Differences Between the Commands ping vs Tracert

Last Updated on December 4, 2021 by QCity Editorial Stuff

It is important to know the functional differences between ping and tracert. Ping is a network diagnostic tool that sends packets to another computer’s IP address and then waits for an acknowledgment from the target computer. Traceroute is a network diagnostics tool used to explore or troubleshoot paths across an internetwork. It does this by identifying the number of “hops” (the route) it takes for datagrams (packets) sent from one point in the internetwork to reach their destination. The higher amount of hops, the more distance there will be between two points on opposite ends of your internetwork which can cause latency issues with applications such as VoIP service or video streaming service providers like Netflix and YouTube respectively.

The ping and tracert commands are two tools that can be used to test network connectivity. The ping command sends a packet of data to another device, waits for a response, and then calculates the time it took for the message to get there. Tracert does this too but also maps out the route from one computer to another on its way through the internet’s many networks. Ping is an older utility while tracert was developed in 1983 by Van Jacobson who also coined the term “packet” which is what these small messages are called when they go back and forth across networks. Ping has been around since 1971 though so both have their place.

Comparison between Commands ping and Tracert

Parameters of ComparisonCommands pingTracert
SystemTracert is a network diagnostic tool that traces the route taken by packets across an internet connection.Ping is used to testing if your connection can reach another computer or device on the network.  
SendsPing sends only one packet and waits for an acknowledgment before sending the next one.Tracert sends three packets, waiting for an acknowledgment before sending another packet
TakesA ping usually takes less than 1 ms to send and receive a response from a hostit may take up to 10 ms for a traceroute  
UtilityPing is a utility that tests the viability of an IP address  Tracert is a utility that traces the route taken to a destination  
   

What is Command’s ping?

Commands ping is a powerful tool for network diagnostics and troubleshooting. It allows you to test the reachability of a host or IP address on a network, as well as to measure the round-trip time for packets sent between two hosts. This makes it an essential tool for identifying and resolving networking issues. In this article, we’ll take a look at how to use Commands ping to troubleshoot your network.

Command ping is a computer network administration utility used to test the reachability of a host on an IP network and to measure the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to that destination. ping uses ICMP packets (Internet Control Message Protocol) which are employed by routers and other networking devices to report errors and other conditions. Command ping can be used as a diagnostic tool when you are experiencing difficulty accessing a remote host or when you want to measure the quality of your internet connection. The output of ping can help identify the source of connectivity problems or even help troubleshoot hardware issues on your local network. In this blog post, we will go over how to use the ping command in Windows 10, including some of its more advanced options.

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10 Differences Between the Commands ping and Tracert

1. Tracert is a network diagnostic tool that traces the route taken by packets across an internet connection.

2. Ping is used to testing if your connection can reach another computer or device on the network.

3. Tracert sends three packets, waiting for an acknowledgment before sending another packet.

4. Ping sends only one packet and waits for an acknowledgment before sending the next one.

5. The time required to complete a traceroute will vary depending on how many hops are in between two hosts but typically takes about 12 seconds.

6. A ping usually takes less than 1 ms to send and receive a response from a host, while it may take up to 10 ms for a traceroute.

7. Ping is a utility that tests the viability of an IP address.

8. Tracert is a utility that traces the route taken to a destination.

9. The ping command sends ICMP packets to network hosts and waits for them to reply, which takes about 1 second per packet.

10. Trace simply records the path it takes from source host to destination host, which can take up to 30 seconds depending on how many hops are needed for packets to reach their destination. 

Interesting Statistics or Facts of Commands ping

1. Ping is a utility that uses the ICMP protocol to send echo request packets and displays any returned data.

2. Ping was originally written for UNIX by Mike Muuss in December 1983.

3. The program’s name comes from its original purpose, which was to test whether a network connection is still active or not.

4. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool for determining why an IP address has been rejected by a firewall.

5. When pinging an IPv6 host it will show both the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses of the host.

6. In Linux ping sends eight bytes of data with no payload (the ‘ping’ message) followed by one ECHO_REQUEST packet sent after 16 milliseconds.

Interesting Statistics or Facts of Tracert

1. Tracert is a command-line utility that tracks the path between two nodes.

2. The traceroute utility can be used to identify where network congestion may exist, or which route provides the lowest latency.

3. It’s also possible to use tracers to map out the topology of an entire internet service provider (ISP) by identifying routers and their IP addresses.

4. Trace uses UDP packets, so it doesn’t provide any information about packet loss or data transfer rates.

5. Traceroute sends three packets at each hop and waits for a reply from each before continuing on its way.

6. A “time exceeded” message indicates that no response was received within a certain number of seconds, with most operating systems defaulting to 50 seconds; this means that there is some sort of traffic jam in front of this node.

7) A “destination unreachable” message indicates either an incorrect address or routing problem such as when one ISP has been blocking another ISP’s users from reaching them.

8) If you’re trying to diagnose why you might have poor connectivity somewhere, run both ping and tracert simultaneously and compare results – if they don’t match up then your.

Conclusion

Ping is a computer command used to test the reachability of an IP address, hostname, or network device. The ping results provide information about how long it takes for data packets from a sender to travel and return. In contrast, Tracert is a Windows tool that uses ICMP echo-request messages to determine the path taken by those packets as they traverse intermediate devices on their way to a destination node. Ping operates at Layer 3 (the Network layer) while Tracet functions at Layer 4 (Transport). Some additional differences between these two commands are explained below: -Ping sends four separate Echo Requests followed by four Echo Replies back to measure round trip time, packet loss rate, and other factors.

References:

Resource 01: https://www.paessler.com/it-explained/ping
Resource 02: https://www.lifewire.com/tracert-command-2618101

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