Short answer. Open a terminal or command prompt and run ping hostname — the utility reports round-trip time in milliseconds and the percentage of lost packets. Or use an online tool that pings the host from a remote server. Under 50 ms is good for gaming, under 100 ms is fine for everyday use, and anything above 200 ms feels noticeably slow.
What Ping Is and What Counts as Normal
Ping is the time it takes a data packet to travel from your device to a network node and back. The technical term is RTT (round-trip time), measured in milliseconds: the lower the value, the faster the response. The ping utility sends ICMP echo requests and measures how many milliseconds the reply takes.
Keep in mind that RTT covers the entire path: your local network, your ISP's equipment, backbone links, and every router in between. That is why "ping" always refers to a specific destination, never to the internet in general.
| Ping (RTT) | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| <20 ms | Excellent | Comfortable for esports, shooters, and trading |
| 20–50 ms | Good | Online gaming with no noticeable delay |
| 50–100 ms | Acceptable | Noticeable in fast-paced games, fine for web and video |
| 100–200 ms | Uncomfortable | Lag in games, pauses in video calls |
| >200 ms | Poor | Noticeable delays in almost every task |
How to Check Ping from the Command Line
The ping utility ships with every operating system — there is nothing to install.
Windows
Press Win+R, type cmd, and hit Enter. In the window that opens, run:
ping google.com
By default Windows sends 4 packets. Use ping -n 20 google.com for a series of 20 packets, or ping -t google.com for a continuous test (stop with Ctrl+C). Sample output:
C:\>ping -n 5 8.8.8.8
Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=117
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=117
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=117
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=117
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=117
Ping statistics for 8.8.8.8:
Packets: Sent = 5, Received = 5, Lost = 0 (0% loss)
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 13ms, Maximum = 16ms, Average = 14ms
How to read it: time=14ms is the RTT of a single packet; the "Lost" line shows packet loss (0% is normal); the gap between minimum and maximum is a rough indicator of jitter — instability of the delay.
macOS and Linux
Open a terminal and run the command with a packet count limit — otherwise ping runs forever (stop with Ctrl+C):
ping -c 20 8.8.8.8
Sample output:
$ ping -c 5 8.8.8.8 PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=117 time=14.312 ms 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=117 time=13.802 ms 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=117 time=15.401 ms 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=117 time=14.129 ms 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=117 time=14.917 ms --- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics --- 5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 13.802/14.512/15.401/0.611 ms
The last line is the summary: minimum, average, and maximum RTT plus stddev — the standard deviation. The closer stddev is to zero, the more stable the link; a value comparable to the average means pronounced jitter. The packet loss line shows the share of lost packets: even 1–2% loss is noticeable in games and calls.
Ping in series of 20–50 packets, not single requests: one result tells you nothing about link stability. Look at the spread of values, not just the average.
Checking Your Internet Ping
"Internet ping" as a single metric does not exist: latency is always measured to a specific node. When a speed test shows a ping value, it measures the delay to its own nearest test server — the delay to a game server or to the website you actually care about will be different.
A practical way to locate a problem is two measurements. First, ping your gateway (the router), usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1: this reflects the state of your local network. Then ping an external host such as 8.8.8.8: this covers the full path through your ISP. If the router answers in 1–3 ms but the external host takes 150 ms, the problem is outside your home. If the router itself takes 30–80 ms, blame Wi-Fi or the router.
Wi-Fi versus cable: twisted pair gives a stable 1–2 ms to the router, while wireless adds anywhere from 2 to 30 ms plus visible jitter caused by interference, neighboring networks, and walls. A VPN almost always increases ping: traffic takes a detour through the VPN server, and encryption adds overhead — typically +20–100 ms. The rare exception is when a VPN straightens out a poorly routed ISP path.
Checking Ping to a Website or Server Online
An online check matters when you need to measure latency not from your own machine but from another point in the network. The /ping tool runs the test from the enterno.io server and additionally checks TCP port availability. This helps in three situations:
- outbound ICMP is blocked on your network (common in corporate environments) — the ping command fails, while the online tool pings from its own side;
- you want to compare "from me" versus "from another network location": if your ping to a server is 300 ms but it is 20 ms from a remote server, the problem is on your route, not at the hosting provider;
- the host does not answer ICMP at all — then a TCP port check (80, 443, 22) shows whether the service itself is alive.
If latency is there and you need to find where it appears, run /traceroute: the visual trace shows every hop on the route and which one adds the delay.
Bandwidth does not fix ping — they are different metrics. A gigabit line with 150 ms of latency feels worse in games than a 50 Mbps line with a 20 ms ping.
Ping in Games
Most games show ping right in the interface: the scoreboard on Tab in shooters, a network overlay, or a netgraph option in settings. That is the number to watch — the game reports latency to the specific game server hosting your match.
Ping to a game server is not the same as ping to 8.8.8.8 or a popular website: game servers live in specific data centers, and the route to them is different. A low ping to a public DNS does not guarantee a comfortable match on a server in another region. If the game lets you pick a region, pick the geographically closest one.
Why Ping Is High and What to Do
Typical causes of high latency:
- Wi-Fi instead of cable — interference and retransmissions add milliseconds and jitter;
- a saturated link: torrents, cloud backups, streams, and background updates;
- a geographically distant server — physics cannot be cheated: roughly 1 ms per 100 km of fiber;
- an overloaded or faulty hop on the route — visible in a traceroute;
- VPNs, proxies, and traffic "optimizers";
- ISP-side congestion, especially during evening peak hours.
For a step-by-step breakdown of causes and fixes, read the guide on high ping and packet loss. Do not confuse latency with speed — why they are different things is covered in latency vs throughput. And if the host does not respond at all, start by checking whether the website is down.
FAQ
What is a normal ping for gaming?
Up to 50 ms is comfortable in almost every genre. For competitive shooters and fighting games, aim for 30 ms or less. MMOs and turn-based games tolerate up to 100 ms. Stability matters too: a steady 60 ms beats swings between 20 and 200.
Why does my ping jump around?
Fluctuating latency is jitter. Common causes: Wi-Fi interference, other devices and apps loading the link, or a congested ISP node. Test with a series — ping -n 50 on Windows or ping -c 50 on macOS and Linux — and repeat over a cable: if the spread disappears on a wire, the wireless network is to blame.
Ping: transmit failed — what does it mean?
A Windows error: the packet could not even be sent. It usually means there is no link to the gateway — a network adapter failure, a disabled interface, wrong IP settings, or a firewall block. Check ping 127.0.0.1 (is the TCP/IP stack alive), then ping the router, then restart the network adapter.
How do I check ping and internet speed at the same time?
Speed test services show a ping value too, but only to their nearest test server. For real diagnostics, take two separate measurements: a ping series to the host you care about plus a bandwidth test. Remember these are independent metrics — high speed does not imply low latency.
Why does an online check show a different ping than mine?
Because the measurement runs from a different point in the network over a different route. That is not an error but useful data: comparing your result with the one from a remote server tells you whether the problem is local or global.
Ping Diagnostics Checklist
- Ping your gateway (192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1) to rule out the local network.
- Ping an external host with a series of 20+ packets; watch the average and the spread.
- Compare results over Wi-Fi and over a cable.
- Disable the VPN, torrents, and background downloads, then measure again.
- Check latency from another network location with /ping.
- Run /traceroute and find the hop where latency grows.
- Check packet loss: consistently above 1% is a reason to contact your ISP.
- Repeat the test at different times of day — evening congestion is typical.
If latency to your own server matters continuously rather than once, set up regular monitoring with alerts — plans and limits are described on the /pricing page.