One way to troubleshoot a network is to determine how many devices are affected. For
example, if only one computer cannot communicate across a network, it will be handled
differently than if several (or all) computers on a network cannot communicate. The easiest
way to determine how many devices are having trouble is by using a simple test. Since
most computers use TCP/IP, one tool that can be used for testing is the ping command.
Ping sends a packet to an IP destination (that you determine) and a reply is sent back from
the destination device (when everything is working fine). The ping command can be used
to determine if the network path is available, if there are delays along the path, and whether
the remote network device is reachable.
The ping utility can be used to test the NIC as well as the TCP/IP protocol running on
the NIC with the command ping 127.0.0.1. The 127.0.0.1 IP address is what is known as
a private IP address, which means it cannot be used by the outside world. The 127.0.0.1
is also known as a loopback address.Aloopback address is not used to check connections
to another computer, but is used to test a NIC card’s own basic network setup.
If the ping is successful (a message that a reply was received from 127.0.0.1), then the
TCP/IP protocol stack is working correctly on the NIC. If the ping responds with a no
answer or 100% packet loss error, TCP/IP is not properly installed or functioning correctly
on that one workstation.
The ping command can be used to check connectivity all around the network.

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