Patent ID: 9584449
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A device for enabling a first computer network device to determine whether a second computer network device has an online status or an offline status where the first computer network device cannot directly contact the second computer network device, the device comprising: a processor; a memory device for use by the processor, the memory device comprising instructions for execution by the processor to: receive a request from the first computer network device for the online or offline status of the second computer network device; determine whether the second computer network device is online or offline; in response to a determination that the second computer network device is online, return a first network address to the first computer network device; and in response to a determination that the second computer network device is offline, return a second network address to the first computer network device, wherein the second network address is a known bad address that will not provide a response to the first computer network device.