httping [1] is similar to ping, but it's for http requests. Give httping a url, and it will show you how long it takes to connect, send a request, and retrieve the reply (only the headers). Keep in mind that you are not only testing the time for the web server to respond, but also the time it takes to send the request over the network and for the web server to return the headers back. Basically, you are measuring the latency of the web server + the latency of the network. httping also supports IPv6.

To install, run the following for your operating system:

Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install httping

openSUSE: sudo zypper install httping

Android: Click here to install [2]

To ping the web server google.com, run the following:

httping -g http://google.com/

To ping the web server google.com on port 8080, run the following:

httping -p 8080 -g http://google.com/

To ping the web server google.com using SSL, run the following:

httping -l -g https://google.com/

To ping a site that requires Basic HTTP Authentication, run the following:

httping -g http://auth-site123.com/ -A -U username -P password

To do a flood ping (only do this on web servers you have permission for):

httping -f -g http://your-own-server.com/

To use a hostname instead of a URL (this is much easier, you don't have to type as much):

httping -h google.com

To ping the web server google.com, with a more verbose output (-S splits the measured latency in time to connect, and time to exchange a request with the HTTP server. -s whows the HTTP status code):

httping -S -s -g http://google.com/