---
title: Ping (ICMP) monitors
description: Check that a host or IP is reachable on the network.
category: monitors
updated: 2026-07-15
tags: [ping, icmp, host, network]
---

A ping monitor sends ICMP echo requests to a host and confirms it answers. Use it
for anything that should be reachable on the network but doesn't serve a web page —
routers, firewalls, IoT devices, or a server you just want to know is alive.

![A ping monitor's detail panel for a branch office firewall, showing it as down, with recent checks marked failed and the error Host unreachable](/img/docs/app-monitor-ping.png)
*A ping monitor that stops answering. The bar of recent checks shows exactly when
it changed.*

## Setting it up

- **Target** — a hostname or IP address, e.g. `8.8.8.8` or `gateway.example.com`.
  No `http://`, no port.

## What counts as up or down

We send several echo requests per check and treat the host as **up** if any of them
come back. It's only marked **down** when every packet in the check is lost. This
avoids false alarms from a single dropped packet, which is normal on the internet.
The response time we report is the average round-trip of the successful replies.

## Good to know

- Some hosts and networks block ICMP entirely. If a device is deliberately not
  answering pings, use a [TCP monitor](/docs/monitors/tcp-udp) against a port it
  *does* expose instead.
- Ping tells you a host is reachable, not that the service on it is healthy. For a
  web app, pair ping with an [HTTP monitor](/docs/monitors/http).

## Get started

- [Create a ping monitor](/docs/getting-started/quickstart)
- [Choose a check region](/docs/configuration/check-regions)

## Related

- [TCP & UDP port monitors](/docs/monitors/tcp-udp)
- [HTTP / website monitors](/docs/monitors/http)