In this video we take a look at a macOS terminal command, that will allow us to run a Ping test from our Apple computer. A Ping test is a handy troubleshooting tool, that can help you to determine if a device is connected to your home network. It does this by transmitting data packets to a specific IP address to confirm or deny that there is a connection between two networked devices.
Note: In this video we make reference to Time to Live (TTL) as a method that can help you determine the operating system of the device you have pinged. The following link lists the TTL value for individual operating systems or devices. https://subinsb.com/default-device-ttl-values/
Quick reference notes:
- From your macOS desktop, select Spotlight Search.
- Within Spotlight Search type Terminal and press Enter on your keyboard
- To perform a Ping test, at the command prompt type.
Ping [ipaddress or hostname]- When you press Enter on the keyboard you computer will continually ping that device, until you tell it to stop.
- To stop your ping test press Ctrl + C.
- To Ping a device a specific number of time:
ping -c 5 [ipaddress or hostname]- When you press Enter on the keyboard your computer will send 5 pings
Note: You can change the number of pings by using a higher or lower number. This is very handy if you need to monitor a device on your network as it reboots.
- To gracefully close your current Terminal session type:
exit- When you press Enter on your keyboard the Terminal session will end and you can close the Terminal application.
Reference Material:
Wikipedia article – Terminal (macOS)
