Quick, pragmatic steps to find and fix common network faults using the ip suite and ping. 15.11.2025 | reading time: 3 min Command-line network troubleshooting can be fast and decisive when the right commands are used; this short guide shows how `ip` reveals interfaces and routes while `ping` verifies reachability. A broken connection, shown and fixed A system cannot reach the Internet; reproduce the investigation with `ip` and `ping` to find the missing default route, then add it and verify connectivity: \n```bash\n$ ip addr show dev eth0\n2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000\n link/ether aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff\n inet 192.168.100.10/24 brd 192.168.100.255 scope global eth0\n$ ip route\n192.168.100.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.100.10\n# no default route\n$ ping -c 3 8.8.8.8\nping: connect: Network is unreachable\n$ sudo ip route add default via 192.168.100.1\n$ ip route\ndefault via 192.168.100.1 dev eth0\n192.168.100.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.100.10\n$ ping -c 3 8.8.8.8\nPING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) 56(84) bytes of data.\n64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=118 time=14.2 ms\n64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=118 time=13.9 ms\n64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=118 time=13.7 ms\n--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---\n3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2002ms\nrtt min/avg/max/mdev = 13.783/13.973/14.237/0.216 ms\n``` Beyond the basics: read the signals Use `ip link` to check carrier and MTU, `ip -s link` for RX/TX errors, and `ip neigh` to inspect ARP state; with `ping` try `-c` to limit packets, `-I` to choose source interface, and `-W` to set timeouts so the administrator can isolate layer 1/2 faults from routing or DNS problems. Other commands that complete the picture When `ip` and `ping` suggest a deeper issue, reach for `tcpdump` to capture traffic, `traceroute` or `mtr` to inspect path and per-hop latency, and `ss` to inspect socket state; `ethtool` and `arping` help diagnose link and ARP problems at the NIC level. Finish line and next steps A simple loop of inspect, verify, fix, and re-verify turns a vague outage into a controlled correction; practice these steps until they become routine and consider certifying skills with CompTIA Linux+ or LPIC-1 using intensive exam preparation at bitsandbytes.academy to deepen the troubleshooting toolkit. Join Bits & Bytes Academy First class LINUX exam preparation. network utilities troubleshooting
