BI5 Upgrade

hmjgriffon

Known around here
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
3,401
Reaction score
980
Location
North Florida
I haven't upgraded because 4 is doing everything I currently want to do, but are there any cool features in BI5 that might be worth upgrading for?
 

area651

Getting comfortable
Joined
Aug 18, 2018
Messages
471
Reaction score
411
Location
San Antonio/McAllen Texas
Fwiw, I started all of this right before 5 came out. I installed version 4 and absolutely hated the interface. To me, the interface of 5 is a million times better and much easier to understand. But that might just be me
 

Old Timer

Known around here
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
1,352
Reaction score
2,945
Location
I'm ok
I like the motion detection of BI 5. It is a lot better at filtering out the false calls with outside cameras.
A few other upgrades are niceties.
There has been some updates since the original 5.0 that has added some goodies also. AI, for one.

I started with 3, so 4 was a nice upgrade, then 4 morphed in to a great setup, I expect 5 will do the same thing.
 

hmjgriffon

Known around here
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
3,401
Reaction score
980
Location
North Florida
Guess I'll hafta buy a new license and plan out some time here soon to upgrade. Can you upgrade 4 to 5 or do you need to save your config and fresh install?
 

Old Timer

Known around here
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
1,352
Reaction score
2,945
Location
I'm ok
I bought a new license for ver 5, and installed it on the same computer. New price is only $59. I did not uninstall ver 4.
Some day I might need to build up a quick machine to put somewhere temporally, I can reuse the old ver 5 key for that.

Search on here for the ver 4 to ver 5 upgrade, it will talk about some of the problem encountered along the way.
As ver 5 came along a lot of the problems went away.

I have 4 PC's at different customers plus my home running BI 5, loaded ver 5 on 2 of them as is, and built new pc's up
for the other 2 ver5 (old pc's were 3-4 years old, time to upgrade).
 

Redman

n3wb
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
San diego ca
Considering an upgrade from BI4 to BI5. Could not find a comparison of hardware requirements between the 2 versions?

BI4 is running on an Elitedesk 800 G2 mini tower i5-6500 @ 3.20GHz, 16GB RAM, Win 10 Pro 64bit.

Need to know if a hardware upgrade is recommended for BI5.

Thanks in advance!
 

fenderman

Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
36,897
Reaction score
21,250
Considering an upgrade from BI4 to BI5. Could not find a comparison of hardware requirements between the 2 versions?

BI4 is running on an Elitedesk 800 G2 mini tower i5-6500 @ 3.20GHz, 16GB RAM, Win 10 Pro 64bit.

Need to know if a hardware upgrade is recommended for BI5.

Thanks in advance!
There is no change
 

Redman

n3wb
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
San diego ca
Thanks fenderman!
My BI4 support expired on Oct/Nov 2019. How long do I have to take advantage of the $29 extra support in order to upgrade to BI5 ?
 

fenderman

Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
36,897
Reaction score
21,250
Thanks fenderman!
My BI4 support expired on Oct/Nov 2019. How long do I have to take advantage of the $29 extra support in order to upgrade to BI5 ?
Any time. Just remember the 29 is a reoccurring yearly fee but you can cancel right after your purchase. There is another option for a one time $35 fee which provides extended support for a year.
 

Redman

n3wb
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
San diego ca
Got it!
Have been accessing BI on my android phone ( in browser), through Web UI3 which requires a port open/fwd on the router. A couple of days ago, while looking at the settings, I happened to notice a connection ( 1 sec only) I didn't recognize, to the BI machine... It was from hn.kd.ny.adsl ... A google search revealed this is a chinese user.. other people have been complaining about as well. So, for now, I've closed all open ports on the router/fw and re-assessing my options. Will the BI5 mobile app require similar firewall settings? I am asking, because some NVR apps ( for example Hikvision's Hik-Connect app) don't require any firewall adjustments. If the BI (5) mobile app does require FW adjustments, what's the advantage of the web UI vs the mobile app?

Thanks!
 

Redman

n3wb
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
San diego ca
Redman

You should be using an Inbound VPN like OpenVpn.
Read How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!)
:) I have it configured in pfSense but used it only on the PC . I liked the convenience of just using a browser shortcut on my phone's home page . This allowed me to quickly check all cameras , when needed, without having to connect through VPN ( not as smooth on the phone as on the PC).
I always wondered about the BI app and "assumed" it will work just like Hik-Connect ( FW adjustments are not needed). As I was reading about the BI5, I saw a comment ( somewhere on this forum ) about configuring FW for the mobile app....wanted to know what those settings were .
 

fenderman

Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
36,897
Reaction score
21,250
:) I have it configured in pfSense but used it only on the PC . I liked the convenience of just using a browser shortcut on my phone's home page . This allowed me to quickly check all cameras , when needed, without having to connect through VPN ( not as smooth on the phone as on the PC).
I always wondered about the BI app and "assumed" it will work just like Hik-Connect ( FW adjustments are not needed). As I was reading about the BI5, I saw a comment ( somewhere on this forum ) about configuring FW for the mobile app....wanted to know what those settings were .
The BI app requires you to port forward or use a vpn. Hikconnect uses p2p which is not secure.
 
Top