PRTG Manual: Ping Sensor

The Ping sensor sends an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request ("ping") from the probe system to the parent device to monitor its availability.

The default number of pings per scanning interval is 5.

Ping Sensor

For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

Dutch: Ping
French: Ping
German: Ping
Japanese: Ping
Portuguese: Ping
Russian: Пинг
Simplified Chinese: Ping
Spanish: Ping

Remarks

Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:

Remark	Description
IPv6	This sensor supports IPv6.
Performance impact	This sensor has a very low performance impact.
Multi-platform probe	You can add this sensor to a multi-platform probe.
Knowledge Base	Knowledge Base: How to create/customize statistical Ping sensor? Knowledge Base: Can I create an inverse Ping sensor?

Basic Sensor Settings

The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:

pingsensor

For more information about basic sensor settings, see section Sensor Settings.

Ping Settings

Setting	Description
Timeout (Sec.)	Enter a timeout in seconds for the ping. If the reply takes longer than this value, PRTG cancels the request and shows an error message. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).
Packet Size (Bytes)	Enter the packet size for the ping in bytes. You can enter any value between 1 and 10000. Enter an integer. We recommend that you use the default value.
Ping Method	Define the kind of ping check that the sensor performs with each scanning interval: Send one single ping: Send a single ping only. The sensor then shows the ping time only. This setting is useful for monitoring availability. Send multiple ping requests (default): Send multiple pings in a row. The sensor then also shows the minimum and the maximum ping time as well as the packet loss (in percent). This setting is useful if you want to create reports about average ping times out of a series of ping requests. If you select this setting, all of the ping requests must be lost for the sensor to show the Down status. For example, if only one ping request is answered in a series of five, the sensor still shows the Up status.
Ping Count	This setting is only visible if you select Send multiple ping requests (default) above. Enter the number of pings that the sensor sends in a row in one scanning interval. Enter an integer. The default value is 5.
Ping Delay (ms)	This setting is only visible if you select Send multiple ping requests (default) above. Enter the time in milliseconds (ms) that the sensor waits between two ping requests. Enter an integer. The default value is 5. Increase the value if the target device drops ping packets because of denial of service (DoS) suspicion.
Acknowledge Automatically	Define if you want to automatically acknowledge the Down status of the sensor: Show down status on error (default): Do not automatically acknowledge an alarm if this sensor changes to the Down status. Show down (acknowledged) status on error: Automatically acknowledge an alarm. If this sensor changes to the Down status, it automatically shows the Down (Acknowledged) status instead.

Sensor Display

Setting	Description
Primary Channel	Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor. You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.
Graph Type	Define how this sensor shows different channels: Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel. Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic. You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).
Stack Unit	This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above. Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Setting

Description

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.

You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how this sensor shows different channels:

Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above.

Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Inherited Settings

By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Channel List

Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.

Channel	Description
Downtime	In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status
Maximum	The maximum ping time when using more than one ping per interval
Minimum	The minimum ping time when using more than one ping per interval
Packet Loss	The packet loss when using more than one ping per interval (%)
Ping Time	The ping time This channel is the primary channel by default.