what does mean ping?

**abdul** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 12:31 PM

I have heard the word in lots of places. I know that it involves the use of winsock and it has to do something with getting and sending data between computers. But can you tell me

what does "Ping" do?
What is it usefull for?

**Cander** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 12:33 PM

returns the amount of time in milliseconds that it takes for a packet of data to get to one place and back.

**abdul** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 12:56 PM

Ok thanks. I have getright and I see the following statement in the settings:

When downloading, ping to help keep the connection alive

So, What else does it do other than just getting the time in which a packet is sent and gotten?

j2k · Aug 23rd, 2001, 12:58 PM

In that sense it means it will send a ping to the server to show you're still "alive" and will (theoretically) stop the "The Operation Timed Out" errors.

**filburt1** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:00 PM

Originally posted by j2k
will (theoretically) stop the "The Operation Timed Out" errors.

The "theoretical" could be because it's waiting for HTTP requests or other non-packet-level events.

**ccoder** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:01 PM

In addition to Cander's explanation, pings are commonly used to see if a remote system is available. If the ping requests time out, then either the system, or a router along the route, is down.

To determine where the problem is, do a tracert to the same IP or domain name. Tracert will display every IP along the route that it finds up to, but not including, the device that is down.

**filburt1** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:07 PM

Pinging will not, however, determine if the server's software, such as Apache, is working. But ping and tracert are both two very useful and cool toys. It's interesting using tracert to see where your traffic is going.

**ccoder** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by j2k
In that sense it means it will send a ping to the server to show you're still "alive" and will (theoretically) stop the "The Operation Timed Out" errors.

This type of "ping" is more commonly reffered to as a heartbeat. One of the systems will send out a heartbeat message and the other system will return it.

As for the "The Operation Timed Out" errors, it is possible for a socket connection to exist for hours or even days with out timing out. It is when you actually send something and the send complete is not received from the tcp/ip protocol that the timeout error will occur.

When you have a persistant connection (that is, you don't close after every send/receive), it is good practice to send a heartbeat every so often if no data is being sent. This way, both sides can make a determination (after some predetermined amount of time) that there is a problem and they can close the connection and try to reconnect.

**filburt1** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:17 PM

I've noticed my cable modem doing a keepalive. The transmit light flickers all the time. And no, I'm not performing a DoS attack, it happens even when all the computers are unplugged from the router that's plugged into the cablemodem.

**abdul** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:33 PM

That is why when I am downloading a 15MB file for a server, when it reaches about 10MB, it says that "time out". So will the ping thingy helpfull to not get the "time out" message and complete the download successfully?

**filburt1** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:34 PM

If you're downloading, there should be no need for a keepalive. Are you using dialup? What ISP?

j2k · Aug 23rd, 2001, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by abdul
That is why when I am downloading a 15MB file for a server, when it reaches about 10MB, it says that "time out". So will the ping thingy helpfull to not get the "time out" message and complete the download successfully?

It depends. In my experience, it's more common to get Time Out errors if you're on dialup. I was on 56k and got Time Out errors all the time. I upgraded to ADSL Broadband 512k and hardly ever get Time Out errors any more. And if you're interested, no, I didn't change ISPs. My ISP (BT Internet) offer dialup and ADSL broadband. I kept BT Internet and upgraded to ADSL with the same ISP instead of getting ADSL from a different ISP mainly so I could keep my email address so I didn't have to tell all my friends to update their address books.

**JoshT** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 02:06 PM

Now, to make things complicated, do you know that there are two types of pings - ICMP and UDP. I'm not too sure how the UDP one works - maybe at UDP port 0? And the ping packets can easily be blocked by routers/firewalls.

I've noticed my cable modem doing a keepalive. The transmit light flickers all the time. And no, I'm not performing a DoS attack, it happens even when all the computers are unplugged from the router that's plugged into the cablemodem.

Is this recently? Because I've noticed the same thing, and I'm pretty sure its caused by probes from computers infected with Code Red. I think (my cable provider) Roadrunner had some problems with it.

**substring** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 02:14 PM

I think the word "ping" might be borrowed from the Navy terminology.

**ccoder** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 02:15 PM

Originally posted by JoshT
Is this recently? Because I've noticed the same thing, and I'm pretty sure its caused by probes from computers infected with Code Red. I think (my cable provider) Roadrunner had some problems with it.

I have been seeing the same thing. Some days the activity is heavier than others. I had come to the same conclusion as you. BTW - I'm on the @HOME network.

**abdul** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 02:15 PM

I am using DSL by Bell Sympatico. Do I ping the ISP or what???

I think that I am only getting that Time Out error for a spicifc server. I think that server has a time limit or something like that. That is why I want to know that if I ping that server, will I be able to make the server assume that the connection with the server is always alive

**filburt1** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 02:17 PM

Since you're already doing a s***load of TCP/IP traffic by downloading, I don't think that will help. It is bizarre that you are getting a timeout at all on DSL. It must be a bad server that you're trying to download from.

**ccoder** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 02:19 PM

Originally posted by abdul
I am using DSL by Bell Sympatico. Do I ping the ISP or what???

I think that I am only getting that Time Out error for a spicifc server. I think that server has a time limit or something like that. That is why I want to know that if I ping that server, will I be able to make the server assume that the connection with the server is always alive

My guess is that the TTL is set too low. A ping or heartbeat isn't going to help.

j2k · Aug 23rd, 2001, 02:55 PM

BTW: This isn't really a VB question now is it

Maybe you'd get more help about your Timeout problem in a non-VB forum!

Not that the people in the VB forum don't know what they're talking about!

**abdul** · Aug 23rd, 2001, 03:04 PM

Originally posted by j2k
BTW: This isn't really a VB question now is it Maybe you'd get more help about your Timeout problem in a non-VB forum!

Not that the people in the VB forum don't know what they're talking about!

Ok, great so is there anyway to ping a server and check the time it takes for a packet to be sent and recieved?

(a vb related question now)

j2k · Aug 23rd, 2001, 04:43 PM

Haha!! Yeah you can - use WinSock.

The actual coding escapes me at the moment.. I'm sure the other VB boffins can help out!

**Crystal Meth** · Nov 30th, 2002, 09:59 PM

do i see this? this cant be right... you have some 3k posts, on a programming forum, and you ask what ping is? If thats not horrible then i dont know what is... i think my 9 year old brother can turn out a rather nice def of ping, and he doesnt know **** about computers...

But you with 3k posts on a PROGRAMMING FORUM. What are you programming? AHH!! sorry mate thats just too much for me to comprehend, you asking what ping is... its hilarious

**MartinLiss** · Nov 30th, 2002, 10:02 PM

Crystal Meth: A response like that isn't called for. Please don't do it again.

**amitabh** · Dec 1st, 2002, 07:36 AM

Originally posted by abdul
Ok, great so is there anyway to ping a server and check the time it takes for a packet to be sent and recieved? (a vb related question now)

If you are asking for code abdul, then ther are loads of tem. You ca try these three places: www.mvps.org/vbnet , www.vbip.com and as usual www.allapi.net . The api call you should be looking for is ICMPEcho and related calls.

**abdul** · Dec 1st, 2002, 05:50 PM

Crystal, are you the one who dug this old thread up? This is almost one year old and by now I know a lot more than "Ping". Also, I probably had about half of the posts I have now.

amitabh, thanks for the response but, as I said, this thread is
very old so my questions was already answered long time ago.

**Crystal Meth** · Dec 2nd, 2002, 02:46 AM

Sorry mate, i did a search for a keyword and this thread came up, i just never thought to look at the date. My apologies all. No worries

**amitabh** · Dec 2nd, 2002, 02:51 AM

Originally posted by abdul
Crystal, are you the one who dug this old thread up? This is almost one year old and by now I know a lot more than "Ping". Also, I probably had about half of the posts I have now.

amitabh, thanks for the response but, as I said, this thread is
very old so my questions was already answered long time ago.

My fault, I didn't see the date. To be truthful, I was a little amazed as the question came from you.

**abdul** · Dec 2nd, 2002, 03:54 PM

No problem, Crystal and amitabh.

**nemaroller** · Dec 2nd, 2002, 08:36 PM

You can alternatively open the Command Prompt...

Start... Programs... Command Prompt... or on 2000/xp ... Start... Programs...Accessories..Command Prompt

Then enter something like

ping 64.5.4.1

or

tracert 64.5.4.1

And it will show u the TTL and all that stuff...

**nemaroller** · Dec 2nd, 2002, 08:41 PM

Haha... just read the 'in-between' posts.... lol...
yea, really, abdul... why you asking these ridiculous questions.... lmao...

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