Fix The Ping Error - Request Timed Out

Welcome to the Network Engineer Training tutorials by CoreNetworkZ Tech Solutions. Today, I will explain the ICMP error Request Timed Out.

All my regular readers know I have trained fresh network engineers for six years. I will share my teaching experience and the questions I faced from students on this specific ICMP error in this article.

I have divided this tutorial into three parts, answering three different questions. They are:

1. What is the Ping Request Timed Out Error?

2. What are the reasons for getting a Request Timed Out Error?

3. How To Solve the Ping Request Timed Out Error?

Now, I will answer each question.

I received a few similar questions in the comment section. So, let me answer it first. Ping Request Timed Out is one of the common ICMP error messages one sees while pinging a destination device.

Rony Cesarone asked in the comment section when a computer displays this message. Request Timed Out error message says your computer had been expecting a reply for some time but received none.

I will explain the concept with an example. Suppose you ping www.CoreNetworkZ.com from your computer.

It is the simplest explanation for this message.

Now, we are going to the second part of the tutorial. Let us check why we get the Request Timed Out while pinging a remote address.

Let us come to the second part of this tutorial. Here, I will explain the reasons for getting this ICMP error reply.

Lakshmy Moorthy, a regular reader of CoreNetworkZ Tech Solutions, dropped an email asking why her Dell laptop showed this error.

I mentioned in the first part that your computer generates this ICMP error reply if it does not receive a response from the destination device. Now, I will list the possible reasons why a computer shows a Request Timed Out error after a ping.

1. Incorrect Network Adapter or Firewall Settings on your PC.

2. The remote host might be down.

3. There might not be a route back to your computer.

4. The firewall installed on the destination host may be blocking your ICMP packets.

5. Your device did not have an Internet connection while receiving replies.

I believe I have answered Lakshmy's question in this section.

Let me start the third section of this tutorial. In this section, I will teach you a four-step troubleshooting to fix the ICMP error reply Request Timed Out.

1. Ping Another address from your computer

   You should check whether you can ping any other address from your computer. You can check it by pinging another website or Google DNS address from your computer.

   
   

   • Open Command Prompt.

   • Type ping www.corenetworkz.com and press enter key. Check for the result.

     
     

     If you cannot ping other websites, the problem is with your PC.

     
     

   • If it fails, go to the next step in this troubleshooting guide.

   
   

2. Ping the Localhost

   The second step is to check if your computer's network settings are fine. If not, I will explain the steps to fix them.

   • Type cmd on Windows search (Press Windows and S keys together to open Windows 11 Search).

     
     

   • Open the Command Prompt. Type ping 127.0.0.1 and press the enter key.

     
     

   • Check whether you get a valid reply.

   

   If you do not get proper replies from the Localhost, the network adapter settings are corrupt, or the firewall is blocking the replies.

   
   

   127.0.0.1 is the Localhost IP address.

   
   

   You can fix it by following the instructions below.

   
   

   • Open Windows 11 Search and type Command Prompt. Now, click the option Open as an Administrator.

     
     

   • Type ipconfig /flushdns and press the Enter key.

   • Type netsh winsock reset and press the Enter key.

   • Type netsh int ip reset and press the Enter key.

   • Type netsh int ipv6 reset and press the Enter key.

   • Type netsh int ipv4 reset and press the Enter key.

   • Reboot your computer.

   In my experience, more than fifty percent of cases get resolved after completing this step. Now, Ping a website and check whether you get replies. If not, go to the next step.

   
   

3. Turn Off the Firewall and Check for the Issue

   An aggressive firewall on your computer can prevent it from receiving ICMP Echo replies to your ping.

   If the firewall blocks the replies, your computer will show a Request Timed Out message on the command prompt.

   
   

   8.8.8.8 is the Google DNS server address.

   
   

   Try to ping the Google DNS server address to check for the issue after you turn off the firewall and other security tools on your PC.

   If ping 8.8.8.8 shows a request timed out message, go to the last solution.

   
   
   

4. Power Cycle the Network

   Let me begin with the fourth solution if none of the previous solutions have fixed the issue. A proper power cycle can fix most of the network connectivity issues. To do this, follow the instructions below.

   • Switch off the devices on your network.

   • Disconnect power cables from the Modem and Router.

   • Disconnect the Ethernet cables from Modem, Computer, and Router.

   • Reconnect the power and ethernet cables.

   • Power on the Modem and Router after one minute.

In this tutorial, you have learned how to fix the Request Timed Out Ping error message. Let us consider a different scenario. Occasionally, you may see Ping Request Timed Out intermittent replies.

Purnima Dalvi, one of the clients of CoreNetworkZ Tech Solutions from Pune, mentioned it. I will explain it in the next section.

Have a look at the ping reply given below.

While pinging the Google DNS server address, I received two replies and two Request Timed Out messages. Let us check why I received two intermittent Request Timed Out messages.

A loose network connection or old network components can cause this issue. In that case, I recommend you perform a complete network power cycle to fix it.

When someone faces problems with network connectivity, the first thing he has to do is ping the destination address to check the connectivity.

When you ping a destination address, your computer sends echo requests to the destination and waits for the reply.

If there is a problem, your computer will not receive the correct ICMP reply from the destination address. Instead, you will get one of the many ICMP error messages.

Request Timed Out is one of the most common ICMP error messages to a failed ping. Let us check the meaning of this ICMP Echo Reply.

The ICMP error message Request Timed Out explains your computer waited for replies from the destination host for a reasonable amount of time but received none.

If you are unfamiliar with this ICMP Echo reply, check the screenshot below.

On Command Prompt, I ping the IP address 4.2.2.2, and you can see the reply I received.

I suggest you perform the steps mentioned in part 3 to fix the ping request timed-out message on a Windows 11 laptop.

A complete network Power Cycle will solve this issue on a Linux laptop.

It is possible when your computer has an aggressive firewall configuration. An aggressive firewall is the reason for not getting a ping response. To solve it, turn off the firewall.

Now, I guess it is time to conclude this tutorial. Today, I have explained the ICMP error Request Timed Out, reasons, and solution. To learn more, I recommend the following references.

1. https://community.cisco.com/t5/cisco-software-discussions/pinging-request-timed-out/td-p/4984352
2. https://www.systosys.com/viewtopic.php?t=54
3. https://community.cisco.com/t5/network-management/request-timed-out-when-pinging-pc-from-different-routers/td-p/4738441
4. https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/junos/cli-reference/topics/ref/statement/request-timeout-edit-unified-edge-diameter-profiles-tdf.html