Ping is one of the most networking utilities that is used for network troubleshooting. You use ping to test the availability of a networking device (usually a PC) on a network.

When you ping a
device you send that device a short message which it sends back (the echo). If you receive a reply the device is working ok on the network if you don’t then:

• The device is faulty, disconnected, switched off, incorrectly configured
• Your network on the device you are working on is not working properly.

Knowing What to IP Address to Ping

To ping a device you need to know either the IP address of the device of the name of the device. (See Finding IP Address) Then you go to the command line (Start Menu>Run and enter
cmd to open a command prompt and
enter:

Ping IP Address e.g. ping 192.169.0.1 or

ping computer- name e.g. ping PC1

The screenshot below shows use of the IP address. I have shown both a fail(192.168.0.1) and a success (192.168.1.1)

The screenshot below shows use of the computer name. Although this is easier than the IP address method it is only good if it works as it does below. If it fails it is not conclusive as there is an extra stage called name resolution involved and that could be at fault.

Related Articles:

• Advanced Ping
• How to Find the IP address of Your Computer
• How to Find the MAC address of Your Computer

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