Ping Application

Ping is a handy tool that started off as a way to show how the Windows ICMP library works. But it's not just that! It's turned into a really powerful ping utility on its own. It's designed to act like the Linux version, but with some cool extras inspired by traceroute.

How Ping Works

The Ping app uses the ICMP protocol's ECHO_REQUEST datagram to get an ICMP ECHO_RESPONSE from another host or gateway. So when you send out a ping, it includes an IP and ICMP header, followed by a struct timeval, and then some extra “pad” bytes that help fill out the packet.

Discovering Routes with Trace Mode

If you're curious about where your packets are going, Ping has this neat feature called trace mode. This lets you see the path your packets take to reach a specific network host. The Internet is pretty vast and complex, made up of all sorts of network hardware connected by gateways.

Finding Packet Issues

Sometimes tracking where your packets go can be tricky, especially if they're getting lost along the way. In trace mode, Ping helps you figure this out by using the IP protocol's time to live field. It tries to get an ICMP_TIME_EXCEEDED response from each gateway along the route to find any trouble spots.

If you want to check it out for yourself, make sure to download Ping. You'll find it super useful for understanding how your network connections are working!