Ping Test

Server assisted New Internet & Network

Sends ICMP echo requests, or TCP connections to a port, to a host from up to 10 Globalping community probes in the countries, regions or networks you pick, and reports the minimum, average and maximum round-trip time and the packet loss of each probe. The measurement comes from those probes, not from your computer, and its parameters and results are public on Globalping.

Privacy: The host and options you enter are sent from the Mutqan server to Globalping, a public measurement network whose volunteer probes run the test. Globalping publishes measurement parameters and results, so do not enter anything private. Mutqan stores nothing.

What does a ping measure?

A ping sends ICMP echo requests (RFC 792, and RFC 4443 for IPv6) and times how long each reply takes to come back — the round-trip time — and counts the requests that got no reply as packet loss. It shows whether a host is reachable and how far away it is in network terms, but many hosts filter ICMP, so a missing reply alone does not prove that a host is down.

How to use Ping Test

  1. Enter a host name or an IP address; a pasted URL is reduced to its host.
  2. Pick a probe region, or type up to five locations such as SA, AE, Europe or AS13335, and choose how many probes and packets to use.
  3. Keep ICMP echo for a classic ping, or switch to TCP connect and give the port the host serves (443 for a website).
  4. Press Run ping and wait a few seconds while the probes report; read the summary, the per-probe table and the findings.

Ping Test features

  • Pings from up to 10 Globalping community probes at once, chosen by region preset or by up to five country codes, region names or AS numbers
  • ICMP echo or TCP connect mode, so a host that filters ICMP can still be timed on the port it serves
  • Minimum, average and maximum round-trip time, packet loss and replies for every probe, with the address each probe resolved
  • Plain-language findings: filtered ICMP versus a real outage, loss on one path versus everywhere, CDN or anycast hosts answering from different addresses
  • The raw output of every probe and the measurement ID, quota left and reset time, so the result can be checked and reproduced
  • Results table downloadable as CSV and raw output as text

Inputs and outputs

Inputs

  • Host name or IP address: a public name (example.com) or a public IPv4/IPv6 address; private, local and reserved targets are refused.
  • Probe region or locations: one preset, or up to five ISO country codes, region names or AS numbers; empty means anywhere in the world.
  • Probes (1–10), packets per probe (1–16) and protocol: ICMP echo, or TCP connect with a port.

Outputs

  • Summary: probes with replies, fastest and slowest average round trip with their locations, overall packet loss and the target address.
  • Round trips by probe: location, network and AS number, address pinged, minimum, average and maximum RTT, loss, replies and status.
  • Findings, the Globalping measurement record (ID, status, quota) and the raw output of every probe.

Ping Test example

Ping cloudflare.com from three probes in the Middle East (values vary by probe and time)

Input:

Host: cloudflare.com · Probe region: Middle East (Western Asia) · Probes: 3 · Packets per probe: 4 · Protocol: ICMP echo

Output:

Probes with replies: 3 / 3 · Fastest average: 2.41 ms (Riyadh, SA) · Slowest average: 21.6 ms (Amman, JO) · Packet loss: 0% (0 / 12)
# | Probe location | Address | Min | Avg | Max | Loss | Replies | Status
1 | Riyadh, SA | 104.16.133.229 | 2.18 | 2.41 | 2.77 | 0% | 4/4 | ok
2 | Dubai, AE | 104.16.133.229 | 3.05 | 3.3 | 3.62 | 0% | 4/4 | ok
3 | Amman, JO | 104.16.133.229 | 20.9 | 21.6 | 22.8 | 0% | 4/4 | ok
Finding: Every probe that ran received replies with no packet loss.

How to read the Ping Test results

Average RTT is the useful number; the gap between minimum and maximum shows jitter. A few milliseconds from a probe in the same city is normal, and 100–300 ms across continents is distance, not a fault.

Loss from one probe only usually sits on that probe’s path or access network. Loss from every probe points at the host, its network or a rate limit on ICMP at the destination.

100% loss with ICMP while TCP connect succeeds means the host is up and filters echo requests. 100% loss in both modes from every region suggests the host or its network is unreachable.

Different addresses per probe mean geographic DNS, anycast or a CDN: each region reached a different server, so their times are not comparable as one machine.

When to use Ping Test

  • Checking whether a site or API answers from the regions your users are in after a deployment or a DNS change.
  • Comparing latency to a server from the Gulf, Europe and South Asia before choosing where to host or which CDN to use.
  • Telling a regional network problem from a server outage when only some customers report that a service is slow.
  • Confirming that a host answers TCP on its service port when ICMP is blocked by its firewall.

Troubleshooting

  • "Globalping could not run this measurement with these settings": usually no probe is online in the locations you chose. Use a continent or Anywhere in the world, or fewer and larger countries.
  • A quota message: Globalping limits measurements per hour and the quota can be shared with other users of the same server address. Wait for the reset time shown, or test fewer probes.
  • Every probe shows no reply: switch to TCP connect on a port the host serves. If TCP connects, ICMP is filtered; if not, check that the name resolves (DNS Lookup) and that the service is running.
  • A probe shows failed: read its raw output; the name may not resolve from that network, or the probe may lack IPv6 for an IPv6 target.

Frequently asked questions about Ping Test

Why are the pings not sent from my computer?

A web page cannot send ICMP packets, and the Mutqan server runs on Cloudflare Workers, which cannot send them either. The test is run by Globalping community probes, small agents hosted on home and data-centre networks, in the locations you choose. The numbers describe the path from those probes to the host, not your own connection.

Does 100% packet loss mean the server is down?

Not necessarily. Many servers and firewalls drop ICMP echo requests while serving traffic normally. Repeat the test with the TCP connect protocol on a port the host uses (443 for a website): if TCP connects, the host is up and only ICMP is filtered.

Why do the probes show different addresses for the same host?

Each probe resolves the name through its own resolver. Sites behind a CDN, anycast or geographic DNS answer different regions with different servers, so each probe may ping a different machine. The Address column shows which one each probe measured.

Are my test parameters private?

No. Globalping publishes every measurement: the target, the options and the results can be retrieved by anyone who has the measurement ID. Do not test host names you need to keep confidential. Mutqan itself stores nothing.

How many tests can I run?

One visitor can start 30 measurements per hour here, each with up to 10 probes. Globalping also has an hourly quota per server address; when it is used up the page says so, with the reset time when Globalping reports it.

What is a good ping time?

It depends on distance. Light in optical fibre covers roughly 200 km per millisecond, and a ping measures the way there and back, so a probe in the same city usually sees under 10 ms, one on the same continent 20 to 80 ms and one on another continent 100 to 300 ms. Compare probes near your users instead of looking for one universal threshold.

Technical notes

ICMP echo request and echo reply are defined in RFC 792 for IPv4 and RFC 4443 for IPv6; the round-trip time is the interval between sending a request and receiving its reply, as the IPPM metric of RFC 2681 describes. TCP connect mode times the TCP three-way handshake (RFC 9293) to the chosen port instead.

The Mutqan server validates the host (public names and addresses only), then creates the measurement through the Globalping API and polls it every 500 ms for up to 20 seconds. Probes still running at that point are shown in their current state and the measurement is marked partial.

Each probe resolves the host name itself, so the address can differ from probe to probe; the table reports the address each probe actually pinged.

Limitations and methodology

Measured from Globalping community probes in the chosen locations, not from your computer or your ISP. To test your own connection use the Internet Speed Test, or run ping on your machine.

Probes are volunteer-hosted on varied networks (home broadband, data centres), and which probe is picked within a region is decided by Globalping, so repeated runs can differ.

At most 10 probes and 16 packets per probe, 30 measurements per visitor per hour, and Globalping’s own hourly quota; results are a snapshot, not monitoring.

A ping shows reachability and round-trip time only. It does not prove that a web server, API or database behind the address is working.

Security and privacy

The host, the options and the results are sent from the Mutqan server to Globalping and are public there: anyone with the measurement ID can read them. Do not test confidential host names. Mutqan stores nothing.

Your IP address is not sent to Globalping; the request comes from the Mutqan server. Ping only hosts you are allowed to test.

References