Last Updated on July 24, 2026
PathPing is a network diagnostic utility that combines the best features of the ping and tracert commands into a single tool. It shows you the complete path between two network hosts like tracert, while simultaneously compiling latency and packet loss statistics for every router along the way.
How Ping and Tracert Work Separately
Ping (Packet Inter-Networking Groper) tests basic connectivity from one computer to another using a simple ICMP request. In most cases it sends 4 packets to the host on the other end and reports back whether they made it and how long they took to get there.
If the remote server or local firewall is configured to reject ICMP requests like many websites do, then ping will not work. Tracert (trace route) is used to trace the physical path a packet takes from one host to another across a network.
It sends packets and displays how many hops it took to reach the target host along with the round-trip time for each hop. This makes tracert a great tool to find out where a connection is broken or where a bottleneck is occurring.
Why PathPing Provides Superior Network Diagnostics
PathPing on the other hand sends multiple echo request messages to each router or node as it travels to its destination over a period of time. Then it calculates detailed results based on the packets returned from each hop, showing any slowdown or packet loss along the way.
This allows you to pinpoint the exact routers or network links causing your connectivity problems. To use PathPing, simply open a command prompt and type pathping followed by the IP address, URL, or FQDN that you want to test.
Common PathPing Switches and Parameters
You can customize how PathPing executes by using command-line switches to adjust timeout thresholds, hop counts, and query frequencies.
For example, using the -n switch prevents PathPing from resolving IP addresses to hostnames, which speeds up the test significantly. You can also use the -h switch to specify the maximum number of hops to search, or the -q switch to change the number of queries sent to each router.
Comparing Ping, Tracert, and PathPing Examples
Comparing these three command-line utilities side by side demonstrates how much additional information PathPing reveals when checking connectivity to www.onlinecomputertips.com.
When you run a standard ping test, you only get immediate latency and packet loss data for the target destination host.
When you run a tracert command, you see the list of intermediate network hops along with three quick response times per router.
When you run a PathPing command, the test takes longer to complete because it compiles detailed statistics across 100 queries per hop over approximately 250 seconds.
If an intermediate router shows 100% packet loss but all subsequent hops show 0% loss, that intermediate router is simply configured to ignore ICMP requests and is not broken. However, if packet loss begins at a specific hop and continues through all remaining hops to the destination, you have successfully located the exact point of network failure.
As you can see, the PathPing utility provides far more detailed information on the route, speed, and stability of a connection than Ping and Tracert can offer on their own.
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