Check your IP, ping a host and flush DNS on Windows
Three small tools for checking your connection. Open them from the main menu with 5, or choose Network Tools.
My IP addresses
Section titled “My IP addresses”- Choose My IP addresses.
- Devpit lists your local interfaces, for example Wi-Fi or Ethernet, with their IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. Interfaces that are down, and the loopback address, are left out.
- Under Public IP it shows the address the internet sees. It says “Looking up…” first, and “Offline” if it cannot reach a lookup service.
The local list appears at once. The public address takes a moment because Devpit has to ask a website for it. That is the only part of this screen that uses the internet.
Use the local address when another PC on your Wi-Fi needs to reach yours. Use the public address when you need to tell a service where you connect from.
Ping a host
Section titled “Ping a host”- Choose Ping a host.
- Type a host name or IP address, for example
github.com. Leave it empty to use1.1.1.1. - Press Enter.
- The replies stream in as they arrive. After four requests you see a summary: packets sent and received, and the minimum, average and maximum time.
A reply time of a few milliseconds means a healthy connection. “Request timed out” on every line means nothing came back. If a host does not answer but other hosts do, that host may block ping.
Flush DNS cache
Section titled “Flush DNS cache”- Choose Flush DNS cache.
- Read the question: “Flush the DNS resolver cache?” It clears cached lookups. Nothing else on your PC changes. The default answer is No.
- Press y.
- Devpit runs
ipconfig /flushdnsand shows its answer, for example “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.”
Flush the DNS cache when a website moved to a new address and your PC still goes to the old one.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ↑ ↓ | Move in the menu |
| Enter | Open a tool, send the ping, or go back when it is done |
| y / n | Answer the flush question (No is the default) |
| Esc | Go back |
See Keyboard and mouse for every key.
Privacy
Section titled “Privacy”These tools run on your PC. Devpit sends nothing about you to its own server. The public IP lookup is a normal web request to a lookup service, and only happens when you open that screen. See Safety and privacy for everything Devpit connects to.
Common questions
Which website does Devpit ask for my public IP?
Devpit asks api.ipify.org first and ifconfig.me second, and gives up after five seconds. Only the plain web request is sent. This lookup only happens when you open My IP addresses.
What does flushing the DNS cache do?
It clears the list of website names that Windows remembered. Windows looks them up again the next time. Nothing else on your PC changes. Devpit runs the ipconfig /flushdns command and asks you first.
Why does the ping stop after four replies?
Devpit sends four echo requests, the same as ping -n 4, and then shows a summary with sent, received and the minimum, average and maximum time.
Which host does Ping use if I leave the box empty?
1.1.1.1, the public DNS service run by Cloudflare. Type any host name or IP address to test something else.