Anything to do before using the camera?

[techierookie]

I am about to purchase my very first IP camera for home use.

Based on reviews, I am looking to get the T54IR-ZE-S3 from TekEmpire and will use a BI server as my NVR.

As a complete newbie, is there anything I need to do with the cameras before mounting them its intended location?

Do I need to flash or update the firmware?

Do I plug the camera to a computer and navigate to the camera's portal page and make any configuration changes?

Or do most people just use the configurations out of the box? I read somewhere that Andy specifically applies his own firmware on these devices?

 

[TonyR]

As a complete newbie, is there anything I need to do with the cameras before mounting them its intended location?

Yes.
Initialize the camera by powering it up on the bench, logging into its webGUI and setting a username and password.

Do I need to flash or update the firmware?

No.

Do I plug the camera to a computer and navigate to the camera's portal page and make any configuration changes?

Yes.
Camera's default IP is 192.168.1.108.
Give your PC a static IP of 192.168.1.20, subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, no gateway IP neeeded.
Power up the cam: If powered with 12VDC adapter, connect PC directly to cam's pigtail.
If powered with POE switch or injector, connect PC to POE switch or LAN port on injector.
Open browser to 192.168.1.108.
Assign the cam a unique, static IP that is on the same subnet as your router but outside your router's DHCP pool.
Set PC's IP settings back to what they were before you changed them above.
Now see if you can log into the cam's webGUI by entering the IP you assigned above into your browser.

Try the following settings initially:

• Encoding strategy: General (or Smart Codec: Off)
• Encode mode: H264
• Bitrate type: CBR
• Bit rate: 8192
• Frame rate: 15 FPS
• Frame interval (iFrame): 15