Why ping isn't working on the command line?

When I issue $ ping google.com on the terminal, the command doesn’t do anything. When I Ctrl+c out of it, it reports 100 percent packet loss.

I have tried this command on:

  • a DispVM based on debian-11-dvm
  • a debian-11-minimal based qube
  • my sys-net qube (which is a debian-11-minimal based qube, as set up by following the minimal templates qubes-os documentation)

I am having this problem on a cafe public wifi.
I am able to connect to the internet just fine, apart from this ping-problem. My sys-net network manager reports that it is connected to the cafe’s wifi network. The sys-whonix has synced its sdwdate stuff. I am on tor browser, writing this post on qubes-os forum. My clearnet web browser is able to browse websites—all is fine but the ping command…

I do not understand this. Can someone help me understand?

Ping doesn’t work with Tor, if that is what you are trying to do. You can only use the TCP and UDP protocols, and ping uses ICMP.

That’s not what I am trying to do. The qubes I tried the ping command on the cafe public wifi had their net qube as sys-firewall.

Also, when I am connected to my home ethernet internet, the ping command successfully sends packets and receives them back from google.com with no problem.

So, I am of the opinion that this issue might be related to the way the public wifi is set up on the cafe? Maybe something related to its DNS stuff?

Seems unlikely that it’s an DNS issue if you are able to browse the internet, but you can try and ping 8.8.8.8 and see if ping works without resolving the hostname.

Maybe the internet cafe is just restricting access to the internet, they could be blocking ICMP you don’t need it to browse websites.

Still doesn’t work. ping still results in 100 packet loss.

what is this?

In short, it’s the protocol used to send ping and conduct diagnostics on a network. Since it’s not needed for daily activities (browsing, emails, etc…), which instead use TCP and UDP, network administrators may choose to block ICMP requests to prevent, for example, some network scans or other exploits of the ICMP protocol.

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