If you have more than a passing interest in real-time ping values for your favourite websites or gaming servers then this project by reddit user "RTLShadow" is perfect. By using an Ethernet-enabled Arduino board with an LCD module, the device can make use of the ICMPPing library and simply display the values on an LCD module. If you're wondering what "ping" is - it's the amount of time it takes a packet of data to travel from your device to the server in question. The lower the ping time, generally the better the response from the server.
Initially this type of project sounds difficult, however once you review the sketch - it's quite simple. For more discussion head over to reddit, and view the sketch here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
When putting together your next Internet-enabled Arduino project - save time, space and money with the Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB interface (so you don't need a costly FTDI cable just to upload a sketch!) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet.
