Pathping

Pathping is a network utility supplied in Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP and Windows Vista. It combines the functionality of Ping with that of Traceroute (in Windows: "tracert"), by providing details of the path between two hosts "and" Ping-like statistics for each node in the path based on samples taken over a time period, depending on how many nodes are between the start and end host. The advantages of pathping over ping and traceroute are that each node is pinged as the result of a single command, and that the behavior of nodes is studied over an extended time period, rather than the Ping's default sample of four messages or Traceroute's default single route trace. The disadvantage is that, using the default settings, it often takes more than five minutes to produce a result.

Command options

This list can be displayed by typing "-options" (or any invalid option, such as "-fkzqx") after the command.

*-g "host-list" - Loose source route along "host-list".
*-h "maximum_hops" - Maximum number of hops to search for target.
*-i "address" - Use the specified source address.
*-n - Do not resolve addresses to hostnames.
*-p "period" - Wait "period" milliseconds between pings.
*-q "num_queries" - Number of queries per hop.
*-w "timeout" - Wait "timeout" milliseconds for each reply.
*-P - Test for RSVP PATH connectivity.
*-R - Test if each hop is RSVP aware.
*-T - Test connectivity to each hop with Layer-2 priority tags.
*-4 - Force using IPv4.
*-6 - Force using IPv6.

ample pathping output

The following is the output of the command "pathping wikipedia.com":

Tracing route to wikipedia.com [207.142.131.235] over a maximum of 30 hops: 0 simonslaptop [192.168.0.11] 1 192.168.0.1 2 thus1-hg2.ilford.broadband.bt.net [217.32.64.73] 3 217.32.64.34 4 217.32.64.110 5 anchor-border-1-4-0-2-191.router.demon.net [212.240.162.126] 6 anchor-core-2-g0-0-1.router.demon.net [194.70.98.29] 7 ny1-border-1-a1-0-s2.router.demon.net [194.70.97.66] 8 ge-8-0-153.ipcolo1.NewYork1.Level3.net [209.246.123.177] 9 ae-0-51.bbr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [64.159.17.1] 10 so-2-0-0.mp1.Tampa1.Level3.net [209.247.11.201] 11 ge-6-0.hsa2.Tampa1.Level3.net [64.159.1.10] 12 unknown.Level3.net [63.208.24.2] 13 Computing statistics for 325 seconds... Source to Here This Node/Link Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address 0 simonslaptop [192.168.0.11] 0/ 100 = 0%
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.0.1 0/ 100 = 0%
2 18ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% thus1-hg2.ilford.broadband.bt.net [217.32.64.73] 0/ 100 = 0%
3 18ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 217.32.64.34 0/ 100 = 0%
4 21ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 217.32.64.110 0/ 100 = 0%
5 21ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% anchor-border-1-4-0-2-191.router.demon.net [212.240.162.126] 0/ 100 = 0%
6 --- 100/ 100 =100% 100/ 100 =100% anchor-core-2-g0-0-1.router.demon.net [194.70.98.29] 0/ 100 = 0%
7 --- 100/ 100 =100% 100/ 100 =100% ny1-border-1-a1-0-s2.router.demon.net [194.70.97.66] 0/ 100 = 0%
8 100ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ge-8-0-153.ipcolo1.NewYork1.Level3.net [209.246.123.177] 0/ 100 = 0%
9 94ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-0-51.bbr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [64.159.17.1] 0/ 100 = 0%
10 134ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% so-2-0-0.mp1.Tampa1.Level3.net [209.247.11.201] 0/ 100 = 0%
11 137ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ge-6-0.hsa2.Tampa1.Level3.net [64.159.1.10] 0/ 100 = 0%
12 131ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% unknown.Level3.net [63.208.24.2] 100/ 100 =100%
13 --- 100/ 100 =100% 0/ 100 = 0% win2000 [0.0.0.0] Trace complete.

The following is the output of the command "pathping wikipedia.org -q 10"; note the shorter wait with only 10 queries per hop instead of the default 100:

Tracing route to wikipedia.org [66.230.200.100] over a maximum of 30 hops: 0 Aaron.hsd1.mn.comcast.net. [192.168.11.3] 1 air.setup [192.168.11.1] 2 73.127.68.1 3 ge-1-38-ur01.minnetonka.mn.minn.comcast.net [68.86.234.41] 4 68.86.232.37 5 68.86.232.33 6 * 68.86.232.5 7 68.86.232.1 8 12.116.99.41 9 tbr2.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.122.99.70] 10 * ggr2.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.69] 11 ar1-a3120s2.wswdc.ip.att.net [192.205.34.6] 12 66.192.247.163 13 ge8-13.csw5-pmtpa.wikimedia.org [66.193.50.242] 14 * rr.pmtpa.wikimedia.org [66.230.200.100] Computing statistics for 35 seconds... Source to Here This Node/Link Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address 0 Aaron.hsd1.mn.comcast.net. [192.168.11.3] 0/ 10 = 0%
1 0ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% air.setup [192.168.11.1] 0/ 10 = 0%
2 8ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% 73.127.68.1 0/ 10 = 0%
3 8ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% ge-1-38-ur01.minnetonka.mn.minn.comcast.net [68.86.234.41] 0/ 10 = 0%
4 9ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% 68.86.232.37 0/ 10 = 0%
5 8ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% 68.86.232.33 0/ 10 = 0%
6 12ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% 68.86.232.5 0/ 10 = 0%
7 8ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% 68.86.232.1 0/ 10 = 0%
8 20ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% 12.116.99.41 0/ 10 = 0%
9 --- 10/ 10 =100% 10/ 10 =100% tbr2.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.122.99.70] 0/ 10 = 0%
10 --- 10/ 10 =100% 10/ 10 =100% ggr2.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.69] 0/ 10 = 0%
11 --- 10/ 10 =100% 10/ 10 =100% ar1-a3120s2.wswdc.ip.att.net [192.205.34.6] 0/ 10 = 0%
12 --- 10/ 10 =100% 10/ 10 =100% 66.192.247.163 0/ 10 = 0%
13 63ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% ge8-13.csw5-pmtpa.wikimedia.org [66.193.50.242] 0/ 10 = 0%
14 63ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% rr.pmtpa.wikimedia.org [66.230.200.100] Trace complete.

See also

* Layer Four Trace, a more modern traceroute (IP network tracing) implementation that supports a multitude of layer-4 protocols
* mtr (My traceroute)
* traceroute

External links

* [http://w3dt.net/tools/pathping/ Online Pathping Test] - Perform a Pathping test online
* [http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/cnet/cnbd_trb_vxmb.mspx?mfr=true Microsoft Pathping] - Information about the Pathping tool at microsoft.com