During installation, commissioning and when troubleshooting an installed system, it might be necessary to confirm that a particular network device is reachable.

One technique is to use a network Ping. The network ping sends a special data packet over the network that on receipt by the end party is replied to. Most networked devices, IP cameras, Networked DVRs, computers running a Server component, computers running a NVR component or computers running a Video-wall component unless configured not to will reply to incoming Ping requests.
To use a ping you need to know the IP address of the network device you wish to find.

If no response is gained from a pinged network device then first ensure you have the correct IP address for the device, if correct then confirm that you have connectivity with other network devices before assuming that the device is not reachable - it might be that the computer from which you are Pinging is not able to reach a number or all networked devices due to a configuration issue with the computer you are using, a coincidental localised or wider network-connectivity issue, or the presence of a software firewall preventing ping requests being sent or received.

The following steps show how to determine whether a certain device with IP address 10.0.0.1 is available on the network. It also assumes that some checks have been made to ensure that the computer being used in the test is connected to the same network as the device and that other devices known to exist and connected to the network have responded.

1. Open a Command prompt.
2. Type at the command prompt: ping 10.0.0.1 and press the Enter (or return) key.
3. If the network device (or computer running a surveillance software component) cannot be reached then the response will be at least 4 lines indicating "Request timed out".

• If the network device was reachable then the response will contain several replies.
• If there is a mix of replies and timed out messages, this suggests that a network connection fault exists, that the network is highly congested, that the target device is too busy due to heavy workload to reply, or a mixture of all of these. In this case, this indicates that there is a system issue which could adversely affect the system's overall performance and could result in failed recordings, live or playback requests, and a general lack of system responsiveness.

The ping command is a useful troubleshooting tool that can highlight issues affecting the overall system and is one method that might indicate that the overall system is currently overdriven and is not operating as designed.