Absolute beginner with absolutely no knowledge.......

[Speedbird1]

Good morning all,
i'm new here but the title says it all really. I have an issue with my CCTV Dahua system. It was fitted by a company a couple of years back and they just came in, fitted it and went after showing me how to access the footage via my Mac and my iPhone. They did not show me the setting up in any way. They did leave me a password however (not sure what for but can guess it's something to do with the setup)
OK, this is the problem, for some reason i am not getting any footage showing anywhere, it's as if there is no system there.
I have powered down the NVR and back up again, getting the beeps as i expected but still nothing.
The only thing that has changed was last weekend Virgin Media carried out a 'Full reset" of my modem (holding in reset button for 45 seconds on rear of modem) I do not know if this is coincidence or not however.
I have tried plugging the ethernet from the NVR direct into my laptop but nothing happens. If i check in my router settings there does not seem to be a connection from the NVR either.
Are there any step by step instructions available that i can start from scratch again as if it was a new system being setup by me? There must be a total reset facility surely somewhere.
I have no issue with doing that as although i'm no techie, i can follow instructions and usually get the correct end.
Any help please would be appreciated.
Thank you
Mike

 

[TonyR]

Welcome to IPCT!

A few questions:

• That Virgin Media "modem": does it include a wireless router?
• Does it have 1 or more ports on the back marked "LAN" ?
• Are the cameras plugged directly into the NVR?
• What is the model # of the NVR?

 

[Silas]

most probably you now have different IP addresses, you need to determine the ranges used and what is in use, hikvision have a tool that does this called SADP, you need the dahua equivalent, then you can figure out what is what

 

[Speedbird1]

Welcome to IPCT!

A few questions:

• That Virgin Media "modem": does it include a wireless router?
• Does it have 1 or more ports on the back marked "LAN" ?
• Are the cameras plugged directly into the NVR?
• What is the model # of the NVR?

Thank you for the welcome.
Answer to your question are s follows.
Yes it is a router as well.
It has 4 ports on the rear NONE are marked LAN all are marked INT
Yes 4 cameras are plugged into the NVR (poe)
There is zero markings on the NVR, no makers mark, no ID marks , nothing

Hopefully the images below explain more?

Thank you

 

[vandyman]

As said above, your IP address has changed. When you reset your modem/router, it will release the IP address and retrieve a new one.
In your browser, type in; what is my IP.
Use the number found from the browser and add it to your NVR.

 

[Speedbird1]

Maybe i'm thicker than you think. I know th IP of my modem/router, what i do not know is the IP of my NVR or indeed how to get it. I know default Dahua is 192.168.1.108 but what or where i put that i do not know, hence step by steps instructions requested.
I have tried plugging the NVR direct into my computer and searched for 192.168.1.108 and nothing appears.
Thanks though.

 

[Speedbird1]

Ok I have an update. After messing around in the app I found an auto search button which considering I had nothing to lose I hit and a number was generated. I hit add and the little light along side of the number went green. I hit live view and all worked again. I had to re install the app on my iPhone but that did it sort of easily. So all is good now. Thanks for those who contributed earlier.

 

[Speedbird1]

I’m sorry about this but I’l it looks like I spoke too soon. I just tried to access my cameras from work on my iPhone and it won’t happen, looks like the IP address 192.168.x.x won’t work away from home. So now I need to find out what address to use when I am away. Any ideas? Please.

 

[mat200]

I’m sorry about this but I’l it looks like I spoke too soon. I just tried to access my cameras from work on my iPhone and it won’t happen, looks like the IP address 192.168.x.x won’t work away from home. So now I need to find out what address to use when I am away. Any ideas? Please.

HI Speedbird1

See the VPN notes in the wiki

You want to run a VPN server on your router, and a VPN app on your phone.

 

[dudemaar]

Hello and welcome!

There is a lot of info here on setting up your recorder and phone

Dahua Wiki

dahuawiki.com

 

[Speedbird1]

HI Speedbird1

See the VPN notes in the wiki

You want to run a VPN server on your router, and a VPN app on your phone.

Thank you I’ll check it out tomorrow when home.

Hello and welcome!

There is a lot of info here on setting up your recorder and phone

Dahua Wiki

dahuawiki.com

Another one for to get my head round after work. Thank you

 

[Speedbird1]

All done now. not too much info on those links though. I had to learn about Port Forwarding, what it was, what it does and how i could work it. Once that was sorted put the relevant details into my iPhone and Hurrar I can now view the cameras remotely using cellular.
Thanks for your input guys.
Mike

 

[The Automation Guy]

All done now. not too much info on those links though. I had to learn about Port Forwarding, what it was, what it does and how i could work it. Once that was sorted put the relevant details into my iPhone and Hurrar I can now view the cameras remotely using cellular.
Thanks for your input guys.
Mike

Please read the wiki. Port forwarding works, but it is much riskier and exposes your home network to possible hacking. Port forwarding basically creates a hole in your firewall that you can get through to access your NVR. The problem is that if you can get into the system through that hole you created in your firewall, so can hackers. More importantly, once in, hackers have access to your entire network, not just the NVR system.

Creating a VPN connection is harder, but well worth the time and effort.

 

[Speedbird1]

Please read the wiki. Port forwarding works, but it is much riskier and exposes your home network to possible hacking. Port forwarding basically creates a hole in your firewall that you can get through to access your NVR. The problem is that if you can get into the system through that hole you created in your firewall, so can hackers. More importantly, once in, hackers have access to your entire network, not just the NVR system.

Creating a VPN connection is harder, but well worth the time and effort.

Thank you for that, i will take a look but it might be too heavy for me at my level. I appreciate the importance of VPN (i actually use one but not set up by me, "SurfShark") But now that the cameras are setup it looks very much like it did before with regard to the settings.
Thanks though! I'll take a look.

 

[mat200]

Thank you for that, i will take a look but it might be too heavy for me at my level. I appreciate the importance of VPN (i actually use one but not set up by me, "SurfShark") But now that the cameras are setup it looks very much like it did before with regard to the settings.
Thanks though! I'll take a look.

FYI - for those following the discussion:
"SurfShark" is not the sort of VPN we're discussing. It is a VPN service that allows you some privacy by allowing you to connect from your LAN / internet device to their network.

For our purposes you want to run a VPN server at your home to allow you to securely access your LAN ( network ) from outside.

 

[SouthernYankee]

There are two types of VPN, do not get them confused.
The type depends on where the traffic conversation originates
1) origination: local home network, destination the internet.
This type of VPN hides your activity from the internet, it is outbound, it normally costs a monthly fee to use. Direction is from your home PC to the internet, going to your bank, google, porn sites,,,, this not what you want
2) Origination: the internet world wide web, destination: your home network
This VPN type is used to provide a secure connection onto your local network, in bound to you local home network, from your office computer, your cell phone in your car, tablet at the coffee shop.. This is what you want, it does not have a monthly fee and is normally completely free. OpenVPN is a free, and is easily supported on some routers.

 

[dudemaar]

Asus routers have it and it’s easy to setup.

 

[Hackedup]

There are two types of VPN, do not get them confused.
The type depends on where the traffic conversation originates
1) origination: local home network, destination the internet.
This type of VPN hides your activity from the internet, it is outbound, it normally costs a monthly fee to use. Direction is from your home PC to the internet, going to your bank, google, porn sites,,,, this not what you want
2) Origination: the internet world wide web, destination: your home network
This VPN type is used to provide a secure connection onto your local network, in bound to you local home network, from your office computer, your cell phone in your car, tablet at the coffee shop.. This is what you want, it does not have a monthly fee and is normally completely free. OpenVPN is a free, and is easily supported on some routers.

have you heard smartdnsproxy.com they offer a open vpn as well

 

[TL1096r]

This can help teach you some router basics:

Router Security

Router Security

routersecurity.org

setting up VPN with asus is very easy - this guide helps with basic settings:

OpenVPN on a Asus router

Sept 2021 Turned off comments because of ads July 2021 Bought a new Asus router, an RT-AX86U. Loaded it right away with Merlin firmware, s...

randyshomeprojects.blogspot.com