Have you stumbled across the term ping and want to know what it is? We’ll explain it to you. The word ping mostly appears in connection with online games, streaming, or other complex applications. The ping describes the time it takes a network to send data packets. There are also fraudulent ping calls. In this article, you will learn about both.
This is the Ping Value
Your computer communicates with servers on the Internet. To do this, data packets are sent back and forth. Depending on the quality of the internet connection, this can be done very quickly or take longer. You can tell by how much time passes between a request from your computer and the response from the server. For example, when you visit a website, it is a request to a server. Its answer is the view of the web page shown in your browser.
The time that elapses between request and response is called latency. It is also called ping and is measured in milliseconds. The higher the ping, the more time it takes to send a data packet to the server and back to the computer. So a low ping is better. This is especially important so that complex applications such as games or real-time video calls run smoothly.
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How to do the Ping Test
You can easily find out the current ping of your computer. To do this, go to a test website, for example, speedtest.net. You start the test there and then get the results. Usually, these are the values for upload and download speed as well as the ping.
You can also determine the ping on your Windows computer via a command prompt. You can use this to test the ping for the connection to a specific server, for example, to your video telephony service. To do this, follow our step-by-step instructions or take a look at the brief instructions.
- Step 1: Press the key combination [Windows] + [R] . Then enter ” cmd ” in the Run window. Then click on ” OK. “
- Step 2: In the command prompt, enter: ” ping -t [desired website]. ” Then confirm with [Enter].
- Step 3: Windows now carry out the ping test with the server of the desired website (in the example heise.de). To do this, your PC sends data packets to the server and stops the time it takes for the server to respond.
- Step 4: To end the test, press [Ctrl] + [C] . You will then be shown the summary of the test results. There you will see the highest and lowest measured ping and an average value.
It’s a Ping call
So-called ping calls have nothing to do with ping times. They are a scam and are also called lure calls. A ping call is a very short call to an unknown number on your cell phone. It usually only rings once – hence the name “Ping”. The goal: to make you curious and call you back.
The danger: The ping call is usually based on a costly phone number. When you call back, you often end up on hold and incur high costs. So it would help if you were careful not to call back unknown numbers. You can find more information and tips on ping calls from the Federal Network Agency.
Brief instructions: Ping test in Windows
- Press [Windows] + [R] .
- In the Run window, enter ” cmd ” and then click ” OK “.
- Type the command ” ping -t [desired website] ” into the prompt and confirm with [ Enter ]. Windows then performs the ping test with the desired server.
- Press [Ctrl] + [C] to end the test. You will then see the summary of the test results.
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