Using a unique IP address when setting up a new device on one network is essential to avoid IP conflict. IP conflict is a situation where more than one device installed on a subnet are configured with a similar IP address. Duplicate IP numbers will affect your device's connections and cause unresponsiveness. As a host, you need to prevent an IP address conflictby manually assigning new equipment with an unused address. There are easy ways to find available IP addresses on your network. This article will guide you on how to find a spare IP address or an IP range:

1)Know the device’s default IP address

New equipment comes with a written manual from the manufacturer. The manual all vital details about the device, including its IP address. So go through the manual to find its IP number and write it down.

2)Find the IP block or range

IP numbers are divided in ranges based on classless inter-domain routing- CIDR. To find the IP range open the start menu and type CMD on the search bar. Run Command Prompt as administrator. The command window will pop up then type IPCONFIG and click enter. The IPv4 address in the results is your IP address range.

3)Check if your IPv4 matches the default IP address range

The first step to finding an available IP address is comparing the new devices IP range and your current range. Different addresses show that address is unused so you can install your device through the normal configuration process. However, if they are similar, then the possibility of having a duplicate IP number is high.

4)Confirm if the IP is available

In case the default IP address shares a similar range as your current block of IP, you should find out if the IP address is still available. To do so, you need an IP checker tool that shows a list of all IP addresses on the network. You will use the list from the IP scanning software to look for your default addresses. If the number does not match any on the list, the IP number is unused, if not you need to find a spare IP address.

5)Finding a Vacant IP address

Open the Command prompt window using the procedure stated above. Type in the command, FOR/L %i IN (1, 1,254) DO ping –a 1 192.168.1.%i ! FIND /I “Reply”>>c:ipadresses.txt and press enter. You have to wait for some minutes then check the results in a file named ipaddresses.txt found in the root of directory C. The unused IP addresses on this list lack the notation “bytes=32 time=xx TTL=128.

Conclusion

Making sure your devices have unused IP numbers prevents many issues. When installing a new device, confirm if the IP address is available, then configure it. If not, you can find a spare Internet Protocol number using the above tips.