Before I go into detail on this subject I want to remind those of you that consider responding to evaluate your response first to verify that it does not contain any information that should not be posted in the public forum.

I am dealing with a system in a location far enough away from me that it is imperative that I establish a network connection to the NSP card. I have dial-up access to the system and the system is connected to the LAN properly. The system is operating on a T-1 channel bank with several lines. The quality of the lines prior to delivery into the system are somewhat less than "Quality". Those lines are so bad that I am only able to dial into the system after 9PM and even then it is crap shoot, thus the reason needed for network access.

My first hurdle to overcome is the Network IT Administrator. During the on site visit I determined through a physical connection to the LAN the Public IP address to be XX.XXX.XXX.XX3 The fact that it ends in 3 is all that matters for this post. In an email with the network administrator I ask him to verify that IP address along with a few other pertinent settings. His response to my email was less than cooperative and he informed me that the Public IP was XX.XXX.XXX.XX4

The problem now is that I am second guessing what I saw and what he is telling me. I need his cooperation in this matter to get this over with and I need a few more things from him before this is over with so I did a test.

I ping tested both IP's. Results:

IP ending in #4 failed, 4 packets sent, 4 lost
IP ending in #3 passed, 4 packets sent, 0 lost

My Question: Am I correct in assuming the results of the "PING" test the correct public IP is the one ending with #3 and the one ending with #4 to be non-existent?

Before the low life telephone tech sends the Network Administrator an email telling him he is wrong, the low life telephone tech must have accurate information.

Are my test results conclusive?