Ethernet networking
Overview
The edgertronic network configuration documentation is the longest, most detailed documentation for the entire camera. If you misconfigure the camera's network settings, which you typically figure out when you can no longer browse to the camera, then you should perform a factory reset and try again.
For the simplest case, you connect a network cable between your laptop and the camera, configure your laptop to use IP address 10.11.12.1 (as described below) and you are ready to us the camera by browsing to http://10.11.12.13 . If this is the first time using the camera, start with this simple configuration so you can first get familiar with the camera before you more on to a more complex networking configuration.
Hint: to determine the camera's IP address, first verify the system LED is either yellow, magenta, or blue, indicating the camera has an IP address. Then put the camera's SD card into your computer and check the file names to find the IP address.
Network connection and status LEDs
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There is a standard 10/100 Mbit/sec RJ45 Ethernet jack on the back of the edgertronic high speed camera. The camera has two Ethernet related LEDs, located on the Ethernet jack.
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Camera IP address
When using your camera, it will be connected to a network. Every device on a network must have an IPv4 address that is unique to that network, including the camera and the laptop or tablet controlling the camera. You also need to specify the netmask (also called the subnet mask). The camera supports any valid netmask, even though the examples below show 255.255.255.0.
Simple instructions
If you have one camera, then you shouldn't need to change the camera's network settings. If your camera is connected directly to your laptop with an Ethernet cable, then the camera's default IP address will be 10.11.12.13.
To allow you to figure out the camera's IP address, the camera creates a file on the SD card where the IP address is contained in the filename. After the camera LED is solid green, remove the SD card and check the file whose name starts with cam_ip_address and ends with the camera's IP address. For example, if you are using a DHCP server which assigned an address of 10.111.0.63 to your camera, then you should find the file cam_ip_address.10.111.0.63 on the SD card.
Once you know the camera's IP address and have properly configured your laptop (instructions later in this article), you can browse to the camera using the Chrome web browser, with a URL like http://10.11.12.13 or http://10.111.0.63
Replace 10.11.12.13 with the IP address being used by your camera.
User configurable network settings
In software release 2.5.2, we added the ability for the user to configure the network settings via the web user interface.
If you do not understand TCP/IP network configuration, you may enter the wrong values and then lose the ability to communicate with the camera over the network. When this happens, you will need to do factory reset. If you call us for help, we will first ask you to do a factory reset.
To configure the camera's network related settings, click on the wrench 
, and when the settings modal appears, click on the PRO button 
at the top, then the Network tab will show up. Finally click on the Network tab.
If you are using Internet networking, where your computer and the camera are connected to your existing network infrastructure, then click on the DHCP with fallback to fixed address button, and ignore the rest of the settings. You will need to either look at the DHCP server log to determine each camera's IP address, or remove the SD card as described in the Simple Instructions above.
If you are using multiple cameras in a Stand alone networking configuration - where your computer is connected to a network switch, and several cameras are connected to the same network switch, then your easiest network configuration option is to use fixed IP addressing, click on the Fixed button, configuring each camera using these steps:
- Set your computer's Ethernet address to 10.11.12.1 as described later in this article.
- Put a label on each camera with the IP address you are going to assign. Start with 10.11.12.13, and then increment the last number for each successive camera, e.g. 10.11.12.14, 10.11.12.15, ...
- Connect one camera up at a time directly to your laptop and browse to http://10.11.12.13 which is the camera's factory reset default IP address when using stand-alone networking.
- If your browser reports an error, then perform a factory reset on the connected camera.
- Set the Connection type to Fixed
- Set the IP Address to the address on the camera label that you added in the step above.
- Make sure the Netmask is set to 255.255.255.0
- Typically, leave the Gateway and NTP Server values blank or unchanged. Of course if you have a multi-LAN configuration the gateway will need to be set. If you have access to a local stratum 1 NTP server, then setting the NTP server field will allow the camera to provide a more accurate trigger time.
- Click outside the Setting modal to close the modal and activate the settings. Since the camera will have a different IP address, the browser will redirect to the new address you assigned and attempt to re-open the live view page, which takes around 90 seconds. If the browser can not communicate with the camera, make sure:
- you have only one camera connected,
- you assigned the IP address on the camera label, and
- the filename on the SD card contains the IP address you expected.
Perform a factory reset if you can't communicate with the camera and try these steps again.
Ethernet configuration
You have two Ethernet network configuration choices.
- Internet networking - Connect your computer and the camera to your existing network infrastructure.
- Stand alone networking - Connect a network cable between your laptop and the camera. If you are connecting more than one camera, you will need a network switch and an additional network cable.
Ethernet bandwidth
The maximum Ethernet transfer rate for an edgertronic camera is 60 Mbits/sec.
When the a host computer is uploading a video file from the camera while the camera is busy capturing the next video, the transfer rate is 16 Mbits/sec.
Camera connected to DHCP network
Your PC or laptop should already be connected to the existing network that includes a DHCP server, possibly via a wifi connection. If your PC can access the Internet (and no company IT person touched your laptop), then most likely there is a DHCP server on your network as well.
Your network will assign an IP address to the camera using the DHCP protocol. The camera creates a file on the big SD card with the assigned IP address in the filename. After the camera LED goes solid green, remove the big SD card, insert it into your PC and you will be able to read the IP address of the camera.
If the camera's system LED is solid blue, your camera is using a DHCP assigned IP address.
Once you know the camera's IP address, stick the SD card back in the camera and type the IP address into the Chrome web browser's address bar.
Using DHCP assigned network addresses works best when the DHCP server remembers the IP address it assigns to devices so that the camera will get the same IP address each time the camera is powered on. Modern DHCP server's work in this manner, so you can put a sticker on the camera with the assigned DHCP IP address.
Stand alone networking - laptop to camera networking
If you are using the camera in a location where it is inconvenient to connect to an existing network, you can simply connect a network cable between your laptop and the camera. The camera will detect there is no network infrastructure and configure itself accordingly. You will need to modify your laptop network settings so the laptop can communicate with the camera.
Your laptop needs to be configured to use IP address 10.11.12.1. If you are familiar with laptop network configuration, you can make the changes now or follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Mac OS X stand alone network configuration
Most Mac computers are configured to allow Ethernet to work automatically over an Internet connection. You need to change the configuration to use a fixed IP address when your Mac and camera are connected together using an Ethernet cable.
Screenshots from Mac OS X 10.11.6.
- Pull down the Apple menu in the top left corner and select System Preferences.
- In System Preferences select Network.
- In the left pane of the Network dialog, select Ethernet. In the right pane of the Network dialog, set Configure IPv4 to Manually configured. Set the IP address to 10.11.12.1 and the Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0. The Router setting is not important - 10.11.12.254 is fine. Then click the Apply button.
Troubleshooting Mac OS X networking
Can not connect to camera after updating Mac OS
Several customers reported after they updated their laptop, they could not longer connect to the camera. The problem is the Apple update process can corrupt your network settings.
One solution is to connect the camera to the computer and then delete the network adapter setting that was causing problems. Reboot laptop and then re-create the network setup.
Once your laptop is configured, you can browse to the camera using the URL:
http://10.11.12.13
Ubuntu OS stand alone network configuration
- Ubuntu Version: 20.04
Please follow the below mentioned simple steps to change the configuration to use a fixed IP address when your computer and camera are connected together using an Ethernet cable:
- Go to 'Settings' -> 'Network' and enable the 'Wired' option by clicking the button (it looks like a switch) if it is 'off' by default.
- Click the small 'setting' icon (it looks like a 'bearing' sign) very next to the button(switch) mentioned above.
- You can see a pop-up modal form with the caption 'Wired' with options for configuring 'IPv4', 'IPv6', and other parameters.
- Click 'IPv4', select 'IPv4 Method' as 'Manual', and under the 'Addresses' tab, enter the following IP numbers:
- Address: 10.11.12.1
- Netmask : 255.255.255.0
- Gateway : leave blank
- Choose 'Automatic' for 'DNS' and 'Routers' configs in the same modal box.
- Click'Apply' and close the modal box.
- Next, you can now browse to your camera using Chrome and the URL
http://10.11.12.13
To revert back to the previous Ethernet configuration (so you can connect to the Internet), just only one change to 'IPv4 Method' as 'Automatic(DHCP)' from 'Manual'.
Windows 11 stand alone network configuration
Most computers running Windows 11 are configured to allow Ethernet to work automatically over an Internet connection (meaning the IP address is assigned by a DHCP server). You need to change the Windows 11 configuration to use a fixed IP address when your laptop and camera are connected together using an Ethernet cable.
Open the Control Panel network settings dialog and adjust the Ethernet network settings.
- Slide your mouse to the bottom of the screen, and click on the search icon which is just to the right of the 4 pane blue window icon.
- Type network, then click on the Control Panel icon.
- In the left panel of the Network and Sharing Center, double-click on Change adapter settings.
- In the Network Connections window, double-click on Local Area Network.
- In the "Local Area Network Connection Status" window, press the Properties button.
- In the "Local Area Connection Properties" window, select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and press the Properties button.
- Select Use the following IP address: and enter the following settings
- IP address: 10.11.12.1
- Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default gateway: leave blank
- Select OK in the Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog and Close in the Ethernet Properties dialog.
You can now browse to your camera using Chrome and the URL
http://10.11.12.13
To revert back to the previous Ethernet configuration (so you can connect to the Internet), follow the same steps, but select Obtain an IP address automatically in the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog.
Many thanks to Piroz for providing the Windows 11 screen shots used above.
Windows 10 stand alone network configuration
Most computers running Windows 10 are configured to allow Ethernet to work automatically over an Internet connection. You need to change the configuration to use a fixed IP address when your laptop and camera are connected together using an Ethernet cable.
Open the Control Panel network settings dialog and adjust the Ethernet network settings.
- Slide your mouse to the bottom of the screen, and click inside the search box which is just to the right of the 4 pane blue window icon.
- Type network, then click on the Control Panel icon.
- In the left panel of the Network and Sharing Center, double-click on Change adapter settings.
- In the Network Connections window, double-click on Local Area Network.
- In the "Local Area Network Connection Status" window, press the Properties button.
- In the "Local Area Connection Properties" window, select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and press the Properties button.
- Select Use the following IP address: and enter the following settings
- IP address: 10.11.12.1
- Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default gateway: leave blank
- Select OK in the Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog and Close in the Ethernet Properties dialog.
You can now browse to your camera using Chrome and the URL
http://10.11.12.13
To revert back to the previous Ethernet configuration (so you can connect to the Internet), follow the same steps, but select Obtain an IP address automatically in the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog.
Windows 8 stand alone network configuration
Most computers running Windows 8 are configured to allow Ethernet to work automatically over an Internet connection. You need to change the configuration to use a fixed IP address when your laptop and camera are connected together using an Ethernet cable.
Open the Control Panel network settings dialog and adjust the Ethernet network settings.
- Slide your mouse to the upper right corner to bring up the charms bar and select Start.
- Type network to bring up the Network browser window.
- Select the Network tab and then the Properties icon.
- In the left panel of the Network and Sharing Center, select Change adapter settings.
- In the Network Connections window, select Ethernet.
- In Ethernet Properties, select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and press the Properties button.
- Select Use the following IP address: and enter the following settings
- IP address: 10.11.12.1
- Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default gateway: leave blank
- Select OK in the Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog and Close in the Ethernet Properties dialog.
You can now browse to your camera using Chrome and the URL
http://10.11.12.13
To revert back to the previous Ethernet configuration (so you can connect to the Internet), follow the same steps, but select Obtain an IP address automatically in the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog.
Windows 7 stand alone network configuration
Most computers running Windows 7 are configured to allow Ethernet to work automatically over an Internet connection. You need to change the configuration to used a fixed IP address when your laptop and camera are connected together using an Ethernet cable.
Open the Control Panel network settings dialog and adjust the Ethernet network settings.
- Click on the Start icon in the lower left corner.
- Click on Control Panel on the right side.
- Click on Network and Internet.
- Click on Network and Sharing Center.
- Click on Change adapter settings.
- Click on Local Area Connection.
- Click on Properties.
- Click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
- Set the following values:
- IP address: 10.11.12.1
- Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default gateway: leave blank
- Select OK in the Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog and Close in the Ethernet Properties dialog.
You can now browse to your camera using Chrome and the URL
http://10.11.12.13
To revert back to the previous Ethernet configuration (so you can connect to the Internet), follow the same steps, but select Obtain an IP address automatically in the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) dialog.
Android stand alone Ethernet network configuration
A customer asked if an Ethernet dongle to a Samsung Galaxy Android tablet would work. "It should" was my reply, along with finding and buying the Plugable USB 2.0 OTG Micro-B Ethernet Adaptor for around $14 so I could run a quick test. Years ago I met Bernie, the owner of Plugable at an embedded Linux conference. I became a fan as Plugable cares about Linux support and we all know Android runs on top of Linux. We all know the edgertronic camera runs Linux too. My office is full of Plugable gear.
I had it working in 10 minutes. Here are the steps I followed:
- attach Plugable Ethernet adaptor to tablets USB OTG connector
- click on Settings and then Connections
- click on More connection settings
- click on Ethernet
- click on Configure Ethernet device
- adjust the settings as shown below (click on image to make it bigger), The DNS address and Default routers settings are not used, but you must set some value or you can not save the configuration.
- Launch Chrome and browse to 10.11.12.13
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Changing the camera's IP address
For stand alone operations, the camera uses a default IP address:
10.11.12.13
Changing the fixed IP address is an experimental camera feature. If you make a mistake reset the camera to factory default values.
Software release 2.5.2 and newer
See user configured network settings above.
Software release 2.4.1 and newer
If the interfaces file has an address other than 10.11.12.13, then the DHCP protocol support is disabled so you can use a fixed IP address on a network with a DHCP server.
Software release 2.2 and newer
It is possible to change the camera's fixed IP address by saving a file named interfaces in the root directory of the SD card and rebooting the camera TWICE.
If you have two cameras, store the interfaces.10.11.12.14 file on the SD card on the second camera. It will have IP address 10.11.12.14.
#enable-dhcp no auto lo iface lo inet loopback auto eth0 iface eth0 inet static address 10.11.12.14 netmask 255.255.255.0 network 10.11.12.0 broadcast 10.11.12.255
If you have three cameras, store the following contents into the interfaces file on the SD card on the third camera. It will have IP address 10.11.12.15.
#enable-dhcp no auto lo iface lo inet loopback auto eth0 iface eth0 inet static address 10.11.12.15 netmask 255.255.255.0 network 10.11.12.0 broadcast 10.11.12.255
If you can no longer interact with the camera, reset the camera to factory default values.
Software release 1.7 and older
It is possible to change the camera's fixed IP address. Unfortunately, changing the fixed IP address can not be made via the web interface or by storing a configuration file on the SD card. You need to feel comfortable with command line tools like telnet and the text editor vi. You also need to understand IP networking concepts such as the network mask. The change is stored in non-volatile memory so you only have to make the change once.
The camera runs Linux and uses the standard /etc/network/interfaces file. The default contents of the interfaces file contains:
auto lo iface lo inet loopback auto eth0 iface eth0 inet static address 10.11.12.13 netmask 255.255.255.0 network 10.11.12.0 broadcast 10.11.12.255
You adjust the eth0 settings to use a different fixed IP address. To make the change, you can telnet into the camera as user root (no password) and use the vi editor to modify the file.
On your computer, bring up a command or terminal window.
telnet 10.11.12.13 # or the DHCP IP address vi /etc/network/interfaces
Make your changes, double check everything is correct, and save your changes. Then you can activate your changes
ifconfig eth0 down ; ifconfig eth0 up
As soon as the camera takes down the eth0 interface, telnet will close. You should then be able to telnet back into the camera using the fixed IP address you configured. If you can no longer interact with the camera, reset the camera to factory default values.
What happens when you plug in an Ethernet cable
You don't need to bother reading this. It is a detailed explanation written to remind me of the implementation and to help the camera testers understand what is going on.
When the camera is booting up, the system LED blinks yellow, indicating the camera is not ready and has not received a DHCP assigned IP address.
There are four cases to consider:
Other end of the cable is disconnected
The definition of the Ethernet standard doesn't allow the camera to detect a cable is plugged in if the other end of the cable is unplugged or plugged into a network switch that is powered off. The short answer is nothing happens. The system LED blinks yellow / blue indicating no Ethernet connection detected.
No DHCP server available
The original use case for the edgertronic camera was a laptop directly connected to the camera via an Ethernet cable. To make this as easy as possible, the camera uses a fixed IP address. The IP address is read from the /etc/network/interfaces file. The factory default fixed IP address is 10.11.12.13. The fixed IP address is used until a different IP address is provided by a DHCP server. When the camera is using a fixed IP address, the system LED is solid yellow, if the address is the default 10.11.12.13, or the system LED is magenta if a fixed IP address other than the default 10.11.12.13 is being used.
DHCP server available
As stated above, the camera assumes it will be using a fixed IP address (and thus the system LED starts out blinking yellow and then typically solid yellow or solid magenta). Once the camera's networking subsystem is alive (around 44 seconds after power on), the DHCP client in the camera requests an IP address. If no DHCP server is available, then the camera continues to use a fixed IP address (and the system LED stays yellow or magenta). If a DHCP server responds to the camera's request for an IP address, then the camera stops using the fixed IP address and switches to the dynamically assigned IP address. The system LED changes to solid blue. The camera creates a file on the SD card where the filename contains the dynamically assigned IP address.
Ethernet cable unplugged and plugged back in again
The networking system is defined to handle transient errors, such as a cable being bumped or temporarily rerouted and then plugged back in again. For the camera, this means if you unplug the Ethernet cable and plug in back in again in under 7 seconds, nothing happens. The network protocols used by the camera use a reliable protocol (TCP), so any packets lost while the cable was disconnected are resent. There is one exception. The camera supports UDP multicast network trigger, which, if that packet is lost, means the camera will not trigger as expected.
If the Ethernet cable is unplugged for more than 7 seconds, the system LED blinks yellow / blue to indicate no Ethernet connection detected, and the networking stack is reset, meaning the camera will revert to using the fixed IP address once a network cable is connected. For normal camera use cases, this seems an odd choice because if the camera was using a DHCP assigned address, shouldn't the camera continue to use that same IP address when the Ethernet cable is reconnected? The answer is no, to maintain compatibility with the networking standards. The reason is the camera can not tell which network it is now connected to. For normal camera use cases, it is always the same network. But the networking system is defined to allow you to disconnect from one network and connect the camera to another network without having to power cycle the camera.
What this means is if you have a DHCP assigned network address, disconnect the Ethernet cable, wait until the system LED blinks yellow / blue, then reconnect the network cable, you will see the system LED go from blinking yellow / blue, to solid yellow (using a fixed IP address), then after around 5 seconds, the camera again gets a dynamic IP address from the DHCP server and thus the system LED goes solid blue. All modern DHCP servers will give the camera the same dynamic IP address.