Perhaps TCP ping will work better # hping2 --syn -p 25 -c 5 mx.chi.playboy.com HPING mx.chi.playboy.com (eth0 216.163.143.4) 46 bytes from 216.163.143.4: flags=SA 46 bytes from 216.163.143.4: flags=SA [cut] --- mx.chi.playboy.com hping statistic --- 5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received round-trip min/avg/max = 56.8/58.0/61.8 ms # hping2 --syn -p 25 -c 5 mx.la.playboy.com HPING mx.la.playboy.com (eth0 216.163.128.15) 46 bytes from 216.163.128.15: flags=SA 46 bytes from 216.163.128.15: flags=SA [cut] --- mx.la.playboy.com hping statistic --- 5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received round-trip min/avg/max = 15.4/15.8/16.4 ms