Ping

A ping can test whether a network location is responding. We can use ping to ensure (or monitor) the reliability of a network location (like a website).

With the Ping class, found in the System.Net.NetworkInformation namespace, we can send pings. We can use the async and await keywords to avoid blocking.

An example program

This example uses async methods in System.Net.NetworkInformation to send a ping. We begin by using Task to start and wait for the Test() method.

using System;
using System.Net.NetworkInformation;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Use Task class to start and wait for a Ping.
        Task task = new Task(Test);
        task.Start();
        task.Wait();
        // Done.
        Console.ReadLine();
    }

    static async void Test()
    {
        // Create Ping instance.
        Ping ping = new Ping();
        // Send a ping.
        PingReply reply = await ping.SendPingAsync("dotnetperls.com");
        // Display the result.
        Console.WriteLine("ADDRESS:" + reply.Address.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine("TIME:" + reply.RoundtripTime);
    }
}
ADDRESS:184.168.221.17
TIME:95

Some notes

The Ping class is ideal for monitoring whether a network location can be reached. It does not ensure anything beyond this.

Notes, async and await

With the async and await keywords we have a more elegant way of handling async methods. The Main method can continue while Test() is busy.

With System.Net.NetworkInformation in the C# language, we can send pings. Async and await can be used to handle multiple tasks at once.