How to Adjust Ping

By Chris Hoke

The "ping" network utility is used to test the reachability of a remote computer (defined by IP address) by sending out a data packet and recording how long it takes for a packet to return. You can run the ping utility from the Windows command prompt to diagnose connectivity issues. By using the ping utility's command options, you can adjust the number of packets sent, the time-out setting (the time allotted before the program stops listening for the return packet) and the size of the ping packet.

Click the "Start" menu button, then type "cmd" into the Search field. Right-click the "cmd" search result entry, and choose "Run as administrator." Input the administrator password, if necessary, then click "OK" to open an elevated command prompt.

Type "ping" then type a command option.

Type "-n" followed by a space, then a numeric value indicating the number of data packets that you wish send (the default number of packets is "4"). For example, type "ping -n 10" into the command prompt to adjust the number of data packets to 10.

Type "-w" followed by a space and then a numeric value indicating the amount of time to wait for a reply after each packet is sent, measured in milliseconds (the default is "1,000"). For example, type "ping -w 5000" into the command line to allow the ping utility to wait 5 seconds (5,000 milliseconds) before timing out.

Type "-l" followed by a space, then a numeric value indicating the size of each data packet you wish to send, measured in bytes (the default is "32"). For example, type "ping -l 64" into the command prompt to adjust the size of each data packet to 64 bytes.

Type a space, then type the IP (Internet Protocol) address associated with the computer that you want to ping. Some web servers may be pinged by domain name.

Press "ENTER" to execute the ping utility.

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