cannot connect HIKVision PTZ camera to HIKVision NVR

[JulesFW]

I am a newbie who after 3 days has learned much but am stuck on a few issues, compliments in part on the Chinglish manuals.
I purchased from one store a DS-7808N-E2/8P (all my equipment is POE enabled HIKVision product from AliExpress) firmware V3.3.2build 150522 encoding v5.0 build 150507 plugin V3.0.5.40 with three domes (3MP DS-2CD2132F-IS) and two bullets (DS-2CD2032-I). From a second store I purchased a PTZ, model CMR-HD200-20-K, firmware V5.2.0 build 150106, encoding V5.0 build 140820. I do not have a monitor for the NVR (they were all stolen along with everything else, hence my new "hobby"), but I access the system with my laptop using the native HIKVision software/interface.

I managed eventually (NVR did not come with a manual) to hook everything from store 1 together. The ip address of the NVR is 192.168.0.100 (router is 192.168.0.1), and the addresses of the cams are all 192.168.254.xxx. As an aside I gather from this that the cameras form a LAN separate from but attached to the LAN served by my router. Anyway, they were setup using DHCP with plug and play. That is as far as I've gotten thus far.

I have managed to access the PTZ through my computer (by plugging in the power to the camera as my router does not have POE), but I cannot manage to add it to the NVR. I have tried enabling DHCP, I have tried manually setting the IP address to 192.168.254.xxx (using the address that the NVR seemed to be looking for, with a gateway of 192.168.254.1 which I presume to be correct under the logic that it acts much like my router), and a few other options. The lights where I plug the RJ45 into the back do not even flash, but surely there is no issue with the cable given my success using the router.

My questions:
1) can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong or better yet what I should be doing to connect the PTZ to the NVR?
2) different question, but the manual for the PTZ (which does not cover connection to an NVR) mentions "main functions fast call up" and says "Our IR speed dome supports 220 preset positions. You can activate some special functions by calling upon code number 65-99", followed by a table with four columns labeled "serial number" "command" "fast call up" and "note". Does anyone have a clue what is being talked about or how to access these codes?

Many thanks in advance to any who can help me move on to stage 2 of this project.

 

[alastairstevenson]

Just some ideas (despite not having used a PTZ) :

I have managed to access the PTZ through my computer

This implies that you have the PTZ connected to the LAN, as opposed to one of the NVR PoE ports, which as you have deduced are on their own network segment, not easily reachable from the normal LAN.
And I'm assuming that you are going to require normal browser access to the PTZ for the many functions that I think you won't be able to operate via the NVR, unless you have the 'Virtual Host' facility - but that's another story. Which implies the PTZ should be connected to the LAN.
A good tool to have available if you don't have it is SADP. I believe there is a newer version than this - but it's a start: http://www.hikvision.com/entest/download_more.asp?id=1182
It will find your cameras and NVRs and allow easy viewing and changing of network settings.

So my suggestion to try:
Set the PTZ with a fixed IP address on your LAN, outside the router DHCP pool, and confirm you can access it OK via a browser.
With an 8-channel NVR and 8 PoE ports, you won't be able to 'Add' a LAN camera as the web GUI will say all channels are used up.
But you should be able to select one of the unused PoE ports and choose 'Modify'.
Change the mode to 'Manual', specify the LAN IP address of the camera, 'Hikvision' protocol, management port=8000, the admin userID and password and click OK.
Now check in 'Live View' and hopefully the camera should show.
I don't know how fully you will be able to use the PTZ features via the NVR, but hopefully good enough that browser access may not be needed.

Good luck!

 

[JulesFW]

Thanks hugely for your reply.
I obtained a monitor for the NVR in hopes that I might find a solution in the embedded software, but no such luck. I therefore tried your suggestion and the camera showed up at the bottom of the list of the 8 camera spots (3 of which are empty). As you indicated I cannot add the camera or otherwise use it, but unfortunately there is no "modify" option that I could find to change one of the empty slots to show the PTZ.
OOPS
Spoke too soon. I figured out how to modify it and she works now. As I said, really appreciated the help!

 

[alastairstevenson]

Excellent, well done!
I was just about to attach a screenshot of where 'Modify' is, via the web GUI.
Don't forget to save a copy of the NVR configuration when you have got it all in the state you want it - you might need it some time in the future.

 

[Tooley]

alastairstevenson - I tried this workflow with my PTZ and it worked. Thanks.

My question is - if I connect this camera through a different ethernet port on my router (instead of directly through the NVR), does this slow down my router or download speeds at all since the data are being "routed" through the router to NVR?

 

[alastairstevenson]

It's good when what works for one person can be re-used for another.

does this slow down my router or download speeds at all since the data are being "routed" through the router to NVR?

The answer is - it depends, mostly on the specific router and also how much traffic already flows.
If your router has Gigabit Ethernet ports, the presumed 100Mbps connection of your camera, with a guessed traffic level of say up 10Mbps is not going to trouble the router or generate congestion.
And in theory, even if your router has 10/100Mbps ports, the up to 10Mbps traffic from the camera should not be a problem - on the assumption that the router can handle the 'full wire speed' load of all its ports, as well as do its main job of routing and firewall services.
In practice, that can be a bit optimistic on an older router.
I recently swapped out someone's router that had 10/100Mbps ports, as a traffic flow of about 50Mbps in on one port and out on another was causing the internet speed to drop from 20Mbps download to under 10Mbps. The router just was not coping. The replacement had Gigabit ports and didn't even notice the traffic.

But you can easily check this out yourself with some tests.
Run the internet speedtest, with and without the NVR traffic and see if you can spot the difference beyond the normal variation.