Ping Monitoring and TCP Port Checks for Servers, Databases, and Mail
Not everything you run speaks HTTP. Uptimehub reaches your servers and services at the network level with ICMP ping and TCP port checks, so infrastructure that no browser ever touches is still watched.
Checked from regions with auto-retry. No single-location false alarms.
All systems operational. Steady pulse across every region.
api.example.com returned no response from all 6 regions. Auto-retry confirmed the outage, then we alerted your team.
api.example.com is back up. The incident is logged to your status page history automatically.
90-day uptime · branded · your domain
Live demo · drive it, no signup needed
In short
Ping monitoring uses ICMP echo requests to confirm a host is reachable on the network, while TCP port monitoring confirms a specific service is actually accepting connections on its port. Uptimehub runs both from 6 global regions every minute, so you can watch a server with ping and verify that its database, mail server, SSH, or game server is listening on the right port. When a host stops responding or a port stops accepting connections, Uptimehub retries from other regions to rule out a transient route problem, then alerts you in seconds. These checks reach services that have no web page at all, filling the gap that HTTP-only monitoring leaves. Everything is read-only, connecting from the outside without logging in or touching your servers.
What you get
Ping and port for developers, SaaS teams and agencies
ICMP ping checks
Confirm any host is alive on the network with round-trip ping from 6 regions, ideal for bare servers and routers.
TCP port checks
Verify a specific port is open and accepting connections, covering databases, mail, SSH, Redis, and more.
Game and mail servers
Monitor services with no web front end, like game servers on custom ports or SMTP and IMAP mail hosts.
Cross-region confirmation
Auto-retry from other regions filters out one-off network blips so port alerts reflect real reachability.
How it works
From URL to alert in four steps
Add a host or port
Enter the host for a ping check, or the host and port for a TCP check.
We check from 6 regions
Uptimehub pings or connects every minute from around the world.
Get alerted in seconds
If the host or port stops responding, a cross-region retry confirms it and alerts you.
Show it on your status page
Surface network-level services on your branded status page alongside your web checks.
FAQ
Questions buyers ask about Ping and port
Ping monitoring sends an ICMP echo request and confirms the host is reachable on the network. Port monitoring opens a TCP connection to a specific port and confirms a service is actually listening there. A server can answer ping perfectly while the database on port 5432 is dead, so port checks are the stronger signal.
A TCP port check attempts to open a connection to a host on a given port and records whether the handshake completed and how long it took. It works for any service that listens on a port, including databases, mail servers, SSH, game servers, and internal APIs that do not speak HTTP.
Because ICMP is frequently blocked. Many firewalls, cloud security groups, and CDNs drop echo requests by default as a matter of policy while passing HTTP normally. A failed ping on such a host tells you nothing about availability, which is why an HTTP or TCP check should be the primary monitor for anything public facing.
Monitor the ports your service actually depends on: 443 and 80 for web traffic, 22 for SSH access, 25, 465, or 587 for outbound mail, 3306 or 5432 for databases, and 6379 for Redis. Monitor database and cache ports from a location that is allowed to reach them, or the check reports a firewall rule rather than an outage.
No. If ICMP is dropped, the check will report the host as unreachable even while it serves traffic normally. Either allow echo requests from the monitoring locations, or use a TCP port check on a port that is already open instead. For public web services a TCP or HTTP check is the better default anyway.
Last updated July 2026
More monitor types
Start monitoring in two minutes
Add a URL or endpoint and Uptimehub checks it every minute from 6 global regions, alerts you in seconds, and updates your branded status page. Read-only checks that never touch your servers.