Using ipconfig to Determine if a Device Is on the Right Subnet

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Note: If available, we highly recommend consulting an IT or networking professional when dealing with network issues.

Objective

Use Ipconfig to check if a device is on the correct subnet.

Knowing what subnet a device is located in can help with network troubleshooting (especially when a device is not drawing service), as well as determining an available range when setting a static IP. It will also ensure you are able to use a computer on the network to access a device's web interface (GUI).

Applies To

Networking
Subnets

Procedure

Obtain IP Address and Subnet Mask

Use the phone GUI to navigate to Status > TCIP/IP parameters.
Note the IP address and subnet mask.
From a computer on the intended network, open a command/terminal prompt.
- Windows: In the Run or Search bar, type cmd and click Enter. Then type ipconfig and click Enter.
- Mac: Press Command+Space and type terminal, then click Enter. In the terminal, type ifconfig and click Enter.
Note the Subnet mask.

The subnet mask of the computer should match the phone. Rearrange devices to ensure both the and computer are on the network the phones are intended to reside on.

Compare IP Addresses to Determine if Devices Are on the Same Subnet

Calculate network block.
1. In the example above (Step 3), we have a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. This is the size of the network block.
2. In each of the 4 sections, if the value is 255, we will substitute that with a 0.
3. If there is any other number in the section, we then subtract that number from 256.
4. In the example above, we would get 0.0.0.256 (256 - 0 = 256). This is a block of 256 numbers.
Compare both IP address/subnet combinations as the addresses must match for any section where the subnet value is 255.

The key is to match up the subnet and the IP address.

The most common subnet you will see is 255.255.255.0. So if two addresses match in the first 3 sections (reading left to right), and the subnet is 255.255.255.0 for both addresses, they are in the same subnet.