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Running a Ping or Traceroute Test

Last updated on by Freeola Support

Welcome the the Freeola support pages, this guide is designed to help with troubleshooting a broadband connection through the use of ping and trace route testing. For more support topics, please visit our main Support Page.

A good method of testing or troubleshooting internet connections is the running of ping or trace route tests. This can help narrow down where a non-connection or slowed connection is occurring.

A PING test will send a series of short, small, connections to a web site (or IP) address and monitor both completion and response time. Typically 4 pings will be sent and received, although this process can be edited to send continuous connections over a period of time.

A TRACE ROUTE test will run a normal connection through the Command/Terminal box, giving details of the 'hops' taken, and response times for each one. A hop is computer, or server, that is used to route your device to the chosen website or IP address. There can typically be anything from 5 to 20 hops on any website request.

While the process for running each test is the same, the method of starting them slightly differs across Operating Systems. Directly below are the instructions for various Windows Operating Systems. If you are running an Apple Mac, please scroll down the page or jump to the Mac section of this guide.

Windows Operating Systems
Opening a Command Prompt

A ping or trace route test can only be run from a command prompt box (sometimes referred to as a 'DOS Box'). The process of opening this feature varies slightly between Operating Systems, please follow the instructions below that relate to your machine.

All instructions assume your machine is powered up, and you are logged into the main/administrator account.

Windows XP and below

  1. Click the Start button, found typically in the bottom-left hand corner of the screen.

  2. On this menu, select Run, a small window should now open.

  3. In this window, type cmd or command and press Enter on your keyboard, or the Run button on-screen.

  4. A small, black, window should now appear. This is the Command Prompt.

  5. To run a Ping Test please click here, for instructions on a Traceroute, click here.

Windows 7

  1. Click the Windows icon, found typically in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

  2. The Search function should be selected automatically, in this type cmd or command and press Enter on your keyboard or, after a brief wait, select the cmd.exe icon from the search results.

  3. A small, black, window should now appear. This is the Command Prompt.

  4. To run a Ping Test please click here, for instructions on a Traceroute, click here.

Windows 8

  1.  While in the Metro UI, type cmd and press Enter on your keyboard. The system should automatically begin searching and open the Command Prompt.

  2. A small, black, window should now appear. This is the Command Prompt.

  3. To run a Ping Test please click here, for instructions on a Traceroute, click here.

Windows 10/11

  1. Right-Click the Windows Icon, typically found in the bottom-left corner of the desktop,

  2. From the provided list, select Command Prompt (Administrator) to open the Command Prompt.

  3. To run a Ping Test please click here, for instructions on a Traceroute, click here.

Running a ping test

In the Command Prompt box, type:

ping www.freeola.com

Your computer will now send a series of four pings to our web server. You will then be presented with the result of each ping attempt, along with a summery of the statistics.

Ideally the ping time will be in double figures and packet loss will be 0%. Your results should appear similar to the image below:

Ideal Ping Results

Additional Pings

If your problem is intermittent, and you would like to test over a period of time, it is possible to run multiple ping requests to a website. If you require more than 4 pings, simply enter '-n x' after the web address. For example, if you wanted to ping the Google website 25 times, you would enter 'ping www.google.co.uk -n 25'.

Should all ping requests fail, timeout, or lose packets, it may be indicative of an internet fault. If this happens, we would next advise replacing the 'www.freeola.com' section of the ping test for the IP address of your router. If you are unsure of what this may be, please call Freeola Support on 01376 55 60 60 and a member of staff will be happy to assist you in obtaining it.

Running a trace route

In the Command Prompt type:

tracert freeola.com

Your computer will now run a connection test tracing the route your computer is taking to access our website. This can take up to a minute or two to fully complete, you will be presented with a 'Trace Complete' message once this is done.

The following image shows a successful traceroute from a Freeola internet connection to the Freeola website:

Trace Route Results

This type of test is extremely useful for testing whether an internet connection, or website, is working as you are able to pin-point the location of any issues. Occasionally 'hops' will time out (displayed as a line of asterisks) and you should see a new route being tried to reach the destination.

If your connection is regularly failing within the first one or two hops, this could indicate a potential internet connection issue.

Apple Mac Operating Systems

Apple operating systems offer both Ping and Trace Route tests as built-in functions. To access these, please navigate to Utilities, and then Network Utility. You should be presented with a screen similar to the one below:

Mac Network Utility

Running a Ping Test

From the top navigation of the Network Utility window, select Ping. You will be presented with a field asking for the address to ping.

In this field, enter:

www.freeola.com

You will then be given the option of sending unlimited pings, or a specified number. We strongly recommend sending between 4 and 10 pings in any one test. Click Ping to begin the test. You will then be presented with the result of each ping attempt, along with a summary of the statistics in the window below.

Should all ping requests fail, timeout, or lose packets, it may be indicative of an internet fault. If this happens, we would next advise replacing the 'www.freeola.com' section of the ping test for the IP address of your router. If you are unsure of what this may be, please call Freeola Support on 01376 55 60 60 and a member of staff will be happy to assist you in obtaining it.

Running a trace route

From the top navigation of the Network Utility window, select Traceroute. You will be presented with a singular field, in which you are prompted to enter a web, or IP, address.

In this field, enter:

www.freeola.com

In the large window below you will be shown the route your connection is taking to our webserver. This can take a few minutes to complete.

This type of test is extremely useful for testing whether an internet connection, or website, is working as you are able to pin-point the location of any issues. Occasionally 'hops' will time out (displayed as a line of asterisks) and you should see a new route being tried to reach the destination.

If your connection is regularly failing within the first one or two hops, this could indicate a potential internet connection issue.


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