Hold the upper-left corner of the running screen for a few seconds, open the system menu, then Information and the Ports tab: the address is on that tab. If you have the project software, open Touch Panel Network instead. Before a phone can connect, remote access must be enabled in the project, the panel needs a wireless access point because it has no built-in Wi-Fi, and the phone must sit on a network that reaches the panel.
An HMI panel's IP address lives in two places: the network page of the project downloaded to the panel, and the panel's own information menu. You can read the live value at the screen in about 5 seconds: press and hold the upper-left corner of the running screen until the system menu opens, select Information, then open the Ports tab. For a phone to connect, the address is the first of three requirements. The project must have remote access enabled, which it is not by default. The panel must sit on a wired network with a wireless access point for the phone, because it has no built-in Wi-Fi. And the phone must share the panel's subnet or have a routed path to it.
What you need
To read the address: the running panel, and your hand free to hold the screen corner for about 5 seconds.
To act on what you find: the panel's programming software, the current project file, and the authority to download a project to a machine in service. Plan the download as a 10-minute window with the operator told first.
For the phone: a wireless access point wired to the panel's network, and the vendor's remote HMI app installed on the phone.
Where the address is set, and where you read it
The configured address belongs to the project. The builder set it on the software's network page, named Touch Panel Network, and downloaded the project to the panel. With the software and the current file, open Touch Panel Network and read the address there: that value is the configuration reference.
With only the running panel, read the same value at the screen with the steps below. The two readings should agree. When the panel shows a different address, a newer project was downloaded, or the panel asked a DHCP server for an address, and a leased value can change after a power cycle. Treat the panel's display as the field truth, then find out why the two differ before changing either side. Finding the DHCP address on an HMI panel without guessing covers the leased case.
Reading the address on the running panel
- Press the upper-left corner of the running screen and keep holding about 5 seconds until the system menu opens.
- Select Information.
- Open the Ports tab.
- Read the IP address and the subnet mask, and write both down.
Reading this screen changes nothing on the panel. Two other paths reach the same information: on many panels a recessed system button on the back of the unit, above the USB ports, opens the system menu; and some projects read the panel's address into a tag and show it on an information screen, so the menu is never needed.
What the phone needs besides the address
Three conditions must hold, and each fails its own way.
- Remote access enabled in the project. The feature is disabled by default, and its setting is saved in the project file, so it reaches the panel only when someone downloads that project. Enabling it needs the programming software and the current file; if nobody holds a copy, reading the HMI project from the panel before editing is the first move.
- A wireless access point. The panel has no built-in Wi-Fi; its network connection is the Ethernet port. The phone joins an access point wired to a network that reaches that port, and choosing the client first for remote HMI wireless access sorts that side of the link.
- A path between them. With the common mask 255.255.255.0, panel and phone must match on the first three of their four address numbers, or a router must join the two networks. That mask leaves 254 usable addresses on one subnet, so both devices fitting inside those 254 is the normal case on a small controls network. From off site the path is a VPN or a router port forward: setting up a VPN router for remote PLC and HMI access is the safer build, and testing a failing port forward step by step is the fix when a forward is already open.
| Condition | How to check | Met when |
|---|---|---|
| Remote access enabled | Open the project in the panel software | The setting is on and that project is on the panel |
| Access point in place | Phone Wi-Fi settings | The phone's address matches the panel's subnet |
| Path exists | Ping the panel from a PC on the phone's network | Windows sends four 32-byte requests; four replies come back |
Example: a panel at 192.168.10.24
A technician wants to watch a filler's screen from the floor. The corner hold, about 5 seconds, opens the system menu; Information, then Ports, shows 192.168.10.24 with mask 255.255.255.0. Her phone on the shop access point shows 192.168.10.61. Compare the first three numbers: panel 192.168.10, phone 192.168.10. Both sit inside the same /24 subnet, one of its 254 usable addresses each, so a path should exist, and ping 192.168.10.24 from a PC on that Wi-Fi sends four 32-byte requests and returns four replies in about 1 ms, with none lost. The path is confirmed in well under 30 seconds.
The phone app still refuses the connection. The project has remote access disabled, and no address lookup changes a project setting. The controls engineer opens the project, enables remote access, and downloads it under the site's change-control procedure during a 10-minute break in the run, with the operator told first, since the machine is running. The technician types 192.168.10.24 into the app and the live screen appears.
Counter-case: on the office guest Wi-Fi the same phone showed 172.16.5.31. Panel 192.168.10 against phone 172.16.5: the first number differs, so no path exists and retyping the address fixes nothing. The decision is to join the plant access point, or to route the guest network to the controls network, and that second choice belongs to the network administrator.
How to check it worked
At the panel: the Ports tab shows the same address after a power cycle, which tells you the address is fixed, not leased.
From a PC on the phone's network: the ping returns four replies out of four 32-byte requests, each inside about 1 ms on a small LAN.
From the phone: the app opens the panel's current screen at that address. If it works on the plant Wi-Fi and fails on another wireless network, the phone changed subnets; the network moved, the panel did not.
What to do in each case
You hold the project software and the current file: set a fixed address on the Touch Panel Network page, enable remote access in the same project, download once inside the 10-minute window, and record both in the panel's documentation.
You have only the running panel: read the address at Information and the Ports tab, compare the phone's subnet, and hand the address plus the disabled feature to the project owner. That is a complete diagnosis; the enable step needs the software.
The phone sits on another network: fix the network, not the address. Join the plant access point, or ask for the route or the VPN.
Access is needed from off site: stand up a VPN before opening any port forward, and test the path in stages. For the wider picture, read remote access over VPN, cellular routers, and port forwarding.
Recommendation: give any panel that will serve remote clients a fixed address on the project's Touch Panel Network page, and enable remote access in the same download; when you only need the address today, use the corner hold, Information, then the Ports tab, and write the mask down with the address. If the phone's subnet differs from the panel's, stop typing addresses and fix the network path.
Questions
Where is the IP address on a running HMI panel?
Hold the upper-left corner for about 5 seconds, select Information in the system menu, then open the Ports tab; the address and mask are listed there. If the tab shows all zeros, the Ethernet link is down or the project has no network settings, so check the cable and the switch port before suspecting the menu.
Where do I enable remote access for the phone app?
In the panel project, using the panel's programming software; the setting is saved in the project file and takes effect when that project is downloaded. It cannot be switched on from the running screen or from the phone, and no address read at the panel changes it.
Can the phone connect over the internet?
Not from the address alone. Off-site access needs a VPN into the plant network or a port forward on the site router, and a forward leaves the panel reachable by anyone who finds it, so a VPN is the better default. Give the panel a fixed address first, or the open path will aim at a stale address after a power cycle.
Does the HMI panel have built-in Wi-Fi?
No. The network connection is the Ethernet port, so the phone reaches the panel through a wireless access point wired to the same network or routed to it. Put the access point on the same switch as the panel and the subnet check becomes a one-line comparison.
Planning information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules differ by place: check codes and permits with your local authority and your licensed trades.