diff --git a/lib/hobo/ssh.rb b/lib/hobo/ssh.rb
index 5fb2a58e5..e01482775 100644
--- a/lib/hobo/ssh.rb
+++ b/lib/hobo/ssh.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,13 @@ module Hobo
 
       def up?
         port = Hobo.config.vm.forwarded_ports[Hobo.config.ssh.forwarded_port_key][:hostport]
-        Ping.pingecho Hobo.config.ssh.host, 1, port
+        Net::SSH.start(Hobo.config.ssh.host, Hobo.config.ssh.username, :port => port, :password => Hobo.config.ssh.password, :timeout => 5) do |ssh|
+          return true
+        end
+
+        false
+      rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED
+        false
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/hobo/ssh_test.rb b/test/hobo/ssh_test.rb
index e0ac59eeb..cf4dbc149 100644
--- a/test/hobo/ssh_test.rb
+++ b/test/hobo/ssh_test.rb
@@ -42,17 +42,21 @@ class SshTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       hobo_mock_config
     end
 
-    should "pingecho the server" do
-      port = Hobo.config.vm.forwarded_ports[Hobo.config.ssh.forwarded_port_key][:hostport]
-      Ping.expects(:pingecho).with(Hobo.config.ssh.host, 1, port).once
-      Hobo::SSH.up?
+    should "return true if SSH connection works" do
+      Net::SSH.expects(:start).yields("success")
+      assert Hobo::SSH.up?
     end
 
-    should "use custom host if set" do
-      port = Hobo.config.vm.forwarded_ports[Hobo.config.ssh.forwarded_port_key][:hostport]
-      Hobo.config.ssh.host = "foo"
-      Ping.expects(:pingecho).with(Hobo.config.ssh.host, 1, port).once
-      Hobo::SSH.up?
+    should "return false if SSH connection times out" do
+      Net::SSH.expects(:start)
+      assert !Hobo::SSH.up?
+    end
+
+    should "return false if the connection is refused" do
+      Net::SSH.expects(:start).raises(Errno::ECONNREFUSED)
+      assert_nothing_raised {
+        assert !Hobo::SSH.up?
+      }
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/hobo/vm_test.rb b/test/hobo/vm_test.rb
index ab0984d37..bcdb963d7 100644
--- a/test/hobo/vm_test.rb
+++ b/test/hobo/vm_test.rb
@@ -119,13 +119,13 @@ class VMTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
       should "repeatedly ping the SSH port and return false with no response" do
         seq = sequence('pings')
-        Ping.expects(:pingecho).times(Hobo.config[:ssh][:max_tries].to_i - 1).returns(false).in_sequence(seq)
-        Ping.expects(:pingecho).once.returns(true).in_sequence(seq)
+        Hobo::SSH.expects(:up?).times(Hobo.config[:ssh][:max_tries].to_i - 1).returns(false).in_sequence(seq)
+        Hobo::SSH.expects(:up?).once.returns(true).in_sequence(seq)
         assert @vm.start
       end
 
       should "ping the max number of times then just return" do
-        Ping.expects(:pingecho).times(Hobo.config[:ssh][:max_tries].to_i).returns(false)
+        Hobo::SSH.expects(:up?).times(Hobo.config[:ssh][:max_tries].to_i).returns(false)
         assert !@vm.start
       end
     end