What this ping test shows
Ping asks a computer a simple question: are you there? HostChecker sends three small ICMP echo requests (the same messages the ping command sends) from its server to the address, waits for the replies, and reports how many came back and how long they took. If nothing answers, it gives up after about five seconds. What happens first depends on whether you enter a domain name or an IP address.
For a domain name
Enter a domain and HostChecker looks the name up first, then pings the first IPv4 address it finds. If the name has several addresses, as large sites usually do, only that one is tested, and it can be a different one the next time. Here is an example, with what each part tells you:
Raw output (under “Show complete raw command output”)
The tiles are read from the raw output, which is always available under the result and is exactly what the command printed. Reading it line by line:
PING example.com (203.0.113.10)shows the address the name was turned into. That is the address that was tested. The56(84) bytesis the size of each probe: 56 bytes of data, 84 with the IP and ICMP headers.- Each
64 bytes fromline is one reply.icmp_seqis the probe number andtimeis that probe’s round trip.ttl(time to live) is the number of network hops the reply still had left when it arrived. Systems start it at a set number, commonly 64, 128, or 255, and every router on the way subtracts one, so attlof 51 usually means a start of 64 and about 13 hops on the way back. Treat that as a rough guide only. 3 packets transmitted, 3 receivedfeeds the Replies and Packet loss tiles. The totaltimeis about two seconds because the probes go out one second apart.- The
rtt min/avg/max/mdevline feeds the Average and Min / max tiles.mdevis how much the replies varied, and there is no tile for it.
For an IP address
Enter an IP address and it is pinged directly, with no name lookup. That makes it the cleanest way to tell a network problem from a DNS problem: if a name gets no reply but its IP address does, the trouble is in the name, not the network. The tiles are the same. Here is an example, with what is different:
Raw output
The first line shows the same address twice because there was no name to look up. An address can also answer from somewhere you do not expect. Public services such as 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 use one address for servers in many places (called anycast), so the reply comes from whichever is nearest to HostChecker’s server, and the time describes that one.
Either way, three things are worth knowing. The test runs from HostChecker’s server, so the times describe the path from there, not from your device. Three probes is a small sample, so one odd result is a reason to run it again, not proof of a fault. And a reply only shows that something at that address answers ping, not that a website, mail server, or app on it works. For that, run Host Check, which loads the site the way a browser would. This check only works on public addresses, so ones on private networks, such as 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x, are refused, and IPv6 addresses are not supported.
How to read the result
- Replies.
3 / 3(green) means every probe was answered.1 / 3or2 / 3(amber) means some were lost. The verdict still says the host is up, because at least one reply came back. No replies at all (red) means the host did not answer. - Packet loss. 0% is green, anything above it is amber, and 100% is red. With only three probes, each lost packet is a third of the sample, so run the test a few times before drawing conclusions. Some hosts and routers deliberately delay or drop ping when they are busy, which can show up as loss even when real traffic is fine.
- Average. The round-trip time. Distance sets a floor: light in optical fibre covers about 200 km each millisecond, so a round trip cannot take less than about 1 ms per 100 km of cable, and real cables are rarely straight. As a rough guide, a host in the same data center or city answers in a few milliseconds, one on the same continent in tens, and one across an ocean in roughly 70 to 300 ms.
- Min / max. The fastest and slowest replies. Close together means a steady connection. A wide gap, with the slowest several times the fastest, means the connection is variable, which matters more for calls, games, and streaming than for loading a web page.
- No reply. The tiles are blank and the raw output is empty, as in the example below. It can mean the host is down, that a firewall drops ping on purpose, or that the network between is failing, and ping alone cannot say which.
Raw output
A name that does not resolve looks similar, but its raw output says so: ping: example.invalid: Name or service not known.
Common ping results and what they mean
Replies are fast and steady
The host is reachable and the network path from HostChecker to it is healthy. That says nothing about whether the website or service on it works. Run Host Check for that.
The host replies to ping but the website is down
Ping tests the machine’s network connection, not the web server on it. A reply with a broken site usually means the web server or the app behind it has stopped or crashed, a certificate or configuration is wrong, or the site is overloaded. The HTTP status in Host Check usually points to which.
The website works but the host does not reply to ping
Many firewalls drop ping on purpose, and some cloud providers’ default firewall rules do not allow it until you add a rule. A silent host that serves a normal website is not down. Our guide, why ping fails, goes through the other causes.
The site is behind a CDN or proxy
Services such as Cloudflare answer on behalf of the sites they front. A reply, and its speed, then describes their nearby server and not your own, so a fast ping does not mean your server is healthy.
The times are high or jump around
Distance is the first thing to rule out. After that, congestion somewhere on the path, or a server that is overloaded and slow to answer, are the usual causes. Traceroute shows the route hop by hop, which helps find where the time is added. Remember the numbers are from HostChecker’s server, so a path that is slow for you may be fine from here, and the reverse.
The name does not resolve
If the raw output says Name or service not known, the name did not turn into an IPv4 address. The name may be misspelled, not registered, or without DNS records, or it may only have an IPv6 address, which this test does not ping. Check it with DNS Lookup, or with WHOIS if you suspect it has expired.
Frequently asked questions
What is a ping test?
A ping test sends a small message to an address and times the reply. It uses ICMP, a core internet protocol with echo request and echo reply messages made for exactly this. It tells you whether the address answers and how long the round trip takes, which makes it a quick first check when a site or server seems unreachable.
How do I ping a website or IP address?
Type it into the box above and run the check. No install is needed. To ping from your own computer, open Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Terminal and type ping example.com. On Windows that sends four requests and stops. On macOS and Linux it keeps going until you press Ctrl+C, or you can add -c 4 to send four.
What is a good ping time?
Lower is better, and what counts as good depends on what you are doing. As a rough guide, under 50 ms feels instant for browsing, calls, and most games, 50 to 100 ms is fine for nearly everything, and above about 150 ms you start to notice lag in fast games and video calls. This test measures the time from HostChecker’s server to the host, not from your device, so it tells you about the host and not about your own connection. To test your own, run ping from your computer.
Why does ping say the request timed out or the host did not respond?
It means no reply came back before the wait ran out, but not why. The host could be off or disconnected, a firewall could be dropping ping on purpose, the name might not resolve, or the network in between could be failing. On Windows, “Request timed out” means no reply, while “Destination host unreachable” means a router, often your own, reported that it has no route to the address. To tell the causes apart, check DNS, then run Host Check. If the website loads, ping is simply blocked.
Does a ping reply mean a website is working?
No. A reply shows the machine is on and reachable. The web server on it, the application behind that, or the certificate can still be broken. Host Check loads the site the way a browser would and reports the HTTP status.
Can I ping a port?
No. Ping uses ICMP, which has no ports. To test whether a specific port, such as 443 for HTTPS, accepts connections, you need a TCP connection test, for example nc -vz example.com 443 on macOS and Linux, or Test-NetConnection example.com -Port 443 in Windows PowerShell. This ping test does not check ports.
Why are my results different from pinging on my own computer?
Because the starting point is different. This test runs from HostChecker’s server, so the time covers the path from there to the host. Your computer is somewhere else, on its own connection, so the time can differ a lot. If a firewall treats the two sources differently, whether the host answers at all can differ too.
Does the ping test support IPv6?
No. It accepts domain names and IPv4 addresses only. For a domain it pings the first IPv4 address, so a name that has only an IPv6 address will report that it did not respond.
What does ping stand for?
Mike Muuss wrote ping in December 1983 and named it after the sound of sonar: a pulse goes out and an echo comes back, just as an echo request goes out and a reply returns. It was not meant as an acronym. “Packet InterNet Groper” was suggested later, and it is a backronym.
Is the ping test free?
Yes. There is no signup, no account, and no limit on how many hosts you check, apart from a per-visitor rate limit that keeps the service fast for everyone.