ARCHIVED: In Mac OS X, how can I check to see if a computer is on the network?
In Mac OS X, to see if a computer is on the network, use the Network Utility to ping the remote host. A ping is a small packet of data sent to the remote host and then sent back by the recipient computer. If the computer is not on the network, it will not be able to respond to the packet.
To use the Network Utility:
- From the folder, open the folder, and then open the application.
- In the
Network Utility
window, click the tab. - In the first field, enter the IP address or domain name of the computer you want to ping.
- Select .
- In the box, type the number of packets you would like the Network Utility to send. The default is ten, which should be sufficient in all but the most congested network conditions.
- Click .
The Network Utility will begin pinging the host. If the host is on the network, the packets will be listed in the Network Utility as they are returned. If no packets are returned, the computer may be off the network or there may be network problems between your computer and the remote host. It's also possible that the computer has been configured not to respond to pings. For a more definitive answer, use the Network Utility's traceroute function, which will attempt to determine where the network difficulty is occurring.
To use the traceroute function:
- In the
Network Utility
window, click the tab. - In the first field, enter the IP address or domain name of the remote host.
- Click .
Note: In some cases, a computer will respond to a ping but will be unreachable by other network tools, such as SSH, remote desktop, or web browsers.
This is document ajok in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 13:06:13.