How can I test an outbound connection to an IP address as well as a specific port?

Question

OK, we all know how to use PING to test connectivity to an IP address. What I need to do is something similar but test if my outbound request to a given IP Address as well a

Answer 1

If there is a server running on the target IP/port, you could use Telnet. Any response other than "can't connect" would indicate that you were able to connect.