Beginners guide for set up

[sliding777]

Hi,
This is my first go at networking and cameras, so please bear with me.
I was wondering if anyone put together a beginners step by step to starting a BI system. I ask because I have found that many professionals I work with have the aptitude to learn but are, like most technicians, hesitant to dive into fields they are unfamiliar with. Im a high pressure controls (15k psi) specialist, but know nothing of networking. Many of my coworkers have resigned themselves to off the shelf systems because of the learning curve. Id like to learn this and start converting them. I work offshore, so most of my coworkers have systems out of necessity.
I ask because I am starting my adventure into building a BI system. Lots to learn and the cliffnotes have been helpful.
Its embarrassing to really admit how little I know on a forum like this.
So as a starting point for myself; I am using a demo of BI on a Qosmio I7 3rd gen laptop, a 16 port POE BV switch, a 5231 starlight turret, and a 4231 starlight mini dome. Once I can get this system functional, I will purchase a dedicated desktop and start adding cameras to build a real system. It will be easy to justify costs as my abilities grow.
I got my cameras from Andy a day ago and was hoping I could just plug them into my BV switch and into my laptop, no such luck. Does the system need to go though a router or can it be a stand alone? Can my laptop's wifi serve as a internet connection for now? Where do I start with getting BI to search for the IP address of the cameras. I did see on another post that it was recommended to identify each camera individually.
As I stand now, my laptop is connected with cat 5 to the switch on port 18. The 5231 cam is on port 1.
Also do I need to use the little CD that came in the box for anything? I removed my DVD drive on my laptop and replaced it with a HDD. So if its required, I need to buy a usb DVD.
Thanks again for any help and tolerance. =)
Sky

 

[awsum140]

You will need that CD, or the software on it anyway. I think you can download the software directly from the Dahua site so you don't need to jump through hoops there. The other way to do it would be using a PC that is also on your network and has a CD/DVD drive. Just "share" that drive on your network. The physical ports the cameras are plugged in to has no bearing on the situation, they are on the same, physical, network but are probably on a different subnet. Only plug in one camera at a time until it is configured to a new IP address, they're both trying to use the same address.

The reason you can't "see" the cameras is that they are, probably, on a different subnet than your laptop is on. The default IP address for Dahua is 92.168.1.108, or 192.168.0.108. I can't remember which and haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet, still dain bread. If you use the Dahua tool, you can search for the camera and reset the IP address for your own network subnet.

 

[giomania]

The cliff notes has a section on initial Dahua camera setup, so that should help get you started!

I am working on a Blue Iris Setup doc for my own edification, but I’m sure you saw @Dasstrum videos on BI, which are incredible!


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[Terk]

For help getting started with Blue Iris search YouTube for HomeTech Video he has a series of great videos to help you learn what most of the options are and some of the best practices. The Wiki link at the top of the forum has the contents of the CD which will help you find your cameras. The easiest way to re-IP them is to temporarily put a static IP on your laptops Ethernet adapter in the same subnet as the camera like 192.168.1.100. Then when you use a web browser to connect to the cameras IP you will give it the admin password then you can go to the settings and network to change the IP address on the camera and put your computer back to how it was.

 

[sliding777]

I appreciate the responses. I did figure out how to change my laptops subnet to match the cam and got in to view it. I didnt understand that BI is basically a different interface for the Dahua software. Is that correct? It is mostly for handling the streams from the cameras and processing what gets recorded and sent as notifications?
So back to a beginners question about IPs and subnets. In the cliffnotes it mentions, "prevent the camera from connecting directly to the internet by setting a false gateway IP Address outside the DHCP range." I dont really understand this step. I read a bit about avoiding duplication because of the DHCP range, but Im not relating it. Do I just change the last 3 digits to something random?
The cliffnotes are great. I suppose anyone with networking experience would breeze though. Everything for me involves googling more definitions and how they work. So slow, but Im learning something I never thought Id get into. Plus since Im going to start pulling cable all through the house, Im going to get as much off my wifi as possible.
Thank you again for you understanding of such basic topics.
Sky

 

[fenderman]

I appreciate the responses. I did figure out how to change my laptops subnet to match the cam and got in to view it. I didnt understand that BI is basically a different interface for the Dahua software. Is that correct? It is mostly for handling the streams from the cameras and processing what gets recorded and sent as notifications?
So back to a beginners question about IPs and subnets. In the cliffnotes it mentions, "prevent the camera from connecting directly to the internet by setting a false gateway IP Address outside the DHCP range." I dont really understand this step. I read a bit about avoiding duplication because of the DHCP range, but Im not relating it. Do I just change the last 3 digits to something random?
The cliffnotes are great. I suppose anyone with networking experience would breeze though. Everything for me involves googling more definitions and how they work. So slow, but Im learning something I never thought Id get into. Plus since Im going to start pulling cable all through the house, Im going to get as much off my wifi as possible.
Thank you again for you understanding of such basic topics.
Sky

blue iris is not an interface for the dahua software...its a complete video management software package that replaces an NVR and provides much more functionality.

 

[giomania]

I appreciate the responses. I did figure out how to change my laptops subnet to match the cam and got in to view it. I didnt understand that BI is basically a different interface for the Dahua software. Is that correct? It is mostly for handling the streams from the cameras and processing what gets recorded and sent as notifications?
So back to a beginners question about IPs and subnets. In the cliffnotes it mentions, "prevent the camera from connecting directly to the internet by setting a false gateway IP Address outside the DHCP range." I dont really understand this step. I read a bit about avoiding duplication because of the DHCP range, but Im not relating it. Do I just change the last 3 digits to something random?
The cliffnotes are great. I suppose anyone with networking experience would breeze though. Everything for me involves googling more definitions and how they work. So slow, but Im learning something I never thought Id get into. Plus since Im going to start pulling cable all through the house, Im going to get as much off my wifi as possible.
Thank you again for you understanding of such basic topics.
Sky

You don’t just change the last three digits to something random, but into something that is outside the DHCP range (usually 100-150) on most routers I think.

That is just an easy trick to prevent the camera from accessing the Internet without having to create any firewall rules but then it won’t be able to get the time from a time server on your network.

One step at a time though....


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[sliding777]

Thank you.