1 Choose your device

Server Prep Tools

Congratulations on choosing a home server! Before we set it up, we’ll do a tiny bit of homework on your network. I’ll walk you through everything step by step.

Step 1: What are you using right now?

Please choose the device you’re currently on. We’ll customize the instructions for you.

If you’re on a computer with a keyboard, choose Windows. If you’re on your phone, choose Android.

Step 2 (Windows): Get your network details

Part A – Open the black command window

  1. Press Windows key + R on your keyboard.
  2. Type cmd and press Enter.
  3. A black window will open. This is the Command Prompt.

Part B – Run the ipconfig command

  1. Click the button below to copy the command.
  2. Click once inside the black Command Prompt window.
  3. Right-click once inside the window to paste the command. (Right-click is “paste” when nothing is highlighted.)
  4. Press Enter to run the command.
Command to copy:

If the window closes immediately, open it again and make sure you press Enter after pasting.

Copying from the Command Prompt (IMPORTANT)

Command Prompt behaves differently from most programs:
  • Ctrl + A does not select everything.
  • To select text, you must click and hold the left mouse button and drag over the lines you want.
  • When some text is highlighted, a right-click copies the highlighted text into the clipboard.
  • When nothing is highlighted, a right-click pastes whatever is in the clipboard.
Paste everything from the Command Prompt here (the entire output of ipconfig):

If automatic paste doesn’t work, click in the box and press Ctrl + V to paste.

What we found from your ipconfig output:

After you click Analyze my network info, I’ll try to find the correct connection and fill in the boxes below for you.

First three parts of your network:
. .

Example: if your IP is 10.80.86.102, your base is 10.80.86.

Step 2 (Android): Install Termux and get your IP

Part A – Install Termux

  1. Tap the button below to open the Termux app in the Play Store.
  2. Tap Install.
  3. Once installed, tap Open.
Termux app image placeholder
(This is where a screenshot of the Termux app icon or screen can go.)

Part B – Get your IP address in Termux

  1. In Termux, type ifconfig and press Enter.
  2. Look for a line that starts with inet followed by a number like 192.168.1.23 or 10.0.0.15.
  3. This is the IP address of your Android device on your home network.
Your Android device IP address (from Termux ifconfig):

We only need the IP address. If you’re not sure, just type what you see after inet.

First three parts of your network:
. .

Example: if your IP is 192.168.1.23, your base is 192.168.1.

Don’t worry about the gateway on Android.
We will use the IP address and the first three parts (like 192.168.1). That’s enough for our scan. If anything is off, we can fix it together later.

Step 3 (Windows): Build and run the network scan

Current network base: (not set)

This will scan all addresses from base.1 to base.254 on your network and show which ones are “UP” (in use).

. .
Step A – Generate the scan command:

This command may take a minute or two to finish running. That’s normal.

Step B – Run it in Command Prompt

  1. Open the black Command Prompt window again (or reuse the same one).
  2. Click the box above, then click the copy button.
  3. Click once inside the black window.
  4. Make sure nothing is highlighted, then right-click once to paste the command.
  5. Press Enter. The scan will start.

You’ll see lines appear over time. When the scan is finished, you’ll end up back at a line that looks similar to:

C:\Users\jerry>for /L %i in (1,1,254) do @ping -n 1 -w 100 10.80.86.%i >nul && echo 10.80.86.%i is UP 10.80.86.3 is UP 10.80.86.24 is UP 10.80.86.25 is UP 10.80.86.102 is UP 10.80.86.117 is UP 10.80.86.123 is UP 10.80.86.133 is UP 10.80.86.155 is UP 10.80.86.163 is UP 10.80.86.167 is UP 10.80.86.175 is UP 10.80.86.235 is UP 10.80.86.238 is UP 10.80.86.247 is UP C:\Users\jerry>

Step C – Copy the scan results

Copying works like this:
  • Use the mouse to drag and highlight everything from the scan command down to the last line.
  • When it’s highlighted, right-click once to copy it.
  • Click in the box below and press Ctrl + V to paste.
Paste the full scan output here:

Step 3 (Android): Build and run the network scan in Termux

Current network base: (not set)

This will scan all addresses from base.1 to base.254 on your network and show which ones are “UP” (in use).

. .
Step A – Generate the Termux scan command:

In Termux, you can tap-and-hold to paste. The scan may take a minute or two to finish.

Step B – Run it in Termux

  1. Open the Termux app.
  2. Tap the box above, then tap the copy button to copy the command.
  3. Tap and hold in Termux, then choose Paste.
  4. Press Enter.
  5. Wait until the scan finishes and the Termux prompt returns.

Step C – Copy the scan results back here

In Termux, tap and hold to select, drag to cover all the scan output, then tap Copy, and paste it into the box below.

Paste the full scan output here:

Step 4: Review & print your network report

Below is a summary of what we found from your network scan. When you’re ready, click Print report to save it as a PDF and send it to me.

Report preview:
(Report will appear here after analyzing scan results.)

On most computers, when the print dialog opens, you can choose “Save as PDF” instead of a physical printer.

What this report includes:
  • Your device type (Windows or Android).
  • Your IP address, subnet mask (if known), and network base.
  • The raw scan results you pasted.
  • A sorted list of IPs that responded.
  • A best-guess DHCP range (based on lowest and highest active IPs).
  • Current date/time for your records.