What ping measures

Ping commonly uses ICMP requests and replies to measure round-trip time to a destination in milliseconds. This is not the full page-load time or download speed. Browser performance also depends on DNS, TLS, server processing, and content size.

Does no reply mean offline?

A server can block or limit ICMP replies while its HTTPS service remains available. Consider the destination’s reply policy when interpreting apparent loss. On your own network, checking the local gateway and then an authorized external destination can help locate where a problem starts.

Look for a pattern

Take a few short measurements under similar conditions and compare wired with wireless connectivity. Background downloads or busy Wi-Fi can change latency. Record measurement times rather than generating continuous high-volume requests. A city label from geolocation does not explain network latency by itself.

Separating latency from bandwidth

A download can be fast while ping is high because throughput and round-trip time measure different things. Pause the download and repeat a short test. A substantial change suggests investigating queueing under load. Compare a few measurements against the same destination and note the connection type rather than diagnosing a fault from one run.

Further reading

ICMP — RFC 792 ↗

Put it into practice

Inspect one public IP, or compare a list of addresses with the bulk lookup tool. Location results are approximate.

Single lookup ↗ Bulk lookup ↗