No, ping can be deprioritized while actual interesting packets pass through with much less latency.

> mtr -u

>

> Use UDP datagrams instead of ICMP ECHO.

Rules out router control plane protection mechanisms specifically for ICMP echo rate limiting.

Sure, but if ping is not blocked at the endpoint, and there is not insignificant packet loss directly at the endpoint, then that demonstrates a network issue that needs to be looked at.