What Is Ping?
Ping is the most fundamental network diagnostic tool. It sends ICMP echo requests to a target host and measures round-trip time (RTT) — answering three key questions:
- Is the target host reachable?
- How high is the network latency?
- Is there packet loss?
Sample Ping output:
PING google.com
64 bytes from 142.250.185.46: icmp_seq=1 ttl=115 time=12.3 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.185.46: icmp_seq=2 ttl=115 time=11.8 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.185.46: icmp_seq=3 ttl=115 time=12.1 ms
Packet loss: 0% Avg RTT: 12.1 ms
How to Interpret Ping Results
| Latency | Rating | Typical Cause |
|---|
| < 20ms | Excellent | Local or nearby server |
| 20–50ms | Very good | Regional server |
| 50–100ms | Good | Cross-country connection |
| 100–200ms | Fair | Intercontinental (US to Europe) |
| 200ms+ | Poor | Long-distance international |
What Is Traceroute?
Traceroute (called Tracert on Windows) maps every network hop between your device and the target, showing each router along the path and the latency to each. It pinpoints exactly where a network problem occurs.
traceroute to google.com
1 192.168.1.1 1.2 ms (your router)
2 10.0.0.1 5.4 ms (ISP gateway)
3 68.86.90.1 12.3 ms (ISP backbone)
4 74.125.118.1 45.6 ms (Google edge)
5 142.250.185.46 46.2 ms (destination)
Use Ping and Traceroute Online
No command line needed — use tool.tl's online tools:
Online tools let you test from a neutral third-party server — useful for checking whether a site is down globally or just unreachable from your location.
Diagnosing Common Network Problems
Site won't load — start with Ping
- Ping responds but latency is very high (500ms+): Network congestion or routing issue
- Ping completely times out: Server may be down, or ICMP is blocked by firewall
- Packet loss > 5%: Unstable network — possible hardware fault on the path
What does "* * *" mean in Traceroute?
* * * means that hop didn't respond to the probe — usually because the router has ICMP blocked for security. It doesn't necessarily indicate a problem. If subsequent hops respond normally with no sudden latency jump, you can safely ignore it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between online Ping and local Ping?
Online Ping tests connectivity from tool.tl's server to the target. Local Ping tests from your computer to the target. Use both together: if online Ping works but local doesn't, the problem is between you and the internet. If both fail, the target may be down.
Ping times out but the website loads fine — why?
Many servers (including Google and Cloudflare) block ICMP Ping requests to prevent DDoS amplification attacks. Ping timeout doesn't mean the server is down — just that it doesn't respond to Ping probes specifically.
Yes — tool.tl's Ping and Traceroute tools are completely free, no account required, instant results.