atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems ESI Telephones & Systems Esi-Access Network Connection

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?

I don't see any reason to put this in installers. John your results are definitely not conclusive. The public ip that does not respond to a ping could simply mean that the router is set to not respond when it is pinged. I believe many routers even come set to not respond out of the box.

Where did you see the .3 address?

The Dot-3 address was located while on site following instructions per ESI tech support. Basically the way that is done is using a computer connected to the LAN and Command Prompt tracert -d www.???.com

Intentionally being vague here but I believe you are following me?

I will be out of office the rest of the day. I won't be ignoring any responses to this thread just away from the computer. Thanks in advance for any input!

Do they have a block of IP's or just a single static?

They may have ICMP traffic blocked on .3 which would respond with a time out / no reply message.

grider, the best way to get the public IP is to hit www.whatismyip.com from a computer connected to the same switch as the ESI system. If there's a block of addresses available, then you don't necessarily need to run the ESI network on the LAN, you could connect it ahead of their LAN router. In which case, what the IT guy may not be saying directly but implies, is that you can configure the ESI at .4, because he's already using .3 for the LAN router.

Rob & Aircom

I wish when I was on site I had requested an independant IP from an available block. Unfortunately there was no reference to that scenario in the manual I was following, NSP made simple from the reseller website. As it stands now I am connected to the router and I will need to leave it that way and be successful.

The website I connected to and "whatismyip" are very similar. The one I used is www.arin.net via C-promt. What arin shows differently is it will display the steps or hops beginning from the connected computer all the way out, in order. The second item on the list is the public IP.

The reason I am attempting to be very dilligent and get all my specs perfect is 2 reasons.

1. The Network Admin guy is less than user friendly.
2. Setting up a connection for the first time can be very frustrating without confidence in the network settings. Especially with a 1 hour window every night at 9-10 using internal modem that gets connected 1 out of 15 attempts. No sarcasm there, that is a fact. Just getting connected takes 2 beers.

As far as ICMP traffic being blocked. I am able to ping .3 and get positive results and .3 is the public IP I obtained personally. Now as far as .4 possibly having ICMP traffic blocked, that might be so. But if the NA wanted me to use .4 instead of .3 I think he would have unblocked it.

Thanks

About ICMP traffic being blocked. If the network settings have been configured correctly to allow my Esi-Access connection then it should also allow a PING test. Right?

In other words if I could connect to it via Esi-Access I should also be able to PING the NSP?
If I could PING the NSP but couldn't connect Esi-Access then my problem is not with physical connection.

If the NSP is sitting behind the router, then your assumption about ping automatically being allowed is not correct. If you are using One-to-One NAT, it would be the device (such as the NSP) responding to the ping, but only if the router is allowing the ping thru. If you are using port forwarding, it would be the router that would be responding, but only if it's programmed to do so. Just because you setup port forwarding or One-to-One NAT, that doesn't automatically mean you will get a ping response. That is a separate set of ports, and is typically blocked by default. Also, don't assume that, just because you asked the network admin to forward your UDP ports, that he/she will also allow the ping. They'll probably be reluctant enough to forward the ports, just to be difficult. Allowing the ping is like changing from an unlisted to a listed phone number. You'll run into more reluctance there. Now, if it's only temporary for testing purposes, then they'll probably go for it, so you have a chance to get your equipment working, using the tools you need (such as ping) to get it working.