester & host, and packet loss. If it is poor routing and/or packet loss contact your ISP.

Ping Commands

Ping External IP

ping google.com

Ping external IP is the most used ping command line. In the event that you have issues here and not with any of the other command lines then the is with your (ISP) or the host you are trying to ping to. In some cases like “microsoft.com” you will time out no matter what because they block all ping attempts. “google.com” will all ways get you a result unless your Internet service is down.

Ping Default Gateway/Router

ping ###.###.###.###

To find your IP for your Gateway/Router use:

For windows and the address is listed next to “Default Gateway”

ipconfig

For OS X:

netstat -nr | grep '^default'

If a time-out occurs here and not for Ping Loopback and Ping Local Machine then the issue lays with your Gateway/Router and you should contact the manufacture of the device.

Ping Local Machine

ping ###.###.###.###

To find the IP for your local machine use:

For windows and the address listed next to “IPv4 Address”

ipconfig

For OS X use:

(Ethernet Connection)

ifconfig en0 | grep "inet"

(WiFi Connection)

ifconfig en1 | grep "inet"

If a time-out occurs here and not in Ping Loopback Address then the issue may be between your network adapter and Windows & OS X.

Ping Loopback Address

ping 127.0.0.1

This is a loopback address and it pings to your personal computer. If a time-out occurs here then there is an issue with your system. There are list of solutions ranging from a restart of your computer, checking firewall settings, and/or reinstalling TCP/IP if you are a windows user. For OS X users in most cases it is an issue with your OS X firewall being turn on and you will need to turn it off.

Here are some quick ways to stop most problems that may be slowing down your connection:

1. Ensure you’re getting a clean test. Stop any ongoing downloads, and shut down any programs that may be using your connection, such as peer-to-peer software.
2. Simplify the picture. If you’re using Wi-Fi to connect, try using a wired Ethernet connection to eliminate the possibility of wireless interference.
3. Reboot your modem and router. It’s the stock advice, but it solves an astonishing number of problems. Quora has a great explanation of why restarting your router simply works most of the time.

After running those steps, you should now have enough evidence to contact your ISP if there’s a mismatch between your plan and the speeds you’re getting. See if they can run diagnostics on their end.

Finally, you can consider changing ISPs if you feel you’re not getting what you pay for. You can view the fastest ISPs in your area using the Speedtest Global Index.

This typically happens if anti-virus or firewall software on your computer is intercepting test traffic. Examples of this type of software include McAfee, Norton, and AVG. A properly configured firewall shouldn’t cause issues with the test, but you can try momentarily disabling the software before a test to see if it’s causing the problem. (Don’t forget to enable it again afterwards.)

If that doesn’t solve the issue—or it’s happening for multiple computers in your network—you might also try restarting the router and modem used for your connection. They can sometimes have temporary issues that only show up when trying to upload data, and restarting them usually clears it up.

Before you start investigating, make sure that you’re consistent in comparing your units. Many programs, such as download clients, will report speeds in terms of kiloBytes per second. Here on Speedtest,net, we default to the industry-standard megabits. For example: 100 kilobytes per second works out to 0.8 megabits per second. You can have Speedtest.net do the calculations for you by changing the units on your settings page.

If the discrepancy persists, this can happen if anti-virus or firewall software on your computer is intercepting test traffic. Examples of this type of software include McAfee, Norton, and AVG. A properly configured firewall shouldn’t cause issues with the test, but you can try momentarily disabling the software before a test to see if it’s causing the problem. (Don’t forget to enable it again afterwards.)

Currently, Speedtest.net does not have complete support for IPv6 users.

Our testing technology itself is protocol-agnostic, but there are a few remaining hurdles. Recording the test results from IPv6-only users isn’t supported yet, so even though you’d see the result it wouldn’t be saved to your results page. Additionally, we work with hundreds of sponsors around the world to provide over a thousand Speedtest.net locations, and and they have every hardware configuration under the sun, including many not yet compatible with IPv6. Supporting IPv6 would require routing IPv6-only users to only the IPv6-compatible servers.

It’s not very common, but some computers use two different connections at the same time. Sometimes this is on a server or similar PC with multiple interfaces for extra bandwidth or redundancy, or maybe a laptop or mobile device with both Wi-Fi and cellular (4G/5G) active.

Speedtest.net uses HTTP to conduct the test, so the connection that it uses will depend on OS-level settings. Unfortunately, in our research we haven’t found an easy way to force HTTP traffic to use a specific interface on either Windows or Linux, and this isn’t an issue unique to our site. We recommend temporarily disabling other interfaces to force Speedtest.net to use a specific interface during testing.

Speedtest.net has two key advantages that allow it to deliver accurate speeds anywhere in the world:

1. Testing technology: Speedtest.net uses Ookla technology, which is used by ISPs, governments, and other organizations worldwide.
2. Testing Location: Speedtest.net has thousands of servers for testing, ensuring that you’ll get accurate readings from around the world. Other sites have one or only a handful of locations, meaning that you may be testing to a server further away, which may lead to inaccurately-slow speeds. And Speedtest.net has so many servers that you can even test to several servers nearby to verify results and get a full picture of your connection.