Test Network and Internet Latency (Windows Only)

Intro: Test Network and Internet Latency (Windows Only)

First of all latency is aka. lag. This instructable will teach you how to check your connectivity to the network for windows. You will need the command prompt, aka. CMD, for this instructable.

Disclaimer: I found this on WikiHow and thought I should share this with the Instructables community!

STEP 1: The Command Prompt

In this step I will teach you how to get the the command prompt.

Method 1: (Pictures)
1. Press Start
2. Press Run
3. Type in Cmd
4. Press Ok

Method 2:
1. Press Start
2. Press All Programs
3. Press Accessories
4. Select Command Prompt

Start > (All) Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt

Method 3: Vista / 7
1. Press Start
2. Type Cmd
4. Enter

STEP 2: Testing

This will test your network card, not your router, modem, or Internet connection.

Testing Packet Sending / Receiving:
1. Type ping 127.0.0.1
2. Enter
3. See 2nd picture

Testing Latency:
1. Type ping 64.233.161.99 -t
2. Wait a min or two
3. Press Ctrl + C
4. See 3rd picture
5. See 4th picture

You may also ping public domains. ie. www.google.com. Just type in ping www.google.com -t

STEP 3: Finished

After you have completed this, you know a little bit more about your computer then before! If your connection is a little slow, then you might want to consider upgrading your network card / Ethernet cords / routor / etc.

Comments

[matrix828]

great 'ible, but on mine the average time was 39-40 ms lol...rubbish broadbrand, good network card LOL

[mr.incredible]

Every little tool helps... Ping doesn't really tell you anything other than you have a connection to the device you are pinging and the TTL (Time To Live) Basically the time it takes to get a response. You can see if there are problems somewhere on your network, but there are a lot of devices between you and the public site you are pinging. A better tool to use would be tracert (Windows) traceroute (Linux). (See attached) Even that will not show much of your local network. It basically will show the time between each hop or router you hit. You only need to replace network cards and cables if there are serious delays on the first hop. Even then you could be chasing wild geese. Other things on your home or work network could be causing packet storms. A looped back cable on your router or switch will cause slow connections or even stop the network. If you are wireless, signal strength is the biggest factor. Other things like badly configured DHCP or manual settings on your network connection can cause slowdowns too. The wrong or a slow responding DNS server will cause serious lag with the first hop.

[clempar55]

It is not "Windows only" since the ping command (and of course the command line interface) also exits on other OS like Linux ( and certainly Mac OS, but I didn't test)

[lemonie]

Well done for not just copying the whole thing (it has happened) - but you've stopped short of saying anything about what this does or what the results mean. Can you fill that gap? L