Ping monitors

Ping monitors check that a server or network device responds to ICMP echo requests. Useful for infrastructure that doesn't speak HTTP — gateways, internal VMs reachable over a VPN, switches.

Quick setup

1. Go to Add ping check.
2. Enter the hostname or IP (e.g. 8.8.8.8 or gateway.example.com).
3. Pick an interval (default 5 minutes).
4. Save.

How it works

Each check sends a small batch of ICMP echo packets to the target and measures packet loss and round-trip time. We alert when reachability drops (loss above the threshold) and again on recovery.

Limits

Active ping monitors count toward your total monitor allowance (same bucket as uptime + SSL).

Troubleshooting

The target works from my laptop but ViewPeek reports it unreachable. Many networks drop ICMP at the edge. If the target is behind a firewall that blocks ICMP from public sources, a ping monitor will always fail — switch to an uptime monitor against the host's HTTP port instead.

I see intermittent packet loss alerts every few hours. ICMP is best-effort and routers deprioritise it under load. If your upstream is consistently noisy, an uptime monitor on the host's HTTP service gives a more reliable signal than ICMP.

Next steps

• Route alerts to your on-call channel instead of email-only.
• Add an uptime monitor on the host's HTTP service for a second signal.