How to ping your router? –

Whether you want to check the connection between the router and the computer or check your Internet connection, Windows has a handy utility called Command prompt, which enables the user to perform different tasks using various commands. Although this goes beyond the skills of the average user, it is always good to know how to do the first two thing with the help of the so called ping command. The next few paragraphs will explain the ping command and how to do it properly.

How to ping your router?

To ping your router first you have to know its default IP address. Finding the router’s IP and the ping command are executed via the Command prompt, so the procedure is as follows.

First you have to open up the Command Prompt. In Windows 7, you have to type CMD in the Search box in the Start menu and press Enter on the keyboard.

When the Command Prompt opens, in order to find what is the default IP of your router, you have to type the following command “ipconfig“. Look for the part which says Default gateway. This is your router IP address. In most cases it starts with 192.168. For example, if you own a Linksys router this number should be 192.168.1.1.

The next step is to ping the router. While the Command Prompt is still open type the following command:

Ping 192.168.1.1 -t

Some sources suggest pinging the router without the -t switch at the end. Let’s see what is the difference between these two.

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Pinging with or without -t

If you are in doubt whether to use the -t switch or not, read the following and decide.

When you ping the router’s IP address without the -t switch at the end (ping 192.168.1.1), the ping command will send 4 packets of data to the router and you will receive 4 responses. In most cases this is enough to show whether the problem is between the router and the PC.

On the other hand, when we add the -t switch at the end of the ping command (ping 192.168.1.1 -t), the number of packets sent to the router is indefinite, which means the packets will be sent until the user interrupts this command. This command is interrupted in two ways:

1. Ctrl + C – this will stop the pinging completely
2. Ctrl + Break or Ctrl + Pause – this will stop the pinging for a few seconds, give the summary up to that point and then continue

Analyzing the results of the ping command can be somewhat tricky. However, ideally you should receive the same number of sent packets and have 0% of lost packets. This means that everything is OK.

Using the “ping 192.168.1.1 -t” alternatively called Continuous or Extended Ping command is there to help you check for potential internet connectivity or router problems. As you can see, you can do this in a few seconds and you may get the idea about what is going on at that moment. Therefore, give it a try. You have nothing to lose!