if($ip_change) {
        my $ip_id;
        my $dummy = WatchLAN::IpAddress->new(string => $ip_change); # unique key
        $dummy->load(speculative =>1);
        $ip_id = $dummy->id;
        #print "IP-ID= $ip_id <\n";
        $device->ip_static_id($ip_id);
    }