2 of my 3 POE cameras all fail at the same time.

[luder888]

I have 3 POE cameras plugged into a Rosewill POE switch (model RGS-108P). It had been working fine for about 7 months but a few days ago 2 of the 3 cameras started to fall of the network about every few hours. Restarting the switch would fix the issue, for another few hours. None of the other cameras on my network has issues (12 total cameras).

The weird thing is only 2 of the 3 cameras would fail, at the exact same time, while the one camera worked flawlessly.

Is this an indication that the POE switch is bad? Is there a way to test the ports before I contact the manufacturer for warranty replacement?

 

[whoslooking]

yes your poe has done the dirty, my brothers did the same and killed all the IR at the same time, so it was out with the soldering iron to replace all the blown leds.
still don't know why HIK don't sell spare IR boards err.

 

[Jared]

i dont think your switch is bad, did you buy these cameras off amazon? there is several people complaining of same issue, cameras going out every 4 hours almost exactly. started tuesday, im one of those people

 

[luder888]

i dont think your switch is bad, did you buy these cameras off amazon? there is several people complaining of same issue, cameras going out every 4 hours almost exactly. started tuesday, im one of those people

You are right. I tried another POE switches and same results.


Here is the timeline. The really weird thing is BOTH cameras would go at the same time, just fall of the network. The POE indicator on the camera still blinks so there's power to the cameras. It almost seems like they were infected with some virus to shut them down periodically. That is a scary thought; I don't want them to infect my network.


5/9/17
12:46pm: restored
8:56pm: loss

9:03pm: restored
5/10/17
5:15am: loss

9:13am: restored
10:19am: loss

10:23am: restored
2:29pm: loss

2:39pm: restored
6:44pm: loss

6:53pm: restored
11:05pm: loss

11:21pm restored
5/11/17
3:43am loss


I got them last November from Aliexpress. They are these cameras...
IP Camera PoE 720P/960P/1080P(SONY IMX322) 25fps Anti Vandal Dome Camera IP Outdoor Indoor Vandalproof ONVIF 2.0 48V PoE CCTV-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[Jared]

ok, not the same camera, as mine but same problem. probably all built in the same chinese factory. here is a link to another thread where we are talking about it. One of the mods had mentioned about someone hacking them possibly, like some asshole thinking its funny to brick a camera after 4 hours. This is sounding more plausible now. I was initally thinking it was just my camera, but now multiple brands, something is going on.

4.5.5.0 64bit constant camera drop outs

 

[bp2008]

It was me who suggested as a "long shot" that it might be a hack. I still think it unlikely. But it certainly does appear to be widespread whatever is causing it.

 

[whoslooking]

If it's just a rebooting issue, there are a few reasons.

poorly hacked firmware,
bad rj45 terminations,
over / under power.

more so the firmware, as the firmware errors the ipc reboots to try and recover.

 

[Jared]

There is several people on here having the same issue, which started on the same day, same time. cameras stop working after 4 hrs almost exactly, you have to physically unplug and replug camera to recover. everyone has the same netsurveillance web interface, so im pretty sure the firmware for a ton of chinese cameras (all different brands, same firmware) is flawed, or hacked.

 

[Tehnicni]

And what if you reset each camera at diferent time.

 

[Jared]

Yea i did that, they all last almost exactly 4 hours after reset. The fix was to not allow them to access the internet by blocking their IP's from the internet via your router. its something your supposed to do anyway apparently but i didnt know. glad this forum exists or we would still be screwed. however the MFG just sent me new firmware, they believe the cameras have been hacked.

 

[bp2008]

So taking away a camera's internet access made it stable?

Lucky

 

[Jared]

yes sir, they have been up since yesterday around 2pm. the bi server is still online and i can access the cameras through it no problem. Strange, i guess the hack installed in the memory of the camera because resetting it always brought it back up. maybe the hack started 4 hours into being plugged in and would start ddos attacks against something not allowing it to communicate with anything on its network. i dunno, strange indeed. But yes i feel lucky, sorta?

 

[bp2008]

It could also be that it was happily doing its bot activities but leaking memory as a result (of a programming bug), and then crashing after approximately 4 hours.

 

[Jared]

Thats a bit above my pay grade, its fascinating really. Too bad people dont put the knowledge of hacking or creating bots towards something useful, like development of something no one has done, make money from it? it must take a ton of time developing these things and then have it disrupt the internet for a few hours and then its over. what fun is that, what good is that? People are warped today!! Just glad its fixed.

 

[luder888]

Everything is good now. I think the code was probably only set to run for a few days. Now I hope it won't come back again.

 

[The_Penguin]

The big question is, why were your cameras able to access the Internet? Other than user PCs, nothing on my home network is allowed outside of my network.