The ping command is a useful way of diagnosing network problems. It's similar to the sonar ping in a submarine. It sends out a signal to a specified machine and waits for a response to be echoed back.

1. Open a command prompt
2. Type ping www.pscs.co.uk. You should see a display like this:

Pinging www.pscs.co.uk [195.112.5.192] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=561ms TTL=55
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=382ms TTL=55
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=327ms TTL=55
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=391ms TTL=55

• If that works, then type ping >your ISP's mail server< (e.g. ping mail.isp.com). If you see a display similar to that above, then everything would seem to be OK with your network configuration - you've got another problem.
• If ping www.pscs.co.uk didn't work, then try typing ping 195.112.5.192. You should get a display like this:

Pinging 195.112.5.192 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=561ms TTL=55
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=382ms TTL=55
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=327ms TTL=55
Reply from 195.112.5.192: bytes=32 time=391ms TTL=55

• If that works, then you've got a problem with your DNS settings in your networking configuration - ask your ISP for help.
• If that doesn't work, then you've got a problem elsewhere in your networking configuration - again, ask your ISP for help.