QNAP & Generic IP Cameras

Hello all. My house came with an 8-camera 4k IP cam system. The cheap NVR they came with is no more and I recently acquired a QNAP TS-253A with their Surveillance Station server installed.

I am trying to get the cameras added to Surveillance Station, but I it doesn't look like they are compatible. They are ONVIF and I do see them all on my network. I can access them via their built-in web servers too. They seem as generic as it gets. The NIC manufacturer reads as "Hangzhou" and this is the unit:

NIU E4032-W36 Outdoor Infrared IP Turret Camera / 4.2MP / 3.6mm Fixed Lens, Digitech Solutions Inc.
https://www.amazon.com/E4032-W36-Infrared-Digitech-Solutions-Inc/dp/B076MHYHRD

Does anyone know a profile that would work with these or a way that I can get them into the Surveillance Station?

DesertHiker said:

Hello all. My house came with an 8-camera 4k IP cam system. The cheap NVR they came with is no more and I recently acquired a QNAP TS-253A with their Surveillance Station server installed.

I am trying to get the cameras added to Surveillance Station, but I it doesn't look like they are compatible. They are ONVIF and I do see them all on my network. I can access them via their built-in web servers too. They seem as generic as it gets. The NIC manufacturer reads as "Hangzhou" and this is the unit:

NIU E4032-W36 Outdoor Infrared IP Turret Camera / 4.2MP / 3.6mm Fixed Lens, Digitech Solutions Inc.
https://www.amazon.com/E4032-W36-Infrared-Digitech-Solutions-Inc/dp/B076MHYHRD

Does anyone know a profile that would work with these or a way that I can get them into the Surveillance Station?

Click to expand...

likely hikvision...try the hikvision profile

You can open an Ticket on QNAP to add this camera.

Thanks for the replies. I tried all the hikvision variations last night but to no avail.
I also tried the ONVIF Profiles (and the others) but same problem.
I was using my Apple machine to do this, but found that IE on my PC allowed me to also see the live video via web (and all 8 are streaming great via their web interfaces in IE).

I opened a ticket with QNAP last night so have my fingers crossed.

DesertHiker said:

I also tried the ONVIF Profiles (and the others) but same problem.

Click to expand...

That's surprising - but maybe you need to determine the 'ONVIF port' which is needed for the configuration in SS.
Query the cameras with ONVIF Device Manager from sourceforge.net
ODM will find ONVIF devices automatically on the same IP address range as the PC.
Give it some logon credentials, top left of the window.
The 'ONVIF port' (if different from 80) is shown in the URL at the bottom of the Identification page.

Plus:
You can add the cameras as Generic RTSP using the RTSP URL at the bottom of the Live Video page.
And:
You can see if the cameras generate ONVIF event notifications, such as for motion detection, in the Events page.

Thanks @alastairstevenson

I needed to power cycle the cameras via my PoE switch and then they took their IP addresses and are now available (using the Device manager clued me in to this mistake - thanks). I am using a UniFi system for my gateway/switches/WAPs and so have moved the cameras to their own VLAN tagged network for security and QoS reasons (192.168.251.2xx where xx is for the camera #). Consequently, I needed to manually input the new IP address into the ONVIF Device Manager. When I do (and without logging-in mind you), I see a great deal of information as pictured below.

Within Surveillance Station, I set Cameras 1-4 with the "ONVIF ProfileS Camera". Here again I didn't supply login information (and yet it connects). I don't understand this - I assumed that without login credentials, nothing would display (especially the video feed).

I've included a few screenshots below for your collective scrutiny and expertise. The bandwidth on the LAN is adding up - when I have all 8 online it looks to be around 80Mbps. Perhaps I need to dial down the settings? I notice that when I first open the Surveillance System Camera Overview, all four have a green checkbox, but that then cycles per camera within the first second to 4 orange "?" icons. Clearly I have a lot to learn about IPCameras.

I have scheduled a remote Teamviewer session with a QNAP tech for Monday. Despite connecting, I'm thinking I'll still keep the appointment in the event that they find items I missed toward the goal of a good config.

DesertHiker said:

When I do (and without logging-in mind you), I see a great deal of information as pictured below.

Click to expand...

It's unusual - and not ideal - that the video plays with no credentials needed. Normally there would be a complaint about lack of authorisation.
Are there no pages that require a valid logon?

From your screenshot, the 'ONVIF port' is 80
Did you check if any event notifications are generated in the Events page?
And it's useful to see what rules and analytics are supported.

DesertHiker said:

The bandwidth on the LAN is adding up - when I have all 8 online it looks to be around 80Mbps.

Click to expand...

That's nothing if it's a gigabit network, though would be getting into congestion if it's 100Mbps.
But you will use up your disc space quite quickly.

alastairstevenson said:

It's unusual - and not ideal - that the video plays with no credentials needed. Normally there would be a complaint about lack of authorisation.
Are there no pages that require a valid logon?

Click to expand...

As a test, Camera 4 has the admin credentials entered.
Cameras 1-3 do not have any credentials entered.
They all seem to behave the same on the network. I now have all 4 recording.
Log pictured below without any auth issues. Second picture shows the account settings on camera3. I must supply login info to get at the camera web interface (tried both null).
Glad I have them blocked from WAN via firewall!

alastairstevenson said:

From your screenshot, the 'ONVIF port' is 80
Did you check if any event notifications are generated in the Events page?
And it's useful to see what rules and analytics are supported.

Click to expand...

How do I see what rules and analytics are supported (I googled a good bit but can't find info)?

alastairstevenson said:

That's nothing if it's a gigabit network, though would be getting into congestion if it's 100Mbps.
But you will use up your disc space quite quickly.

Click to expand...

Thanks... I wasn't sure if those rates were normal for 4k.
I was hoping to get these recording on motion and not continuously in order to save space. I have them continuously recording now for testing purposes.

DesertHiker said:

Glad I have them blocked from WAN via firewall!

Click to expand...

Too right! They seem to be totally open - not good. And unusual. Though with loads of vulnerabilities to exploit, maybe not a lot different.

DesertHiker said:

How do I see what rules and analytics are supported

Click to expand...

In the Rules and Analytics pages of ONVIF Device Manager.

DesertHiker said:

I was hoping to get these recording on motion and not continuously in order to save space.

Click to expand...

First see if they actually generate any ONVIF event notifications - via the ODM Events page.
But you WILL miss possibly important events if recording motion only.
The best thing to do is add loads of disc space and record continuously.

I just finished testing my firewall config. I'm isolating the ports that the cameras connect to. That way, if someone were to unplug the camera and attach a device there, they are isolated regardless their MAC. I am allowing New states only from my computer LAN to the camera LAN. Okay so that gets the paranoia out of the way because yea, these are damned open.

I get the error pictured below on both Analytics and Rules.

While there, I also see a mystery admin user called "genius" as shown in the second pic below. I can't remove it via ONVIF Device Manager and do not see it on the camera's internal web interface.

I think it's cute that you think someone will remvre a camera to hack your network...

fenderman said:

I think it's cute that you think someone will remvre a camera to hack your network...

Click to expand...

I don't need my house broken into to know a door lock is a good idea. Yes, paranoid but it simply requires some extra clicks and keystrokes. I could either isolate the physical port, or assign the cam to the VLAN by MAC address. These cameras may not last long, so might as well isolate to the port.

DesertHiker said:

I don't need my house broken into to know a door lock is a good idea. Yes, paranoid but it simply requires some extra clicks and keystrokes. I could either isolate the physical port, or assign the cam to the VLAN by MAC address. These cameras may not last long, so might as well isolate to the port.

Click to expand...

bad analogy, unlocked houses get broken into all the time....more like hiring 5 armed 24/7 security for your house....you must think you are really special that someone would try to hack your network like that...

DesertHiker said:

I get the error pictured below on both Analytics and Rules.

Click to expand...

That's not normal. May be a flawed ONVIF implementation.
Or could that be a credentials issue?