In a normal subnet of 192.168.1.* with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, the broadcast address should be 192.168.1.255. I'm trying to ping my network using my this address without succes. Why?

Where can I find a program that will brodcast a ping or a TCP Port? If you answer me Nmap, please tell the command line or a page where I can find the information! Thank.