pinging

Pinging is a network diagnostic technique used to test whether a specific host is reachable across an IP network and to estimate the round-trip time for messages sent from the source to the destination. The common implementation sends an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Echo Request to the target and waits for an ICMP Echo Reply. If a reply is received, the time between sending the request and receiving the reply is recorded as the round-trip time (RTT). Repeating the process provides statistics such as minimum, average, and maximum RTT, and often packet loss.

Pinging is widely used for quick connectivity checks, latency benchmarking, and basic troubleshooting. It helps determine whether a host is reachable, whether services are responding, and where delays may be occurring in the path. However, many networks and devices filter or rate-limit ICMP traffic, so a failed ping does not necessarily indicate that the destination is unreachable for other protocols.

In IPv4, ping uses ICMP Echo messages; in IPv6, the equivalent mechanism is ICMPv6. Some implementations allow adjustments such as packet size, number of probes, and time-to-live (TTL) values, and may report jitter as part of the results. While useful, pinging has limitations and should be complemented with other tools (for example, traceroute or MTR) for comprehensive diagnostics. Excessive or automated pinging can contribute to congestion or trigger security alerts. Ping originated in the early 1980s, developed by Mike Muuss, and the name evokes sonar pings.