If you hear your IT guy snicker as he walks away, the joke could be on you. Was it plugged in? Was it even on? Did you try a reboot? (The latter tends to fix 89.25% of all computer issues.)
For the IT folks out there, sometimes the joke is on us, too. To that end, take this advice to live by: when in doubt, PING!
This is the most useful tool in the computer world. With a ping, you’re sending a packet of data to an IP address or hostname, and if it’s alive (connected to the network/internet), it will respond in 4 short bursts. Most obviously you’re determining network status, but it can do so much more.
Here are the syntax options I frequent:
ping -a <ADDRESS or HOST>
this will resolve the hostname of the known IP address. In the example below, BOOBOO responded:
ping -n <value> <ADDRESS or HOST>
This will send a specific number of echo requests. In the example below, I sent 7 pings to BOOBOO, and she got back to me 7 times:
want to PING forever? You CAN! Just do this: ping < ADDRESS or HOST > -t
(my screenshot was too long to paste)
Lastly, if something looks “weird” when you ping, it could be replying with an IPv6 address. Force that result back down to IPv4: ping < ADDRESS or HOST > -4
And remember, opposite is opposite: ping < ADDRESS or HOST > -6
Now, go solve problems. And may your request never time out.