How to open a command prompt
Windows
To open the command prompt in Windows, you need to press the Windows key + R. This will open the Run dialog. Type “cmd” into this input and click OK.
Mac
To open the command prompt on Mac, first open Finder. Then open Applications > Utilities and find the Terminal.
Linux
Since there are many different versions of Linux, it’s best to use the search feature to look for the Terminal.
How to perform a traceroute
Traceroute is a network diagnostic tool that displays the “hops” of connections that your computer must make to connect to the target host. Similar to a ping test, this will help you identify any problems in connecting to the server.
- First, you need to open a console window.
- When your console is open, you will need to send the following command:
- For Windows – tracert <IP ADDRESS>
- For Mac and Linux – traceroute <IP ADDRESS>
- Make sure you replace <IP-ADDRESS> with the IP address of the server you want to test.
- As a result, you will see statistics on your Traceroute
Be sure to notice the time reported between hops. Generally, if any particular hop has a timeout (marked with *) or a significantly increased delay time, there may be a network problem.
How to perform a ping test
A ping test will determine if your IP address is online and also show the latency between your computer and the remote address.
It is important that you have a low ping time for any game server as high ping can result in lag caused by increased latency or gameplay lag.
- First, you need to open a console window.
- When your console is open, you will need to send the following command: ping <IP ADDRESS>
- Make sure you replace <IP-ADDRESS> with the IP address of the server you want to test.
- As a result, you will see statistics on your ping.
