Do you need to find the IP address of your Axis camera in the network? There are a few methods to detect your Axis camera and this is what we will discuss in this guide.
Let’s say you have connected an Axis IP camera into a PoE switch or in a router and you don’t know the IP address. It’s important to understand the network topology and how the devices communicate and connect to this network.
How to find the IP address of an Axis camera
Consider the diagram below. We have a router/switch where the cameras are connected and then we have a laptop/computer hooked up on the same network.
As you can see, the IP addresses of these devices are in the same format. If the IP addresses are the same, then these devices can “see” and communicate with each other. If not, then we have to modify the IP addresses to match the main one from the router/switch.
Another thing to consider is the DHCP function. This function enables the router to assign a correct and available IP address to the devices on the network.
If you have hooked up an Axis camera to the router, then the router will assign the IP address to the camera (which supports the DHCP mode). If the router’s IP address is 192.168.1.1, then the camera will get an IP address of the same format (for example, 192.168.1.11).
However, if you connect the camera to a regular switch, it’s possible for the router (if there’s any on the setup) to assign an IP address. In that case, Axis will use its default IP address which is 192.168.0.90.
Either way, if you don’t know what the IP address of the camera is, then you can find it by using a few network scanning tools and modifying the address accordingly (to match your network). To make things easier, you can use the Axis official tool and have the camera configured quickly.
The Axis Tools
Axis Network Tools allows you to manage your Axis devices in the network. These tools can be downloaded for free from the Axis website.
There are two main tools that you can use to find (and adjust) the IP address of an IP camera:
- Axis IP Utility
- Axis Device Manager
These tools are heavily used by all Axis installers, integrators, technicians, and end-users as well.
Axis IP Utility
If you don’t know at all what your camera’s IP address is, then you can run this tool on your laptop and it will scan the local network and list all the devices found on it. The laptop needs to be on the same network as the camera.
As you can see in the picture above, the Axis IP Utility has located all the cameras and listed their respective information such as the camera’s model, IP address, Serial Number, etc.
The scanning software is quite fast and can generate any information found on the network.
Axis Device Manager
This tool is designed to create a database on your computer and store all the available information coming to the devices. It’s not as fast as the Axis IP Utility tool, but it offers other features that can be useful, especially when you install cameras professionally:
- Find the camera’s IP address
- Modify the IP addresses
- Modify the device’s password
- Update the firmware
- Back the configuration
- Load the camera’s application
- Restore configuration
- Show various notifications
- Show logs
- Reboot the devices
As you can see from the panel, the Axis Device Manager allows the user to have total control of the camera. If you want to change the camera’s IP address, you can modify it using the app and set an IP in the same format as the network (or to avoid possible IP conflicts).
All you have to do is to double-click on one of the entries and another window will pop out which allows you to modify the IP address, change the password, and adjust other settings.
Moreover, this tool allows the user to work with IP-Zero Configuration which can be used to place the cameras and other devices on different subnets or set the network in a more secure way.
If you have any issues with the camera, then Axis Device Manager offers a range of options and features that provides assistance when troubleshooting the cam
