The point where we focus our gaze on our connection is usually speed. However, there is also another very important element that can affect us. This is the ping or latency, in the case of having a high ping it can cause an unsatisfactory Internet browsing. In addition, it can have a negative impact when we play online, in audio calls and also, of course, in video calls. We are going to start by explaining what ping is, how we can find out, and the correct values to have. We will also talk about the causes that cause us to have a very high connection ping.
What is ping and what is it used for
The ping We can define it as a command for network diagnosis that will allow us to check the status of communication between the local computer and one or more destination computers for which the IP protocol is going to be used. Its way of working is as follows, when pinging an IP, it sends a message ICMP Echo Request to the destination host, and when the destination host receives it, it replies to you. The answer is made with a message ICMP Echo Reply.
Based on that response, the minimum, average, and maximum time it takes to respond is calculated. If no response is obtained within a predetermined time, it will indicate that there is no connection to the host, that the network is unreachable, or other types of errors.
Today it is increasingly common to have a printer connected to our local network by Wi-Fi or network cable. In the event that printing fails, we can make a series of checks. If we ping the printer and it answers, that may be a sign that we have a driver problem or something is wrongly configured. On the other hand, in case of not responding to the ping, it is that the failure has to be related to the network because an IP is not assigned or we have an IP conflict. Another thing could be something physical affecting the router, network cabling or the printer itself.
Find out if the connection ping is high
The first thing we must explain is that we can use the ping command in two very different ways:
- At the level of our home network: to check the status of our computers and network resources. An example could be the printer that we put in the previous section.
- In relation to our Internet connection: if it works normally, or if there is a fault that our ISP or Internet provider must solve.
In principle, we have to start by checking that our home or office network is working properly. The easiest way to do this would be by pinging the router. For this we need to know your IP, which in many cases we can find on a sticker that comes below. In the hypothetical case that it does not appear in Windows, we can do it using a window of Command Prompt. You can find it in the Start Menu or by executing the CMD command.
Once in the Command Prompt window we have to enter this command:
ipconfig /all
These are the results that we would obtain where the gateway is the IP of our router.
Then, in the same window we write ping, we add the IP of our router and press enter. Here is an example by pinging our router connected by network cable.
The results show that we have sent 4 packages, we have received 4 back and we have not lost any. Regarding the response time, it was less than 1 millisecond.
As for when can we say that the connection ping is very high in our local network it will depend on the way we connect. If it is via Ethernet cable, it should be less than 1 millisecond and if we are connected for WiFi the maximum recommended ping would be 5-8 milliseconds.
Remember that the lower the ping, the better. In the case of the previous example, being less than 1 millisecond is a good result. Secondly, if we do not get a response to the ping and all the packages are lost, the fault may be in:
- Router: that it is off, faulty or incorrectly configured.
- Software level failure in the configuration of laptops and PCs. For example, lack of drivers or that we have incorrectly configured the TCP / IP of Windows.
- Hardware problems network card or Wi-Fi device.
- The network cable is damagedTrying with another if you have it can be a good solution.
Ping on Android and IOS
You can also check the ping on a smartphone or tablet. The difference with Windows is that to be able to do it, we are going to have to use applications. An example of an app that we can use is Fing. After the detection of the elements of our network, we click on our router in a sustained way, we touch ping and it will offer us results like these:
Here we have to look at average ping. Remember that the connection ping is very high for Wifi when it exceeds 10 milliseconds. As I have obtained 3 ms the results are within limits and are very good.
Here you can download Fing from the Play Store:
Also two other Android apps that we could also use are He.net Network Tools Y NetX Network Tools:
Regarding iOS for Apple devices, we can use Network Ping Lite and also iNetTools – Ping, DNS, Port Scan.
Causes of high ping
Now we are going to deal with situations where the connection ping is very high. Sometimes it should be noted that the cause is due to our Internet provider because, for example, have a fault and are not 100% operational. In these cases, the only thing that can be done is to report the fault or ask our ISP to review our connection in case it observes a fault that can be corrected or can make the modification of any parameter that benefits us. Also, changing DNS servers for different ones from the provider can sometimes improve Internet browsing.
A fairly common cause is poor Wi-Fi coverage. If we are far from the router and we have a lot of interference with nearby WiFi networks or other devices, we can have problems. At the moment we have a coverage with low signal, in addition to harming the connection speed, it also affects the ping. Therefore, architectural barriers such as walls, distance, and interference are the main enemies of Wi-Fi.
Another problem may be the network saturation by other computers using the network intensively. For example, when using P2P programs, uploading or downloading files from a server. This can cause latency to increase a lot and we have problems when playing online or making a video call.
It may also be the case that we have malware on our computer. This, in addition to causing security risks, increases the ping when our connection is used improperly. To end this section, a good policy would be review the programs or applications that we have running in the background.
Solutions to apply when the connection ping is high
One of the possible solutions if our team allows it, would be connect us by Ethernet network cable. Some candidates to do so are the PC, the laptop, the Smart TV and some printers. We must also observe the computers that are connected and what they are doing. Especially we must control that our equipment does not saturate the network and check if we have intruders.
Lastly, we could also consider changing the router. If it offers us the characteristics we need, it may be an option. Sometimes the router performs well but there are areas of the house that have poor coverage. Then you can choose buy an access point or Wi-Fi Mesh system.
As you have seen in this tutorial, if the ping of the connection is very high it can affect your experience on the Internet, you have also learned what the causes are and some possible solutions to minimize latency or also called ping.