Is this a device that is to be accessed only from your computer, from several devices on your network, from the outside worls, or what?
You say that it has already been assigned a fixed IP address; what is that address, and what is the range of addresses that your DHCP server supplies? It may be that you need to add a second IP address to your computer just to communicate with this device. A few more details about the setup and how the devices are connected would help.