Ping & traceroute tests

Ping and Trace Route tests can help to identify any connection issues between your network and a specified server (or website) address.

PING test


The PING command is used to test the connection and latency between two network connections. The PING command sends packets of information to a specified IP Address and then measures the time it takes to get a response from the specified computer or device.

Instructions for Windows XP. Vista or Windows 7 (for Windows 8 and Mac, see below)

  1. Open the command window by clicking START, then RUN. Type CMD, and hit Enter or click OK.
  2. Type PING in the command dialogue window.
  3. Hit the space bar once.
  4. Type the IP or website address that you want to ping. For example, if you want to ping your own website, type (without quotes) "mywebsiteaddress.com" <- REPLACE this with your own website address
  5. Hit "Enter" or return on your keyboard. If the website is up and actively responding, you receive replies back from the server that you pinged with the following information:
    • The IP address
    • The number of Bytes sent
    • The time it took in milliseconds
    • Any information loss during transit
  6. You can now move to the next step to perform a TRACERT test (see below)


Trace Route test


The TRACERT command is used to conduct a similar test to PING, but instead of displaying the time it takes to connect, it looks at the exact server hops required to connect your computer to the server.
You should already have the CMD prompt dialogue box open, after performing the PING test above.

    1. Type "TRACERT" (without quotes) in the command dialogue window.
    2. Hit the space bar once.
    3. Type the IP or website address that you want to check. For example, if you want to check your own website, type (without quotes) "mywebsiteaddress.com" <- REPLACE this with your own website address
    4. Hit "Enter" or return on your keyboard. If the website is up and actively responding, you receive replies back from the server that you pinged with the following information:
      • The number of hops to reach the server from your computer.



Copy The Results and Send To Us


Good work!!  OK now it is time to copy all of the results and send to us for our analysis.  To do this follow the below steps.CMD prompt

  1. Right click on the Cmd Prompt TITLE BAR
  2. Select edit then Select All. 
  3. Right click on the TITLE BAR AGAIN, and this time select edit > copy.
  4. Then paste the result directly it into an email message or TXT file. 
  5. You should now be able to see all of the results of your PING and your TRACERT test.  If you don't or you're having trouble pasting - you may need to try to copy the result again.


Once you have the information pasted into a TXT file or email message - please open a support ticket and send it to us for our analysis. 

It is now safe to close the CMD prompt dialogue box.

You may also wish to review this article if you are experiencing website issues.
http://www.purpledogdesign.com/clients/knowledgebase/98/I-canandsharp039t-access-my-website.html

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If you are using Windows 8 or Mac, the procedure is similar to the above.

Windows 8

  1. Go to the desktop of Windows 8*. Place your mouse at the bottom left corner of the screen. Right-click the Start icon. * You can also do this at the Start location of Windows 8.
  2. After right clicking the Start icon you will see a pop-up menu. Click Run.
  3. Now type "cmd" (no quotes) in the Run window that appears.
  4. Follow the instructions as from step 2 above.

--

Mac
Ping directly on your Mac using the Network Utility OR the Terminal app.

  1. Open Network Utility (located inside Applications > Utilities).
  2. Follow the steps as mentioned from step 2 above

Let the ping program run. Terminal repeatedly tests the ping of the network. Press Ctrl  + C when you are finished to quit the Terminal ping test process.


 

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