What is Ping? What Does It Do?

RockedBuzz
By RockedBuzz 7 Min Read

PING is a diagnostic tool that tests the connection between two nodes or devices on a network. PING verifies whether a network data packet can be delivered to an error-free address.

What is Ping? What Does It Do?

What is Ping? What Does It Do?

PING offers two main goals, which are checking if the host is available and measuring how long the response will take. The PING command is one of the most widely used of the various command line interfaces. PING consists of a single package that provides an echo request. If the host is available, it will respond with a single packet.

Time measurement for PING is measured in milliseconds; it refers to the time it takes for the packet to reach the host and return the response to the sender.

The steps for what usually happens when you ping a machine can be summarized as follows:

  1. An ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) echo request message will be sent to the destination by the source.
  2. The PING program will set a sequence identifier to increment with each of the echo-request messages.
  3. PING adds the send time to the data part of the message.
  4. If the host is up and responding, it sends an ICMP echo response message to the source.
  5. The arrival time of the reply message will be noted with PING, it also uses the sending time in the message part and calculates the round trip time.
  6. Increases the sequence identifier and sends a new echo request message. This continues for the number of PING requests specified by the user or the program is terminated.

When the IP datagram leaves the source node, a round trip will be calculated by paying attention to the local time of the source node clock, and then subtracted from the time the echo response arrived. The PING tool will display various error messages when a roundtrip is not completed successfully:

Unknown server: This determines that IP address or hostnames that are not on the network, or destination hostname cannot be resolved.

Target host unreachable: This determines that the target node is down or not working on the network. This can occur because there is no local or remote route for the target host.

Request timed out: This determines when the PING command times out due to no response from the host. It also determines that no echo response messages were received due to network traffic, address resolution protocol request packet filtering, or a router error.

Internet Network Diagnostic Tests From Speedtest

Ping Test Speedtest

The PING command can be used to perform several useful web network identification tests, such as:

  • Domain IP address: PING can be used to search for a domain name or IP address. Displays a corresponding IP address in the response.
  • Time and distance: The PING command can be used to determine how long it takes to return a packet from another site that tells the user the internet distance in terms of network.
  • Input: PING can be used to check whether the user can reach another computing device. If a user cannot PING other sites but is possible, this indicates that the internet network is working but the site is not.

Ping Time Internet Users Should Be?

The following are considered to be a good ping response time:

  • 30 ms: ideal for perfect ping and online gaming.
  • 30 to 50 ms: average ping and still good for online games.
  • 50 to 100 ms: slightly slow ping time and this affects online games.
  • 100 to 500 ms : slow ping and only minimal impact on web browsing, but creates noticeable lag in online games.
  • 500 ms: pings of half a second or longer add a noticeable delay to all requests.

Ways to Improve Ping: How to Reduce Ping?

Check your ping. Most games can measure and display your full ping to the server you are playing on. If you want to know what your ping is before playing, there are many online test sites. Some ping test sites:

  • https://www.meter.net/ping-test/
  • https://www.speedtest.net/
  • http://ping-test.net/
  • http://ping-test.net/mobile/speed_test

To improve ping time:

  1. Close unnecessary programs.
  2. When using a wireless connection, make sure your computer is not too far from the router or use a range extender to increase the strength of the connection. The closer to the router, the better.
  3. You can change your connection to wired.
  4. Check if there is someone else on the same network as you and if they are using a “web-based” service such as YouTube, Netflix, Twitch streaming platforms. If you have a low speed internet connection, avoid playing online with other users at the same time.
  5. If possible, you can connect super fast (fiber) internet.
  6. Your game client must be the latest version.
  7. Contact your internet service provider to find out if there is a reported problem in your area.

As a result

A good ping is extremely important to successful online gaming. Since lower ping represents the time to receive an echo from the server you are connecting to: lower ping = better considered. Ping is typically measured in milliseconds, and there are several tools available online that can help you determine your ping. An ideal ping would be any number below 50ms, especially for competitive online games. An average ping is considered between 50 ms and 150 ms. This is generally an acceptable feature and will allow you to play enough games on most game servers. Reducing your ping to the lowest possible number of milliseconds should be your main goal. This will improve your overall experience and significantly reduce server problems.

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