>Have you tried to do a tracert? This will show the path to the particular .com. It might give you some ideal of where the problem is.

No, but that's a good idea, if I need it (and we'll have to see if that still works from within a firewall, too). But I was really just curious about PING, not trying to do anything specific just now.

From what I have read and tested, the more advanced firewalls all block PINGs now. I'm not surprised about my worksite, they are very tight on security. But even my personal ISP blocks PINGs now too (at least I assume they are blocked from within).