Ping Hosts in Google Sheets & Excel — =VERVE("pinger", "google.com")

What this pulls

Check whether a host is up by the row. =VERVE("pinger", A2) pings each domain or IP and returns up or down — Sheets or Excel.

It's one of 250+ live sources you reach with a single =VERVE() function — served from APIVerve's production data engine, billed at 1 credit per resolved cell, and refreshed on whatever cadence you set. No API keys to wrangle, no scripts, no exports.

See it in a cell

A real example — the input you type, and the values you can pull from it. Click any cell to see the formula behind it.

pinger.xlsxsample data

B2fx=VERVE("pinger", A2, "alive")

Host

Alive

Round Trips

Numeric Host

Packet Loss

google.com

TRUE

2607:f8b0:4001:c6e::8a

click any cell to see its formula1 credit / cell

Ways to use it

Resolve a column of hosts

Fill =VERVE("pinger", "google.com") down your list of hosts or IPs and land the answer for each in its own row — no terminal, no scripts.

Enrich logs or inventories

Add Ping Hosts's lookup beside an existing table to turn bare identifiers into readable, structured detail.

Compose checks

Combine the result with IF and conditional formatting to surface the rows that need attention.

Use it in your sheet

The same function works in both apps — install once, sign in with your key, and type it into any cell.

Google SheetsAdd-on

Install from the Workspace Marketplace, then drop the formula into a cell. Autocomplete suggests the source and its fields.

=VERVE("pinger", "google.com")

Microsoft ExcelAdd-in

Same source, same arguments, same key — in Excel on desktop, the web, or mobile. Excel namespaces it as VERVE.CALL. Drag to fill a whole column.

=VERVE.CALL("pinger", "google.com")

Optional inputs

Tune the result by adding name=value before the field argument — in any order. Leave one out and its default applies.

timeoutPremium
The timeout for the ping request in milliseconds
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "timeout", "1000")
retries
The number of ping retries to attempt
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "retries", "1")

Fields you can pull

Add a field name as the last argument to land just that value in the cell.

Host
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "host")
Numeric HostPremium
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "numericHost")
Alive
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "alive")
Round Trips
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "roundTrips")
Packet LossPremium
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "packetLoss")
Min MSPremium
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "minMS")
Avg MSPremium
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "avgMS")
Max MSPremium
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "maxMS")
Std DevPremium
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "stdDev")
TimesPremium
=VERVE("pinger", "google.com", "field", "times")

Premium marks data included on paid plans. On the Free plan a marked field is withheld and a marked input is ignored — either way the cell reads #PREMIUM(name) instead of a value, so a gated answer can never be mistaken for a real one. Everything unmarked works on every plan. Compare plans

Ping Hosts, answered

Everything you need to wire it into a sheet.

How do I pull Ping Hosts into a spreadsheet?

Install the VerveSheets add-on, sign in with your key, and type =VERVE("pinger", "google.com") into any cell. The same function works in Google Sheets and Excel — no scripts, no API wiring.

How many credits does each Ping Hosts cell cost?

Each resolved cell costs 1 credit. Filling a column of ten rows costs ten times that; a cell only re-bills when it actually refreshes, so a static sheet doesn't keep charging.

Can I fill a whole column at once?

Yes. Reference a range instead of a single cell — e.g. point Ping Hosts at A2:A50 — and it returns a value for every row in one call, or just drag =VERVE("pinger", "google.com") down like any spreadsheet function.

Does Ping Hosts work in Excel as well as Google Sheets?

Yes. It's the same =VERVE() function with the same arguments and the same key in both — build a sheet in one and it behaves identically in the other.

How current is the data?

Ping Hosts is served live from APIVerve's production data engine, and cells recalculate on the refresh cadence you choose — every open, hourly, or every 30 minutes.

Where does the data come from, and what shows on my bill?

VerveSheets runs on APIVerve, our production data engine; Ping Hosts is one of 300+ sources on the same key. Invoices and card statements show APIVERVE.

Ping Hosts

Resolve a column of hosts

Enrich logs or inventories

Compose checks

Ping Hosts, answered

Put Ping Hosts in your next spreadsheet. Add the extension, paste the formula, and the cell keeps itself current.

Scaling up?