PowerShell Test-NetConnection: Test Ports, Ping and Routes

Test-NetConnection checks whether your computer can reach another host, and whether a specific TCP port on it is open. Give it a computer name and a port:

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName learn.microsoft.com -Port 443 |
    Select-Object -Property ComputerName, RemotePort, TcpTestSucceeded

Output:

ComputerName        RemotePort TcpTestSucceeded
------------        ---------- ----------------
learn.microsoft.com        443             True

TcpTestSucceeded True means the port accepted a connection. I selected three properties because the full output also lists your own IP address and network adapter. Every example ran in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 on Windows 11.

Get a simple True or False

In scripts, add -InformationLevel Quiet. Test-NetConnection then returns just True or False, which drops straight into an if statement:

$open = Test-NetConnection -ComputerName learn.microsoft.com -Port 443 -InformationLevel Quiet
"Port 443 reachable: $open"

Output:

Port 443 reachable: True

Test several ports

Loop through the ports you care about. -WarningAction SilentlyContinue hides the yellow warning Test-NetConnection prints for every closed port:

foreach ($port in 80, 443, 3389) {
    $ok = Test-NetConnection -ComputerName www.microsoft.com -Port $port -InformationLevel Quiet -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
    '{0,-5} {1}' -f $port, $(if ($ok) { 'open' } else { 'closed or filtered' })
}

Output:

80    open
443   open
3389  closed or filtered

“Closed or filtered” can mean nothing listens on the port, or a firewall blocks it. From outside, you can’t tell which. Checking if a port is open covers more ways to test ports.

A failed ping doesn’t mean the host is down

Without -Port, Test-NetConnection sends a ping. Many servers and firewalls block ping, so a working website can still fail it:

$result = Test-NetConnection -ComputerName learn.microsoft.com -Port 443 -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
"Ping succeeded: $($result.PingSucceeded)"
"Port 443 open:  $($result.TcpTestSucceeded)"

Output:

Ping succeeded: False
Port 443 open:  True

Always test the port the service actually uses. Ping only tells you whether ICMP is allowed on the network.

Use the built-in port names

-CommonTCPPort takes a name instead of a number for the most common ports:

(Get-Command -Name Test-NetConnection).Parameters['CommonTCPPort'].Attributes.ValidValues -join ', '

Output:

HTTP, RDP, SMB, WINRM

HTTP is 80, RDP is 3389, SMB is 445 and WINRM is 5985. For example, Test-NetConnection -ComputerName Server01 -CommonTCPPort RDP.

Trace the route

-TraceRoute lists each router between you and the host, like tracert. Add -Hops to stop after a set number:

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName learn.microsoft.com -TraceRoute -Hops 15

The first hops are your own network, so be careful when sharing this output. Test-NetConnection’s other parameters are in the Test-NetConnection reference.

Test-Connection -TcpPort in PowerShell 7

PowerShell 7 added -TcpPort to Test-Connection. It returns just True or False, but it doesn’t exist in Windows PowerShell 5.1:

Test-Connection -TargetName learn.microsoft.com -TcpPort 443

Output in PowerShell 7.6:

True

Use Test-NetConnection in scripts that must run in both versions. Microsoft covers the PowerShell 7 option in the Test-Connection reference.

Test many servers at once

Put the names in an array and collect the results as objects, so you can sort them or export them to CSV:

$servers = 'web01', 'web02', 'sql01'
$servers | ForEach-Object {
    [pscustomobject]@{
        Server = $_
        Https  = Test-NetConnection -ComputerName $_ -Port 443 -InformationLevel Quiet -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Other network tasks with PowerShell:

• Check if a port is open
• Find ports in use
• Get an IP address
• Use Invoke-WebRequest