If you're planning on using a professional IP camera to your home or business computer network, you're going to have to account for some computer network related configuration to ensure that the camera will be accessible on the local network and viewable from the Internet. Proper camera deployment for a standalone security camera involves running three commands from a PC or Mac on the same network on which you plan to connect the camera.
The video below shows what we call the three simple networking commands for IP camera deployment. We show how to perform these commands on a Windows 10 PC.
The video below shows how to obtain the same information in case you are using a Mac computer.
Below is a brief description of the principles behind each of the commands shown in the video.
Find the IP address scheme of your network: ip config
Regardless of whether you're using a wired PoE camera or WiFi security camera, an IP addressable camera needs an IP address that is of the same scheme as your local computer network (LAN). You can figure out the scheme of your computer network by using the IP config command on a Windows PC or the Network settings in System Preferences on a Mac. Once you know the IP address scheme of your LAN, you can then pick an arbitrary IP address to set the camera to which will conform to your network.
Be sure you perform the IP config command on the main network at your home or business where your camera will be connected. If you're considering viewing the camera remotely using our free remote viewing app, the camera must be connected to the main router on the network for the QR code viewing method provided by the App to work.
Confirm an available IP address: ping
Once you know the IP address scheme of your LAN, you can pick an arbitrary IP address to set each camera to. You can confirm whether that IP address is available by using the ping command on either a Windows or Mac computer.
If the IP address is available, you will receive a "no reply" message in the command window.
Confirm the router is the main internet router: tracert
If you would like to take advantage of the easy remote viewing feature of the cameras by scanning a QR code into the Free Remote Viewing App, you will want to make sure the camera is connected to the main internet router on the network. If you connect the camera to a mesh network, or a second router behind the main router, or to a network behind a corporate firewall such as a Sonicwall, the easy remote viewing method will not work. For this reason, it is important to do a survey of your network that you plan to add the camera to by running the tracert command on a Windows PC or traceroute command on a Mac.
