Owners of popular Yi Home video surveillance systems often face the need to access the device at the network level, which is required to set up local recording, integrate with smart home systems like Home Assistant or simply diagnose connection problems. Standard methods of setting up through the Mi Home app hide this information from the eyes of the average user, creating the illusion that network settings are not available.
But your camera's IP address is a fundamental parameter that the router assigns to every Wi-Fi connection. Without knowing this numerical ID, you can't set up remote port port port port swipes or remove your device from the router's security settings. In this article, we'll look at all the ways you can get that information, from simple methods through a router to more complex network utilities.
It is worth noting that the process of obtaining data can vary depending on the device model, whether it is a classic Yi Dome, Yi 1080p or newer versions with support for 2K. In addition, the firmware version and the region to which the account is attached can affect the availability of certain features in the mobile application.
Why it is important to know the network address of your camera
Understanding how addressing works on your local network is critical to a stable security system. Xiaomi Yi cameras by default use dynamic address allocation via the DHCP protocol. This means that every time the router or camera restarts, the device can get a new address, which will lead to a break in communication with configured scripts or third-party players.
Knowing the current IP address not only allows you to diagnose a connection, but also to fix it statically in the router settings, which eliminates the situation when the camera disappears from the field of view of applications after a voltage surge, because its digital ID has changed. For advanced users, this opens the door to using the RTSP protocol for live streaming without cloud services.
In addition, in congested networks with dozens of connected devices, knowing addresses helps detect conflicts. If two gadgets try to occupy the same cell on the network, both will be disrupted. The ability to quickly check which address is occupied by the camera saves hours of troubleshooting.
⚠️ Warning: Changing the network settings of a camera or router without understanding how the LAN works can lead to loss of access to the device. DHCP or static lists make sure you know the address of the router control panel.
It is also worth considering that some ISPs use CGNAT technology to hide your home router behind a shared address, in which case knowing a local IP camera will not help organize external access without additional tunneling settings or a dedicated static IP from the provider.
Search for an address through a router's web-interface
The most reliable and versatile way to find a device on the network is to go to the source of the address distribution, which is your router. Whether you use equipment from Keenetic, TP-Link, Asus or ISP solutions, the principle of operation is the same: the router keeps a log of all the connected customers. You will need access to the administrative dashboard of the device.
To enter the settings, you usually need to enter the gateway address in the browser address bar, often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. Once you enter the login and password (which are often indicated on the sticker at the bottom of the router, if you haven’t changed them), you need to find the section responsible for the connected devices. In different interfaces, it can be called differently: “Customer List”, “DHCP Server”, “Network Map” or “Client List”.
In the list you need to find a device with a name that contains the word Yi, Xiaomi or IP Camera, next to the name, will be indicated the corresponding IP address MAC-address. MAC-The address can also be found on a sticker under the camera itself, which will help identify the desired device if there are several of them.
Below is a table with examples of menu sections for popular router models where to look for customer information:
| Model router | Section | Subsection | Title of column |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keenetic | List of clients | Home network | IP-address |
| TP-Link | Wireless | Wireless Statistics / DHCP Client List | Client IP Address |
| Asus | Map of the network | Clients. | IP-address |
| MikroTik | IP | DHCP Leases | Address |
If you plan to use the camera frequently, it makes sense to set up a static anchor. The router interface next to the device you find often has a “Secure” or “Static DHCP” button, which ensures that the Xiaomi Yi camera will always receive the same address, even after a reboot.
In some cases, especially on ISP routers, the interface may be stripped down. If you can't find a list of customers, try looking for a Local Area Network or LAN section. Sometimes the information is hidden in the System Log tab, where all DHCP address issuances are recorded.
Using mobile applications to scan the network
If you have a difficult router or a complicated interface, you can use specialized smartphone apps, which scan the local network and give you a detailed report of all the active devices, which is especially convenient because your phone and camera are on the same Wi-Fi network.
One of the most popular and functional tools is the Fing app (available for Android and iOS), which, once scanned, displays all the devices from their manufacturers, MAC-addresses and, of course, IP Yi cameras are usually identified correctly, with the vendor Xiaomi Communications Co Ltd.
An alternative might be Network Analyzer or standard operating system tools. For example, on iOS, some versions can see a list of devices in Wi-Fi settings, although there are fewer details displayed there. On Android, Wi-Fi settings often have a Device Management option or similar one, depending on the manufacturer’s shell.
The advantage of using third-party scanners is that they show not only the address, but also open ports, which is useful for checking the availability of the RTSP service. You can immediately check whether port 554, which is standard for video streaming, is open.
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Make sure your smartphone is connected to the Wi-Fi network that the camera is connected to. If the phone is running over the mobile Internet (4G/5G), scanning the local network will not give results.
When using such applications, pay attention to response time (Ping). If the camera responds with a large delay, this may indicate a weak Wi-Fi signal or channel overload, which indirectly affects the stability of the video stream.
Getting information through the Mi Home app
The official Mi Home app (or Yi Home for older models) hides network settings from the user to make the interface easier, but some firmware and regional settings still provide that information if you know where to look, and it doesn’t require additional software.
To check, open the app, select your camera, and go to your device settings (usually the three dots in the upper right corner). Find the About Device or Camera Settings section. In some versions of firmware, it may display the "IP address" or "Network status" line, but most often it only shows the status of your Wi-Fi connection.
There's a hidden method for some versions of the Mi Home app, where if you quickly click on the logo or firmware version on the camera's main menu several times, an engineering menu can open, and sometimes technical information is available, including your current IP address, but this trick doesn't work on all models and versions of the software.
If there is no direct information in the application, you can indirectly calculate the address by knowing the gateway address. Usually the camera receives an address that follows the router address or one of the last in the range. For example, if the router has an address of 192.168.1.1, the camera can be 192.168.1.100 or higher.
⚠️ Note: Do not try to enter randomly IP Xiaomi Yi cameras do not have a full web interface to manage through the browser, you can only see a connection error or a blank page, and create an extra load in the router’s logs.
It’s worth remembering that Mi Home uses cloud servers to transmit video. Direct local IP connection through the app is often not provided by developers as they promote their cloud subscriptions, so the lack of explicit IP display is more a feature of the business model than a technical limitation.
Set up a static IP for stable operation
As mentioned, dynamic change of address can be a problem. To ensure that the Xiaomi Yi camera is always available at the same address, the best way to set up a static DHCP Lease is on the router, which is the right approach, not requiring changes in the settings of the camera itself.
You'll need it. MAC-The camera address, which can be found by any of the methods described above (through the scanner application or a sticker on the case). DHCP» Or "Address Reservation." Add a new entry by specifying MAC-camera address and desired IP-address (e.g. 192.168.1.50).
☑️ Static adjustment IP
Once you save the settings, you need to reboot the camera to request a new address from the router, and now it is guaranteed to receive a reserved address, which is especially important if you use the camera in conjunction with Home Assistant, Domoticz or other automation systems where the address is manually prescribed.
It is not recommended to configure static IP directly in the camera, if such an option is available at all (it is usually not available in standard firmware), it is better to leave addressing management to the central device - the router - to avoid conflicts if another device with the same address appears on the network.
If you use complex multi-subnet network configurations (VLANs), make sure the camera and control device are on the same subnet or the correct router is configured between them. Yi cameras do not support complex network protocols and only work in the underlying IPv4 environment.
What if the camera doesn’t receive IP?
Diagnosing Connection Problems
Knowing an IP address is just the first step, and often users are faced with a situation where the address is known but the camera is not accessible, which may be due to a router firewall blocking ports or the wrong Wi-Fi security settings.
You can use the ping command to diagnose. Open the command line on your computer (on Windows, press Win).+R, enter cmd and enter ping [IP_Camera address. 192.168.1.50. If you see the answer, "Response from..." it means there's a physical connection. If "Exceeded waiting interval," the camera is not available.
ping 192.168.1.50
Answer from 192.168.1.50: number of bytes = 32 time = 4ms TTL = 64
Answer from 192.168.1.50: number of bytes = 32 time = 3ms TTL = 64A common problem is the separation of Wi-Fi frequencies. Many modern routers combine 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks under one name. Xiaomi Yi cameras only work in the 2.4 GHz band. If the router improperly redirects the device to the 5 GHz network, the camera will not be able to connect. This will help to separate the names of networks (SSID) router-setting.
It is also worth checking whether the router is enabled with the “Customer Isolation” function. AP» (AP If it's active, devices on the Wi-Fi network can't see each other, and you can't access the camera from a computer or phone even if you know it. IP. This function must be disabled for the home network.
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Successful ping to IP The camera address guarantees that the device is on the network, but does not guarantee the operation of the video stream (RTSP 554, HTTP 80).
In some cases, resetting the camera's network settings helps. Most Yi models have a Reset button on their body, and holding it for 5-10 seconds with the camera on, you reset the Wi-Fi settings, and the device can be reconfigured, which often solves the problems with sticking the network module.