Verifying Network Connectivity Using the PING Program

You can use the PING program to verify network connectivity to Chat Service. You can verify whether the Domain Name System (DNS) is correctly resolving the computer name to the Internet Protocol (IP) address.

Because a network problem can occur at many places in the network, try to verify connectivity on the computer from which the client cannot connect to Chat Service. However, if necessary, you can verify connectivity from any computer on the network.

Note Some routers always block PING messages. Even if PING fails to connect, try connecting with Telnet.

To verify network connectivity

From the Start menu, choose Programs, and then choose Command Prompt.
At the command prompt, type the following command:
```
ping server_name
```
where server_name is the DNS host name of the computer on which Chat Service is running.

If the two computers can establish a network connection, you receive a response similar to the following:

Pinging chat.litware.com [10.45.12.345] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 10.45.12.345: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.45.12.345: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.45.12.345: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128

If the two computers cannot establish a network connection, you receive an error message similar to the following:

Bad IP address chat.litware.com

When you receive the latter error message, at the command prompt, type the following command:

ping IP_address

where IP_address is the IP address of the computer on which Chat Service is running.

If you get a successful response by IP address but not by DNS name, you have a problem with the DNS. Verify that the IP address of the server running Chat Service is correctly registered in your DNS and that the chat client is configured to use the correct DNS.

If you do not get a successful response by IP address, you have a network connectivity problem. Work with your network administrator to identify and correct the network problem.

For help with PING command syntax, type ping -? at the command prompt.

Note If the response from the PING command shows a time value greater than 10 milliseconds, ask your network administrator to check for network congestion problems.