Network Ping
Ping a host to measure network latency, packet loss, and connection reliability.
iPhoneiPadMacApple Vision ProApple TVApple Watch
Overview
Network Ping sends small test packets to a host (a website, server, or IP address) and measures how long each packet takes to make the round trip. This is one of the most fundamental network diagnostic tools. It tells you whether a host is reachable, how fast the connection is (latency), and whether packets are being lost along the way. High latency or packet loss can explain slow browsing, laggy video calls, or poor online gaming performance.
Table of Contents
Target Card
The target card at the top of the screen is where you specify what to ping:
- Status Pill -- a colored badge showing the current state (Idle, Pinging, Finished, Stopped, or Error).
- Host Input Field -- type or paste the address you want to ping. This can be a domain name (e.g.,
apple.com), an IPv4 address (e.g.,8.8.8.8), or an IPv6 address (e.g.,2001:4860:4860::8888). A paste button next to the field lets you quickly paste an address from your clipboard. - Address Family Picker -- choose which type of IP address to use:
- Auto -- the system decides whether to use IPv4 or IPv6 (recommended for most users).
- IPv4 -- force the ping to use Internet Protocol version 4 addresses only.
- IPv6 -- force the ping to use Internet Protocol version 6 addresses only.
- Resolved Address -- once you start the ping, the actual IP address that the hostname resolved to is displayed here. This is useful for confirming which server you are reaching.
- Start / Stop Button -- tap Start to begin pinging. While pinging, tap Stop to end the test.
Settings
Basic Settings
- Count -- the number of ping packets to send. Set to
0for continuous pinging (the ping will run indefinitely until you tap Stop). A specific number (e.g., 10 or 50) will stop the ping automatically after that many packets have been sent. - Interval -- how long to wait between sending each ping packet (in seconds). A shorter interval sends packets more frequently, giving you faster results but generating more network traffic. A common default is 1 second.
- Timeout -- how long to wait for a response before considering a packet lost (in seconds). If a response does not arrive within this time, the packet is counted as lost.
- Payload Size -- the size of the data payload in each ping packet (in bytes). The default is typically 56 bytes. Larger payloads can help test how the network handles bigger packets, which can reveal issues that small packets do not.
Advanced Settings
- Hop Limit -- the maximum number of network hops (routers) the packet is allowed to pass through before being discarded. This is also known as TTL (Time to Live). Each router the packet passes through decreases this value by one. If it reaches zero, the packet is dropped and you receive a "Time Exceeded" message. The default value (usually 64 or 128) is sufficient for virtually all destinations.
- Don't Fragment toggle -- when enabled, the ping packet will not be broken into smaller pieces if it is too large for a network link along the path. If the packet cannot fit, you will receive an error instead. This is useful for testing the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) of a network path.
- Traffic Class -- sets a priority level on the ping packets. This is mainly useful in networks that implement Quality of Service (QoS) policies to prioritize certain types of traffic.
- Payload Pattern -- controls what data fills the ping packet:
- Timestamp -- fills the payload with a timestamp (the default).
- Zeros -- fills the payload with zeroes (the simplest pattern).
- Random -- fills the payload with random data. Useful for testing whether the network handles varied data correctly.
- Hex -- lets you specify a custom hexadecimal pattern to fill the payload.
Results
Latency Graph
An interactive line graph plots the round-trip time (in milliseconds) of each ping packet over time. This gives you a visual picture of your connection's performance:
- A flat, low line indicates a stable, fast connection.
- Spikes indicate moments of higher latency, which could be caused by network congestion, Wi-Fi interference, or server load.
- Gaps in the graph represent lost packets.
You can interact with the graph to inspect individual data points.
Statistics Grid
Below the graph, a grid summarizes the ping session with these statistics:
| Statistic | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Transmitted | The number of ping packets sent. |
| Received | The number of responses received. |
| Loss % | The percentage of packets that were lost (did not receive a response). Zero loss means a perfectly reliable connection. Even 1-2% loss can noticeably affect real-time applications like video calls. |
| Min | The fastest round-trip time observed (in milliseconds). |
| Avg | The average round-trip time across all received responses. |
| Max | The slowest round-trip time observed. A large difference between Min and Max indicates an inconsistent connection. |
| StdDev | Standard deviation of the round-trip times. A low value means latency is consistent; a high value means it varies significantly. Think of it as a measure of connection stability. |
Log
The log section shows each individual ping response in chronological order. Each line is color-coded:
- Green -- a successful response, showing the round-trip time in milliseconds.
- Red -- a lost packet or error (e.g., timeout, destination unreachable, or time exceeded).
The log provides the full detail behind the graph and statistics, letting you see exactly when and how each packet was handled.
Toolbar Actions
The toolbar provides buttons for managing your ping results:
- Share -- share the ping results (including statistics and log) with other apps or save them to a file.
- Copy -- copy the results to your clipboard for pasting into a message or document.
- Clear -- remove all results and start with a clean slate.
Notes And Limitations
- Some hosts, servers, and networks block ping traffic (ICMP echo requests) as a security measure. A host that does not respond to pings may still be perfectly reachable via a web browser or other applications.
- Latency values represent the full round trip (your device to the host and back). The actual one-way delay is roughly half of the displayed value.
- Packet loss on Wi-Fi can be caused by interference, distance from the router, or network congestion, and does not necessarily indicate an internet problem.
- Continuous ping (count set to 0) will run until you manually stop it. Keep in mind that long-running pings consume some battery and network resources.
- The Don't Fragment option may not work on all network paths, as some routers or networks may fragment packets regardless of this setting.
- Very large payload sizes may be rejected by your network or the destination host.