Can't keep correct time

jamesbond

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Thank you. I presume the only step not shown here is to configure each camera to point to the NetTime IP address?

Thank you
James

I been having good luck by installing Net Time and then just allowing the app through the firewall. I did not specify ports or anything.

View attachment 46410


Then once you have it setup you should see each cam log into Net Time for the sync.

View attachment 46411
 

biggen

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Does simply pool.ntp.org with a port of 123 not work? Why run an NTP service when you can point right to the source?
 

Tinman

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This is a good question and I too am interested in knowing the answer...
Because you don't want all of your cameras to go out on web to get a time sync. The Net Time syncs the BI computer and in turn BI uses the computer time to stamp all of its clips and alerts. You should also go into your computer and have it sync to Net Time as well. Just go into the BI machine and set it to a static IP (see pic) but you also must then keep it outside your DHCP range you have set in your router. It's also a great idea to have ALL of your cams set to static as well. Of course you will want to use whatever values you want, the pics are examples.

Annotation 2019-08-25 095511.jpg

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IAmATeaf

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Thank you I am grateful

How do I check if the BI IP address is set to DHCP? And how do I set it to a static IP address?

Is that something I need to ask my ISP to configure, or can I setup a static IP myself?

Thank you

James
Type the command ipconfig /all and then check the output, one of the lines will show if DHCP status.
 

biggen

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Because you don't want all of your cameras to go out on web to get a time sync. The Net Time syncs the BI computer and in turn BI uses the computer time to stamp all of its clips and alerts. You should also go into your computer and have it sync to Net Time as well. Just go into the BI machine and set it to a static IP (see pic) but you also must then keep it outside your DHCP range you have set in your router. It's also a great idea to have ALL of your cams set to static as well. Of course you will want to use whatever values you want, the pics are examples.

View attachment 46416

View attachment 46417
That assumes one is using BI. But also, I don't know what having the camera internal time and having it match the BI times matters in the slightest. You can set the internal time of the camera to whatever you want. BI doesn't care. BI keeps its own database of clips. The camera doesn't do anything with it.

The only reason I can determine to run a full blown NTP server would be if you intended to keep your cameras cut off from the internet. So, sure, that would be a reason to do this. But if one doesn't care about that, I don't see the utility of doing this at all.
 

mikeynags

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That assumes one is using BI. But also, I don't know what having the camera internal time and having it match the BI times matters in the slightest. You can set the internal time of the camera to whatever you want. BI doesn't care. BI keeps its own database of clips. The camera doesn't do anything with it.

The only reason I can determine to run a full blown NTP server would be if you intended to keep your cameras cut off from the internet. So, sure, that would be a reason to do this. But if one doesn't care about that, I don't see the utility of doing this at all.
Keeping time uniform amongst the BI (server) and the camera (clients) is considered best practice. I'm assuming if you ever have to hand over footage, why run the risk of the questioning why all the times are different and ultimately run the risk of having your footage discounted or thrown out. But if you don't care, that's fine too. For me, everything synchs with the BI PC, There is no question that whatever the time is there, it also matches with the cams.
 

jamesbond

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Random question, If one uses a NTP server such as NetTime to collect the time from the internet and then have the cameras sync with NetTime...what happens if there is an extended internet outage?

Does NetTime fail to sync and continue to use the time + time elapsed from the last successful sync? Or does it lose track of time until the next successful sync?

Thank you
 

biggen

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Keeping time uniform amongst the BI (server) and the camera (clients) is considered best practice. I'm assuming if you ever have to hand over footage, why run the risk of the questioning why all the times are different and ultimately run the risk of having your footage discounted or thrown out. But if you don't care, that's fine too. For me, everything synchs with the BI PC, There is no question that whatever the time is there, it also matches with the cams.
If you're using an internet time server for all your devices everything should be synced to milliseconds. I just don't see the need for this but whatever floats your boat.
 

biggen

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Random question, If one uses a NTP server such as NetTime to collect the time from the internet and then have the cameras sync with NetTime...what happens if there is an extended internet outage?

Does NetTime fail to sync and continue to use the time + time elapsed from the last successful sync? Or does it lose track of time until the next successful sync?

Thank you
There are normally two clocks in every computer: Hardware clock with a battery and a software clock that is maintained by the OS. The NTP service adjusts the software clock. If you lose your connection to the NTP server, the camera's software clock will continue to operate but will eventually drift since there are slight "errors" in how it computes time. These errors in time grow larger and larger without the constant syncing with the NTP server.
 

SouthernYankee

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The cameras for security reasons have no direct access to the internet. They cameras are on a separate subset that has no access to the internet. The BI machine has two Nics. One of the nics connects to the camera subnet and the other nic connects to the router and the internet. The BI machine runs the nettime time service. So the camera get it time for the BI machine.
 

looney2ns

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If you're using an internet time server for all your devices everything should be synced to milliseconds. I just don't see the need for this but whatever floats your boat.
Here in the states, if there is any question about the time stamps, the videos will be thrown out as evidence in a court of law.
You talk like it's a big hurdle to setup, takes 5 minutes, the program use's no resource's and is very small.
Properly set up network, would have all the cameras blocked from contacting the internet.
How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) | IP Cam Talk
 

Todd Schmidt

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I’m still having trouble getting mine to sync. all the settings seem correct. Port 123 is open incoming and outgoing, I think. Net time is running as service. bi pc is syncing to it. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but when I hit test, it says failed to connect to test server.

Pic of screen from camera config page

thanks for help
 

SouthernYankee

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What is the IP address of the camera and what is the IP address of BI (10.0.1.36) ? When you click test on the camera what is the error message ?
In my opinion set the interval to sometime like 10 minutes.
In detail what is the network path for the BI machine to the Camera (all devices and there IP addresses) ?
 

looney2ns

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I’m still having trouble getting mine to sync. all the settings seem correct. Port 123 is open incoming and outgoing, I think. Net time is running as service. bi pc is syncing to it. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but when I hit test, it says failed to connect to test server.

Pic of screen from camera config page

thanks for help
Did you follow the directions on the Nettime site, that includes turning off Windows Time server?
 

Todd Schmidt

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What is the IP address of the camera and what is the IP address of BI (10.0.1.36) ? When you click test on the camera what is the error message ?
In my opinion set the interval to sometime like 10 minutes.
In detail what is the network path for the BI machine to the Camera (all devices and there IP addresses) ?
Camera is 192.168.0.17 (2nd NIC) and yes 10.0.1.36 is BI

when I click test, it gives the message of not being able to connect to test server.

Network diagram
 
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