Pings

A simple method through which anyone can check the availability, and status of an address, whether a computer, or website is through the Ping function. It’s a bit of a struggle to initiate it through the Command Prompt, and you can also target multiple addresses with applications like Pings.

One main advantage is that the application requires no installation process in order to properly function, meaning it can be easily carried around on a thumb drive, and even used on other computers. While registries remain intact, the application does rely on .NET Framework, so you need to make sure it is a part of Windows.

The main window poses no accommodation problems, with a large space used to enlist all added hosts, along with response time, and status. A side panel is where all configurations are done, as well as an info section for the selected host, to let you know how many attempts are made, number of failed tries, IP address, delay, and name.

You can either add a host by writing down the web address, in case it’s a specific website, or through the IP address. Sadly, there’s no option to convert an IP to URL or the other way around, so you need to know exactly what your hosts are.

The application is set to automatically ping all targets at regular intervals. Time is configured in milliseconds, with the possibility to manually set timeout, and interval values. Additional view options can force the application to always stay on top of other windows, synchronize pings, or change color theme. Moreover, the list of hosts can be saved as a plain text file.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Pings is a straightforward application which you can use to continuously ping multiple IP addresses, or URLs. The simplicity in design gets you quickly up and running, and even though it could have used an address conversion option, it’s sure to be worth your while.