Switch Synology Surveillance Station to Dahua NVR?

B

blakehaas

n3wb
Jun 10, 2020
22
7
Minnesota
I’ve been on Synology Surveillance Station for a while. It works, but mobile access is inconsistent, sometimes the app loads instantly, other times it takes ~50 seconds. My setup is solid (enterprise 4TB SSD for surveillance, Tailscale VPN, 1 Gb network), so I suspect Synology’s software.

Current gear
  • 4 × EmpireTech 4K Color cameras (one is the EmpireTech T180)
  • Storage: enterprise 4TB SSD
  • Remote: Tailscale VPN over 1 Gb
Considering
  • A high-end Dahua NVR
What I’m looking for

  • Fast, reliable mobile access (most usage is via phone; I’ll use the NVR UI only for deeper reviews)
  • DMSS app: live view seems quick in my testing—how good is playback scrubbing and timeline navigation? Any lag or crashes?
  • Overall reliability/stability of Dahua NVRs day-to-day
  • Bonus: Can I add animal detection overnight on the backyard cam? The T180 only offers person detection—any Dahua/NVR-side analytics that can help?


Appreciate any real-world experiences or model recommendations.
 
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Are you sure your app problem isnt something else? Apps and connectivity can be tricky to troubleshoot and I find 9 out of 10 folks who complain about the app connectivity find it to be something other than the app

I'm big on the current Dahua ecosystem, the newer NVR's are quite good and the app for me is spectacular. That said, if you're in an area wtih shit connectivity or connecting to a shit P2P server, it wont work as well and it still wont be the App's fault.

The current DMSS app now that I've learned it*, is the best version by far. (*surprising how many people blame an app until we find they havent taken the time to learn it)
Yes very quick to load cameras, and playback is very simplified being a button at the bottom of the live view. Mine loads instantaneously /or within 1 second, very quick
Scrubbing works great, choose all and use the time line (its a smaller screen than the PC so yeah its trickier than a big screen, but it works very well). Or choose just certain types of events on that same screen, very easy to use. I dont recall a single crash with this version I updated in January and I use it daily.

Dahua NVR is about as reliable as things come. I just dont even think about it.

I dont have the newest AI NVR so can't say about adding Animal detection to a camera that doesn't have it?


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bigredfish said:
Are you sure your app problem isnt something else? Apps and connectivity can be tricky to troubleshoot and I find 9 out of 10 folks who complain about the app connectivity find it to be something other than the app
Click to expand...
I have troubleshooted the problem for a long time. This is not a mobile connectivity issue, I'm talking about on wifi with full 1gb speeds.
It's as if the session times out or something. It's just inconvenient when I want to see what's happening and I can't see any cameras and by the time it loads, everything is done.

88% of the time it works great, but the times that it fails me is the most important times.
 
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blakehaas said:
Appreciate any real-world experiences or model recommendations.
Click to expand...
Just gone through this exact process this weekend, I too was having issues with surveillance station and have always to some degree, finally bit the bullet and purchased an NVR (top one of the 2 mentioned above).

I haven’t setup the remote access via the P2P cloud as I’d prefer to keep my video streams not running through a companies servers, I have setup via IP and wireguard VPN. There is some mixed information re alerts when running this arrangement, but I can confirm I receive mobile alerts without the VPN being connected when I am away from home.

I’m still fine tuning the detection side of things, I run only intrusion and tripwire with object detection to reduce false alarms as much as possible.

Configuration is a bit of a PITA initially as there a lot of setup options for notification’s, schedules by event type etc.

Te app is not as polished as surveillance station but for the quick and reliable opening of streams I’ll live with it, from my interaction with it a few years ago it has come a long way.

I also like having the option of being able to connect this to a monitor which wasn’t easily achievable on the synology without having a PC running.

I have this NVR in my server rack and have a cat to HDMI converter to get the image the 10m to my TV set using existing cabling.

I’m no guru with this setup so it’s very much a work in progress until I get it dialled in but definitely do not have any regrets.

If you require any further info or have any queries, feel free to reply or DM me and I’ll assist if I can.
 
Jamesboag304 said:
Just gone through this exact process this weekend, I too was having issues with surveillance station and have always to some degree, finally bit the bullet and purchased an NVR (top one of the 2 mentioned above).

I haven’t setup the remote access via the P2P cloud as I’d prefer to keep my video streams not running through a companies servers, I have setup via IP and wireguard VPN. There is some mixed information re alerts when running this arrangement, but I can confirm I receive mobile alerts without the VPN being connected when I am away from home.

I’m still fine tuning the detection side of things, I run only intrusion and tripwire with object detection to reduce false alarms as much as possible.

Configuration is a bit of a PITA initially as there a lot of setup options for notification’s, schedules by event type etc.

Te app is not as polished as surveillance station but for the quick and reliable opening of streams I’ll live with it, from my interaction with it a few years ago it has come a long way.

I also like having the option of being able to connect this to a monitor which wasn’t easily achievable on the synology without having a PC running.

I have this NVR in my server rack and have a cat to HDMI converter to get the image the 10m to my TV set using existing cabling.

I’m no guru with this setup so it’s very much a work in progress until I get it dialled in but definitely do not have any regrets.

If you require any further info or have any queries, feel free to reply or DM me and I’ll assist if I can.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information! This is what i was looking for.
I wish there were more reviews with the mobile apps on these NVR's. Sometimes you just have to dive in your self!

I picked up a NVR5216-16P-EI2 and will pair it with a 4tb enterprise samsung ssd for best perf.
I am hoping that it works out great.
 
Ok. I have made the switch!
Wasn't so bad except for the constant beeping at first.

I have the basic setup done but there are a few things i need to figure out.
1. All of my cameras have multiple IVS rules for maximum detection. I seem to get many alerts if i cross say my backyard. Like 5 within 2 seconds. Is there a way per camera to have a cooldown period for IVS? (I only need to know when one of them is hit within say 60 seconds).
2. I am getting push notifications (P2P) enabled in DMSS but there are no thumbnails. Snapshots are enabled on my cameras. Not sure what im missing here.
3. Is it normal to get a live feed of the nvr it self as a channel in dms? I dont mind so much but it seems odd lol.

Maybe @Jamesboag304 might know?
 
1- I really dont think so, though not familiar with the latest NVRs. Typically in such situations I'll create a separate tripwire for instance that I have send alerts, and intrusion zone that doesnt but still records the event for playback

2- It gets complicated. You should add the NVR to your DMSS app via the serial number and initially turn on P2P on the NVR.
bigredfish

Thread 'Dahua NVR, DMSS and P2P - How are they connected?'

So this is just a thread on my own testing/research of Dahua NVRs and how they interact with Dahua P2P and the DMSS app. YMMV
It can get quite complicated....and I caution that there have been different results from past versions of the DMSS app. SO, if you're using an old version of the app you may see different results.


Part #1)
Testing Remote Push Notifications

Lets start with how a Dahua NVR (older model NVR5216-16P-4K2SE) interacts with the DMSS app (Version - 1.99.842 / 11/12/2024 - reasonably new) to send you push alerts
I have no reason to believe that newer NVRs...
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3? Not sure what you mean/are seeing? screenshot would be helpful
 
For 3:
Look at the ZeroChannel. Its literally a mirror of the NVR interface. Edit, i cant attach images. Site says "Oops, we've ran into problems"


I have multiple IVS rules per camera because I cant cover all with 1 and sometimes 1 wont trigger but the other does.
I'd really like to figure this out as im getting destroyed with notifications each time i go outside. I only need 1 per camera per 60 seconds.
 
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I run multiple in many areas too.

1- on multichannel alarm you can’t choose by IVS rule #, its all Tripwire or none for example
2- I know of no way to limit alerts from multiple like rules
 
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Are you looking at DMSS the mobile app?
Or SmartPSS the desktop app?

Zero channel can usually be enabled /disabled on the NVR Display tab *On some NVR's. Not sure about the latest ones

I never use it
 
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Another trick I use is not to schedule all rules active 24/7. Using schedule

With 12 cameras around my little box it would drive me nuts. I dont need an alert everytime someone walks down the sidewalk.
 
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