Got MAC address, want IP Address

If the device hasn't got a display that you can view the IP address on, check to see if there's some kind of interactive voice menu that can read back the IP address and gateway that's configured to you. Certainly some Linksys / Sipura equipment has such an voice menu - and I can't believe that they're the only brand.

 

If neither of those approaches work, the best answer is indeed to read the DHCP log. It will cut down dramatically on the searching you have to do if you power cycle the equipment so that it leases an address at a known time.

Okaaaay. As you can probably tell, I'm not familiar with this device or the network that it is connected to, and am more or less finding things out as I go along.

 

I've checked the DHCP logs and the devices isn't in them so it's either not picking up an IP at all, or is defaulting to an address outside of the DHCP range of its own accord (Or it's broken and can't pick up an IP).

The device has no console, and no controls by which to activate any console voice features. Everything has to be done using remote connection software or a plugin console. I can't use the remote connection software as I don't have the correct IP address. The software has no discovery feature as the device is meant ot be silent and secured (It's network programmable rather than network attached. And is meant to be more or less invisible).

 

I also don't have the handeld console to program it with. Only the hardware vendor and their support crew have these, and they can't make a site visit for several days.

 

If I were to dial in to the nearest switch would that have a MAC-IP conversion in it's internal table?  I've dealt with broadband routers extensively (admitedly with internal DHCPs) and they keep a log of the IP and MAC addresses in an internal routing table. A big Cisco switch should have something similar, right?

I'd think it highly unlikely that you can determine the IP address from the MAC address alone, without something similar to a routing table as you've mentioned. Without knowing anything about the device you're dealing with, i'd say your best option would be to go in through a physical service port on the device itself.