Network Settings: IP Addresses, DNS, and Finding Your Miner

If pool configuration tells your miner where to send work, network settings determine how it gets there. Think of it this way: the pool is the destination, and the network is the road. If the road is broken or the miner doesn’t know its own address, nothing is getting delivered.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything from basic IP addressing to finding a “lost” miner on your network. Even if networking isn’t your strong suit, you’ll walk away with a clear understanding of what each setting does and when to change it.

Networking Basics: The 60-Second Version

Every device on your local network needs an IP address — a unique number that identifies it, like a street address for your house. Your router assigns these addresses and acts as the gateway between your local network and the internet.

There are two ways a device can get an IP address:

• DHCP (Dynamic) — the router automatically assigns an address. Simple, but the address can change.
• Static IP — you manually assign a fixed address. More work upfront, but the address never changes.

For a single miner at home, DHCP is usually fine. For a farm with dozens or hundreds of miners, static IPs become essential. Let’s explore both.

DHCP: The Easy Route

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. When your miner boots up with DHCP enabled (which is the default on almost every miner), it asks your router for an IP address. The router picks one from its available pool and hands it over, along with other necessary info like the subnet mask, gateway, and DNS servers.

Pros of DHCP

• Zero configuration needed — plug in the ethernet cable, and the miner gets an address automatically
• No IP conflicts — the router manages addresses so two devices don’t accidentally get the same one
• Works out of the box — ideal for beginners or quick setups

Cons of DHCP

• IP addresses can change — if the miner reboots or the DHCP lease expires, it might get a different address. Suddenly, the IP you bookmarked no longer leads to your miner.
• Harder to manage at scale — when you have 50 miners and their IPs shuffle around, tracking them becomes a nightmare.
• Port forwarding breaks — if you’ve set up port forwarding for remote access, a changed IP means the forwarding rule points to nothing.

Tip

Even with DHCP, most routers let you create “DHCP reservations” — you tell the router to always give the same IP address to a specific device based on its MAC address. This gives you the convenience of DHCP with the predictability of a static IP. Check your router’s admin panel for this feature.

Static IP: The Professional Approach

A static IP is an address you manually assign to your miner. It never changes unless you change it. For mining operations with multiple machines, this is the way to go.

Setting a Static IP on Your Miner

When you switch from DHCP to static IP in your miner’s network settings, you’ll need to fill in four fields:

1. IP Address — the address you want to assign (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
2. Subnet Mask — defines the size of your local network (almost always 255.255.255.0 for home networks)
3. Gateway — your router’s IP address (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1)
4. DNS Server — the server that translates domain names into IP addresses (more on this below)

Choosing an IP Address

Your static IP needs to meet two rules:

1. It must be on the same subnet as your router. If your router is 192.168.1.1, your miner’s IP should be 192.168.1.X (where X is a number from 2 to 254).
2. It must be outside your router’s DHCP range to avoid conflicts. If your router assigns DHCP addresses from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.200, use something outside that range, like 192.168.1.50 or 192.168.1.210.

Caution

If you assign a static IP that’s already in use by another device, both devices will have network problems. Before assigning, try pinging the address from your computer first (ping 192.168.1.50 in your command prompt). If you get “Request timed out” or “Host unreachable,” the address is available.

A Practical Numbering Scheme

For mining farms, a consistent numbering scheme saves time:

• 192.168.1.1 — router
• 192.168.1.2-10 — infrastructure (switches, management computers)
• 192.168.1.11-50 — Rack 1 miners
• 192.168.1.51-100 — Rack 2 miners
• 192.168.1.101-150 — Rack 3 miners

Write it down. Tape a list to the wall. Whatever works for you — just have a system.

DNS Settings: Translating Names to Numbers

DNS (Domain Name System) is the phonebook of the internet. When your miner connects to stratum.pool.com, it needs DNS to translate that human-readable name into an actual IP address that computers understand.

Most miners use your router’s IP as the DNS server by default (since your router forwards DNS requests to your ISP’s DNS servers). But you can set custom DNS servers for better reliability:

DNS Provider	Primary	Secondary
Google	8.8.8.8	8.8.4.4
Cloudflare	1.1.1.1	1.0.0.1
Quad9	9.9.9.9	149.112.112.112

Why Change DNS?

• Reliability — if your ISP’s DNS server goes down, your miner can’t resolve pool hostnames and stops mining. Using a major public DNS provider adds redundancy.
• Speed — some DNS providers respond faster than ISP defaults, reducing connection setup time.
• Always set two DNS servers — a primary and a secondary. If the primary is unreachable, the miner falls back to the secondary.

Note

Some ISPs redirect failed DNS queries to advertising pages. This can confuse miners that expect a clean “not found” response when a hostname doesn’t resolve. Using Google or Cloudflare DNS avoids this issue.

Finding Your Miner on the Network

One of the most common questions from new miners: “I plugged it in, it’s making noise, but how do I access the web interface?” Here are several methods to find your miner’s IP address.

Method 1: Check Your Router’s Client List

The simplest approach. Log into your router’s admin panel (usually at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1) and look for the connected devices list (sometimes called “DHCP clients” or “attached devices”). Your miner will show up with a name like “Antminer” or its MAC address.

Method 2: IP Scanner Software

If you can’t access your router or the client list doesn’t help, use a free IP scanner:

Windows

Advanced IP Scanner (free) — download from advanced-ip-scanner.com, run it, and click “Scan.” It will find every device on your network and show its IP, name, and manufacturer.

macOS / Linux

Angry IP Scanner or the nmap command-line tool:

nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24

This scans your entire local subnet and lists active devices.

Mobile

Fing (free app for iOS and Android) — simple, fast, and shows device manufacturers, making it easy to spot miners.

Method 3: Manufacturer’s Tool

Both Bitmain and MicroBT provide tools specifically for finding miners:

• Bitmain (Antminer): IPReporter tool — you run it on your computer, press the miner’s IP Report button (small button on the controller board), and the tool displays the miner’s IP.
• MicroBT (Whatsminer): WhatsMinerTool — a Windows application that scans for Whatsminers on your network and lists them all with their IPs, models, and status.

Method 4: Direct Cable Connection

If all else fails and you can’t find the miner on your network at all, connect your computer directly to the miner with an ethernet cable (no router in between). Set your computer’s IP manually to 192.168.1.99 (or a similar address) and try accessing the miner’s default IP:

• Antminer default: 192.168.1.99 (some older models use different defaults)
• Whatsminer default: 192.168.1.99 or DHCP

Tip

Can’t remember the default IP? As a last resort, you can factory-reset the miner (usually by holding a button on the controller board for 10+ seconds). This resets network settings to defaults. But be aware — it also resets your pool configuration, so you’ll need to reconfigure everything.

Port Considerations

Miners use specific network ports for different purposes. In most home setups, you don’t need to worry about ports — they just work. But it’s good to understand them:

Ports Your Miner Uses

Port	Purpose	Direction
80 or 443	Web interface (HTTP/HTTPS)	Inbound (from your browser to the miner)
3333, 8332, etc.	Stratum connection to pool	Outbound (from miner to pool)
4028 or 4029	CGMiner / miner API	Inbound (for management tools)
22	SSH access (if enabled)	Inbound (for command-line access)

When Ports Matter

• Firewall issues: If your company or university network blocks outbound connections on non-standard ports, your miner might not be able to reach the pool. Try using port 443 (the standard HTTPS port), which is almost never blocked.
• Multiple miners: Each miner on your network has its own IP, so port conflicts between miners aren’t an issue. But if you’re trying to access multiple miners remotely through a single public IP, you’ll need to set up different port forwarding rules for each miner.
• API access: Management tools like Awesome Miner or Foreman connect to your miners through the API port. Make sure this port is accessible from your management device.

Remote Access Basics

What if you want to check on your miners when you’re not on the same network? There are several approaches, ranging from simple to advanced.

Option 1: VPN (Recommended)

The safest approach. Set up a VPN server on your router (many modern routers support this) or use a dedicated VPN device. When you connect to the VPN from outside your network, it’s as if you’re sitting right there on the local network. You can access miner web interfaces normally.

Option 2: Port Forwarding

You can configure your router to forward a specific external port to your miner’s internal IP and web interface port. For example, forward external port 8080 to 192.168.1.100:80. Then you’d access the miner from outside by going to your-public-ip:8080.

Caution

Port forwarding exposes your miner’s web interface to the entire internet. Anyone who finds it can try to log in. If you go this route, at minimum change the default password to something strong. A VPN is much more secure.

Option 3: Cloud-Based Management

Services like Foreman, ASIC.to, or Hive OS provide cloud dashboards that your miners report to. You access the cloud dashboard from anywhere, and it shows your miners’ status without requiring direct access to your local network. This is often the easiest approach for remote monitoring.

Option 4: Tailscale or ZeroTier

These are modern “overlay network” tools that create a secure private network between your devices without manual port forwarding or VPN server setup. Install the client on your management computer and on a device on the same network as your miners, and they connect automatically. It’s like a VPN but much simpler to set up.

Troubleshooting Network Issues

Here are the most common network problems and how to solve them:

“The miner has no IP address / can’t get DHCP.” Check the ethernet cable. Try a different cable and a different port on your switch or router. Check the lights on the miner’s ethernet port — a solid link light means physical connection is good. If the cable and port are fine, the miner’s network interface might have a hardware issue.

“I set a static IP and now I can’t access the miner.” You likely assigned an IP on a different subnet. If your router is 192.168.0.1 and you set the miner to 192.168.1.100, they can’t talk to each other. Factory-reset the miner to get back to DHCP and try again.

“The miner connects to the network but can’t reach the pool.” Check DNS settings. Can the miner resolve the pool’s hostname? Try using the pool’s IP address directly in the URL (if the pool provides one) to test. Also, check that your router/firewall isn’t blocking outbound connections on the pool’s port.

“My miner’s IP changed and I can’t find it.” Use an IP scanner (see above). To prevent this in the future, either set a static IP or create a DHCP reservation.

“Everything was working and suddenly stopped.” Check whether your internet connection is up (try browsing on another device). Check whether the ethernet cable is still plugged in firmly. Check the miner’s network LEDs. If the internet is fine and the miner has link, reboot the miner — network stacks can occasionally hang.

Best Practices Summary

Here are the key takeaways for reliable network configuration:

1. Use DHCP reservations or static IPs for any serious mining setup — you need to know where your miners are
2. Set two DNS servers (primary and secondary) for redundancy
3. Label everything — document which IP belongs to which miner
4. Use a VPN for remote access instead of port forwarding
5. Keep your miners on a dedicated network segment if possible, separate from your regular home/office devices
6. Check cables first when troubleshooting — the most common network issue is the simplest one

Next up, we’ll dive into system settings — firmware updates, overclocking profiles, and all the configuration options that let you fine-tune how your miner operates.