Which Windows command can be used to test reachability of a host and measure latency?

Which Windows command can be used to test reachability of a host and measure latency?

• A. ping
• B. tracert
• C. nslookup
• D. ipconfig

Answer: (A)

Testing whether another host can be reached and how quickly responses come back is what ping is designed for. It sends an ICMP Echo Request to the target and waits for an Echo Reply, measuring the round-trip time. Those timings show latency in milliseconds and, over multiple pings, can reveal packet loss or fluctuations, giving a quick picture of both reachability and performance. In Windows, ping is the standard tool for this basic connectivity check. Tracert, by contrast, maps the path to a destination and shows latency to each hop along the way, which helps locate where delays occur but doesn’t provide a single end-to-end latency reading. nslookup is used to resolve domain names to IP addresses via DNS, not to test reachability or latency. ipconfig reveals network interface settings and IP configuration, but nothing about whether a host is reachable or how long it takes to respond. So for testing reachability and measuring latency, ping is the best fit.

Testing whether another host can be reached and how quickly responses come back is what ping is designed for. It sends an ICMP Echo Request to the target and waits for an Echo Reply, measuring the round-trip time. Those timings show latency in milliseconds and, over multiple pings, can reveal packet loss or fluctuations, giving a quick picture of both reachability and performance. In Windows, ping is the standard tool for this basic connectivity check.

Tracert, by contrast, maps the path to a destination and shows latency to each hop along the way, which helps locate where delays occur but doesn’t provide a single end-to-end latency reading. nslookup is used to resolve domain names to IP addresses via DNS, not to test reachability or latency. ipconfig reveals network interface settings and IP configuration, but nothing about whether a host is reachable or how long it takes to respond.

So for testing reachability and measuring latency, ping is the best fit.