PING Command

PING Command
In all of these examples "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" is an example of a Domain Name or an IP Address. You must fill those out yourself.

ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
To Ping an IP Address you would type the following DOS Command in the Windows Command Prompt. Ping followed by an IP address. That is how you do an internet ping.

ping site.com (web address)
To ping a website you would type ping followed by the website domain name. If you know the websites IP Address you can ping it too.

Ping Command Switches
You maybe use the switches together.
ping xxx.xxx.xx.xx -t
Continuous Ping - It will keep on pinging forever until you hit Ctrl + C to stop it. This can be great for troubleshooting intermittent connections. Just open up a Command Prompt(or 3) and run the continuous ping command on a site like Google.com to see when you're dropping packets. I would also run one on your router and on another site like site.com for a better data sample control group.

ping xxx.xxx.xx.xx -n 10
Number of Pings - The N Switch is simply for setitng the number of pings. By default the ping cmd sends out 4 packets at 32 bytes each.

ping xxx.xxx.xx.xx -l 1500
Size of Packet - By default the packets sent are a small 32 bytes. You can set your own size up to the max 65500 bytes. This can really help for stress tetsing your local network.

ping xxx.xxx.xx.xx -w 5000
Time Out - This is in milliseconds. The timeout by default is 4,000 milliseconds which amounts to 4 minutes. Just seeing if you were still paying attention. It really is only 4 seconds.

ping -a xxx.xxx.xx.xx
Resolves Hostanme Address - This is a great one if you are helping osmoen else and need to find out what router model they are using. You an resolve the host of an IP Adrress with this command. Try pinging your router or your local computer with it. ping -a 127.0.0.1. Not this switch will only work in front of the IP Address.
Ping Command Summary
The Ping command is a network tool used to determine if you are able to send packets between your network computer on the internet to another computer without losing packets along the way. By doing this you can determine if you're online or if a website is down. It also calculates round trip time and Time to Live. This can let you know if your NIC card is working properly and if you're able to reach your router or modem. It can also be used as a network tool for troubleshooting.