Ping is a basic networking command used to test the availability of a host on an IP network. Ping measures communication latency, or the round-trip time.

Ping operates on Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), using echo requests and echo replies.

Implementations in terminals and the like vary. Options may include number of tests, TTL, number of hops, size of the payload, etc.

The payload of a packet is filled with ASCII characters.