Is a ping test enough to test a physical network connection?
I wouldn’t recommend it just doing that continuity test, for example if an error was present this might not necessarily detect it – maybe doing this over time for an hour or so might cut it. You’d want to generally prove establishment of the intended comms.
Ping is a computer network administration utility used to test whether a particular host is reachable across an Internet Protocol (IP) network and to measure the round-trip time for packets sent from the local host to a destination computer, including the local host’s own interfaces.
here is my ping test result. i got it from here whoisxy
Pinging cooltamil.com [64.64.4.118] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 64.64.4.118: bytes=32 time=51ms TTL=52
Reply from 64.64.4.118: bytes=32 time=51ms TTL=52
Reply from 64.64.4.118: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=52
Reply from 64.64.4.118: bytes=32 time=51ms TTL=52
Ping statistics for 64.64.4.118:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 51ms, Maximum = 53ms, Average = 51ms
Both Windows and Unix have intrinsic ping utilities as part of the operating systems. This is a better way than using a remote tool - a lot of “closed systems” won’t have Internet access. Go to the command prompt and type:
ping e.g
ping 10.240.192.1
Your response will be something like this is everything is working:
Reply from 10.240.192.1: BYTES =32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.240.192.1: BYTES =32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.240.192.1: BYTES =32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.240.192.1: BYTES =32 time<1ms TTL=64
Ping utility is usually described as pinging a host computer.
That’s not strictly true - the ping tool is part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols and it is a network tool. Pinging is used to verify comms, e.g. switches to routers, firewalls etc - computers aren’t necessarily the destination all of the time.
Just think of “ping” as being a tool to verify weather or not another node is actually on a particluar network.
Be careful though, many devices can be set up to not respond to pings. Routers and firewalls can block pings as well. Wireless routers have this option - it’s a useful tool, and this means to hackers and the likes so just because you don’t get a response from a ping doesn’t mean comms aren’t there.