How to check if a Forex VPS is online with ping

What ping does

Ping is a simple network tool that sends a small packet of data to a server and waits for a response. It tells you two things: whether the server is reachable, and how long the round trip takes (measured in milliseconds). This makes it the quickest way to check if your FXVPS is online and responding.

How to ping on Windows

Press Win + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog.
Type cmd and press Enter to open Command Prompt.
Type the following command, replacing YOUR_VPS_IP with the IP address from your FXVPS welcome email:

ping YOUR_VPS_IP

Press Enter. Windows will send 4 packets by default and display the results.

Reading the results

A successful ping looks like this:

Reply from 185.xxx.xxx.xxx: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=118
Reply from 185.xxx.xxx.xxx: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=118
Reply from 185.xxx.xxx.xxx: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=118
Reply from 185.xxx.xxx.xxx: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=118

Ping statistics:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss)
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 13ms, Maximum = 14ms, Average = 13ms

time=Xms — The round-trip latency. Lower is better. Under 50ms from your local PC is good.
TTL — Time to live. Not important for basic checks.
Packets Lost = 0 (0% loss) — This means all packets were received. Your VPS is online and healthy.

How to ping on Mac or Linux

Open Terminal (on Mac, search for Terminal in Spotlight or find it in Applications > Utilities).
Type the following command:

ping -c 4 YOUR_VPS_IP

The -c 4 flag tells ping to send exactly 4 packets and then stop. Without it, Mac and Linux will ping continuously until you press Ctrl+C.

The output format is nearly identical to Windows, showing round-trip times and packet loss statistics.

💡 Tip: Save your VPS connection as an .rdp file on your desktop for one-click access. Include the port number so you never have to type it manually.

What good results look like

Low latency — Consistent times under 50ms from your local computer (latency from your VPS to your broker will be much lower — as low as 0.38ms with FXVPS).
0% packet loss — All packets sent were received back.
Consistent times — The minimum and maximum values are close together, meaning the connection is stable.

⚠️ Warning: High jitter (large gap between min and max latency) is as dangerous as high average latency. Inconsistent execution makes strategy performance unpredictable — look for both low average and low variance in your ping tests.

What bad results look like

“Request timed out” — The VPS did not respond. It may be offline, restarting, or a firewall is blocking the connection.
“Destination host unreachable” — There is a routing problem between your network and the VPS.
High latency (500ms+) — The VPS is online but the connection is slow, possibly due to network congestion.
Packet loss above 0% — Some packets were lost. Occasional 1-2% loss can happen, but consistent loss above 5% indicates a network problem.

Continuous monitoring with ping -t

If you want to watch the connection over a longer period (for example, to catch intermittent issues), use the -t flag on Windows:

ping -t YOUR_VPS_IP

This pings continuously until you press Ctrl+C to stop. When you stop, it displays overall statistics including total packets sent, received, and lost.

On Mac or Linux, simply omit the -c flag:

ping YOUR_VPS_IP

Press Ctrl+C to stop and see the summary.

Troubleshooting when ping fails

If you get no response from your VPS, work through these checks:

VPS is restarting — If you recently requested a reboot through your FXVPS control panel, wait 2-3 minutes and try again. Windows VPS servers take a minute or two to fully restart.
Wrong IP address — Double-check the IP from your FXVPS welcome email. Even one digit off will ping the wrong server.
Local firewall blocking ICMP — Some corporate networks, university networks, and public Wi-Fi hotspots block outbound ping (ICMP) traffic. Try from a different network or use your phone’s mobile data as a hotspot.
VPS firewall — In rare cases, a Windows Firewall rule on the VPS itself may block ICMP responses. This is not the default on FXVPS servers, but it can happen if firewall rules were changed manually.
Contact FXVPS support — If ping fails from multiple networks and locations, the VPS may genuinely be offline. Contact support with your VPS IP address and they can check the server status and restart it if needed.

Alternative: Online ping tools

If you want to test from a different location (not your local network), use a free online ping tool such as ping.eu or mxtoolbox.com. These services ping your VPS IP from their own servers, which helps determine whether the issue is on your end or the VPS side.

💡 Tip: You can find your broker’s server IP by checking the MT4/MT5 server list (File > Open an Account) or by running a ping test against the server hostname shown in the platform’s connection settings.