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PathPing

Windows command-line network utility

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
4 min read
Source updated August 11, 2025
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The PathPing command is a command-line network utility included in Windows NT operating systems since Windows 2000 that combines the functionality of ping with that of tracert. It is used to locate spots that have network latency and network loss.

01Overview

The command provides 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 default ping sample of four messages or default traceroute single route trace. The disadvantage is that it takes a total of 25 seconds per hop to show the ping statistics.

02Syntax

The command-syntax is:

pathping [-g host-list] [-h maximum_hops] [-i address] [-n] [-p period] [-q num_queries] [-w timeout] [-P] [-R] [-T] [-4] [-6] target_name

Options:

  • -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.

03Samples

Default behavior:

>pathping wikipedia.org 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] 5/ 100 = 5% | 9 94ms 5/ 100 = 5% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-0-51.bbr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [64.159.17.1] 0/ 100 = 0% | 10 134ms 7/ 100 = 7% 2/ 100 = 2% so-2-0-0.mp1.Tampa1.Level3.net [209.247.11.201] 0/ 100 = 0% | 11 137ms 6/ 100 = 6% 1/ 100 = 1% ge-6-0.hsa2.Tampa1.Level3.net [64.159.1.10] 30/ 100 = 30% | 12 131ms 41/ 100 = 41% 6/ 100 = 6% unknown.Level3.net [63.208.24.2] 59/ 100 = 59% | 13 --- 100/ 100 =100% 0/ 100 = 0% win2000 [0.0.0.0] Trace complete.

Setting the number of queries per hop, in this case reducing it from 100 to 10 for faster completion:

>pathping -q 10 wikipedia.org 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 --- 10/ 10 =100% 10/ 10 =100% 12.116.99.41 0/ 10 = 0% | 9 20ms 0/ 10 = 0% 0/ 10 = 0% tbr2.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.122.99.70] 0/ 10 = 0% | 10 18ms 2/ 10 = 20% 2/ 10 = 20% ggr2.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.69] 1/ 10 = 10% | 11 --- 10/ 10 =100% 9/ 10 = 90% ar1-a3120s2.wswdc.ip.att.net [192.205.34.6] 0/ 10 = 0% | 12 44ms 2/ 10 = 20% 1/ 10 = 10% 66.192.247.163 0/ 10 = 0% | 13 63ms 1/ 10 = 10% 0/ 10 = 0% ge8-13.csw5-pmtpa.wikimedia.org [66.193.50.242] 0/ 10 = 0% | 14 63ms 6/ 10 = 60% 5/ 10 = 50% rr.pmtpa.wikimedia.org [66.230.200.100] Trace complete.

Do not resolve hostnames (only IP addresses are given for the nodes):

>pathping -n wikipedia.org Tracing route to wikipedia-lb.eqiad.wikimedia.org [208.80.154.225]over a maximum of 30 hops: 0 192.168.1.102 1 192.168.1.1 2 10.202.181.110 3 10.202.182.109 4 10.202.181.153 5 10.202.181.49 6 212.72.4.97 7 82.178.32.102 8 63.218.109.117 9 63.218.44.38 10 206.111.0.249 11 216.156.8.189 12 * * * Computing statistics for 275 seconds...
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “PathPing”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Ping (networking utility)

Ping is a network management software utility used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol network. It is available in a wide range of operating systems.

Traceroute

In computing, traceroute and tracert are diagnostic command-line interface commands for displaying possible routes and transit delays of packets across an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The ping utility only computes the final round-trip times from the destination point, while route-tracing utilities can show more detail, such as the round-trip times of the packets received from each successive host (remote node) along the route to a destination and the sum of the mean times in each hop as a measure of the total time spent to establish the connection.

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My traceroute, originally named Matt's traceroute, is a computer program that combines the functions of the traceroute and ping programs in one network diagnostic tool. MTR probes routers on the route path by limiting the number of hops individual packets may traverse, and listening to responses of their expiry.