What Is Ping? All You Need To Know About It

Definition

Ping is a computer command-line and network administration software utility that tests the reachability of hosts on IP (Internet Protocol ) networks. It can be applied to almost all operating systems with network functionality.

Ping was written by Mike Muse in December 1983 while working at the Ballistic Research Laboratory, which is now the US Army Research Laboratory. It measures the round-trip time of messages sent from the original host to the target computer that returned the source.

Ping operates by sending the ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) echo request packet to the target host and waiting for the ICMP echo reply.

The ping utility’s command-line options and its output vary among many implementations. The options include the size of the payload, the test count, the limit on the number of network hops (TTL) that the probe traverses, the interval between requests, and the time it takes to wait for a response.

Work Theory

The ping utility uses echo requests and echoes reply messages in ICMP, which is part of any IP network. When the ping command is issued, the echo-request packet is sent to the specified address. When the remote host gets an echo request, it responds to the echo reply packet.

By default, the ping command sends multiple echo requests, usually four or five. The results of each echo request are displayed, showing if the proposal received a successful response, the number of bytes received in the response, the time to live (TTL), and how long the response would be received, as well as statistics about packet loss and round trip times.

Good Ping

High Ping is reported to be annoying and confusing. Ping of 150ms or more is considered high Ping, and a ping below 20ms is regarded as a low ping.

The ping response time, measured in milliseconds (ms), shows how long it took for packets to return from the computer to the server on the Internet. Measurements are also known as delays between a computer and its servers.

The ping level can be classified according to the ping response time. That is, the response time of the Ping determines whether it is a good ping or not.

• Excellent Ping (<30ms) – It is almost unnoticeable and perfect for online gaming.
• Average Ping (30 to 50ms) – It is still suitable for online gaming.
• A little slow ping (50 to 100ms) – Not noticeable for web browsing, but it may affect gaming.
• Slow Ping (100 to 500ms) – It has the least impact on web browsing but can cause significant lags in online games.
• Very slow Ping (>500ms) – Half a second or more of pings can cause significant latency for all requests. Such a situation usually occurs if the source and destination are not located in the same part of the world.

Final Words!

This article describes the definition and work theory of Ping, as well as what is good Ping. Perhaps after reading the article, you will have a comprehensive understanding of pings.