About MacPing™ 3.0...

MacPing tests how well your AppleTalk or IP (Internet Protocol) network carries data packets. Just as a sonar or radar system sends a signal and waits for the echo, MacPing sends “probe” packets and waits for responses from the various devices connected to that network. If all the responses return, then your network is probably working well. If a few (or many) responses are lost, MacPing can help you diagnose what’s wrong.

MacPing differs from other network testing programs in that it tests in parallel all the devices on a particular AppleTalk network or zone, or devices in a range of IP addresses. This allows you to compare the responses of different devices on the same network to determine the cause of network problems. Note that MacPing will not flood the network with packets: it sends only one packet into the network at any time.

This version of MacPing can test a maximum of 5 zones.  To test more zones, you will need MacPing™ Pro.

Requirements

MacPing requires at least a Macintosh Plus computer, running System 6.0.5 or newer. It also requires a network connection, either LocalTalk®, EtherTalk®, or dial-up connections such as Apple Remote Access® (ARA), Shiva Dial-In™, or others. MacPing is compatible with System 7.0 and works with both Phase I and Phase II AppleTalk software. 

If you wish to test IP devices, you must also install MacTCP® 2.0.4 or newer.

The MacPing Window

The major features of the MacPing window are a list of "devices" (computers on the network) and a series of horizontal traces, one per device being tested. These traces give a real-time display of the device's performance. MacPing sends a probe packet to each device: each reply is indicated by a dotted line.  Lost (dropped) packets are displayed as black spots on the trace.  Devices which aren't being tested have no trace.

You can select multiple devices to test by clicking on a name with the shift or command keys down, or by using the Find… command. Clicking and holding the mouse on a device name will pop up a menu that shows names or other information about the device.

As the test progresses, MacPing tests each device in the list, and then advances the right half of the window to the right. Every five seconds, MacPing draws a small vertical "tick" to show that polling is in progress.

Controls at the top of the MacPing window allow you to specify the zone and network to test and the kind of probe packet to use.

At the bottom of the window is a display of the percentage of dropped packets and timing information—average, minimum, maximum response times, as well as the MacPing's timeout, the time it will wait for a response. All these time measurements are in milliseconds.

Copyright © 1991-1994, Trustees of Dartmouth College.  All rights reserved. MacPing is a trademark of the Trustees of Dartmouth College.