Dahua cam dropping off the network each night.

[Ronnie Bailey]

Day 7 and my IP camera and networked tuner that had been dropping off the network every night, has not dropped off. I still do not know why. I will add a couple of devices back into my system today. I will not add my Zidoo X9S (running OpenWRT in the background)or my Asus router back into the system for a couple more days.

The rep from my electricity company returned my call yesterday, to inform me that they recived my voice mail. She said the techs were preparing an an answer to my questions and will call me when they have an answer. I explained about my networked devices dropping off the network, and wanted to know what they did on their end.

 

[Kameraad]

I will add a couple of devices back into my system today.

If i were you i would add just 1 device a day, way easier to find the troublemaker.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

If i were you i would add just 1 device a day, way easier to find the troublemaker.

Agreed, but it is difficult, since I have so many devices (most are not needed). This has been going on for about a month or more.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Day 8 and camera and tuner still on network and working great. Today, I will add my Zidoo X9S (running OpenWRT in the background). I will run that a couple of days before adding other devices.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Day 9 and camera and tuner still on network and working great. I am at a total loss as to why they are NOT dropping off the network. I still have a few devices to put back onto my network. Tomorrow, I will swap out my Trendnet router with my Asus router and set everything back up the way it was, before my devices started dropping off the network.

The techs from my electricity company, still have not called me to explain what they did. Since the only thing my networked TV tuner and my IP camera that were dropping off the network had in common was power from the breaker panel, is it possible a power related issue?? Really doesn't make sense, but nothing makes since, I have swapped or replaced almost EVERYTHING on my network, that carries the data.

 

[japjoe7]

Ugh, I can see how this is so frustrating after swapping everything on and off. Good luck!

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Ugh, I can see how this is so frustrating after swapping everything on and off. Good luck!

Thank you, been about a month or so now..........

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Day 10, and camera and tuner still on network and working great. Today, I am going to remove my Trendnet router and replace it with my Asus router. I confirmed that the router was not the problem, because even after I swapped my Asus router for my Trendnet, the problem of my devices dropping off the network continued for weeks.

At this point, I still can't determine what was causing my devices to drop off the network. Every time I thought I had the issue solved, the devices continued to drop off the network. Every morning, I would notice that my video camera had stopped working and I would have to go to the basement and cycle power on it to get it to work again. Same thing for my networked TV tuner, it would stop working, so I could not watch or record anything TV shows from my antenna. I would have to power cycle the tuner to get it to work again.

One other thing I have done is remove the Plex server from my Vorke V2 microPC a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't had any issues of my devices dropping off the network since. I don't believe that would be the cause, but I will add the Plex server back onto that device next week.

I still have not heard from my electric company to see what they tell me they did.........

 

[looney2ns]

Day 10, and camera and tuner still on network and working great. Today, I am going to remove my Trendnet router and replace it with my Asus router. I confirmed that the router was not the problem, because even after I swapped my Asus router for my Trendnet, the problem of my devices dropping off the network continued for weeks.

At this point, I still can't determine what was causing my devices to drop off the network. Every time I thought I had the issue solved, the devices continued to drop off the network. Every morning, I would notice that my video camera had stopped working and I would have to go to the basement and cycle power on it to get it to work again. Same thing for my networked TV tuner, it would stop working, so I could not watch or record anything TV shows from my antenna. I would have to power cycle the tuner to get it to work again.

One other thing I have done is remove the Plex server from my Vorke V2 microPC a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't had any issues of my devices dropping off the network since. I don't believe that would be the cause, but I will add the Plex server back onto that device next week.

I still have not heard from my electric company to see what they tell me they did.........

Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer from the power co.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Day 11, and camera and tuner still on network and working great. I just don't understand it. At this time I have NO clue on what was causing my devices to go off the network. I still have a couple more devices to put back onto my network, including adding my Plex server back onto my Vorke V2 microPC running Windows 10. Whatever caused it, did not just heal itself, and WILL come back, IF I don't find out the cause....

I really don't wan't to go through this again.

Also, when I added my Asus router back, I turned on the native Asus DDNS and VPN modules.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer from the power co.

It sure seems like it. Monday, I believe it was, a rep called and said the tech would call me later, but did NOT say how long later would be.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Day 12, and camera and tuner still on network and working great. Yesterday, I added my Plex server device and Plex Media Player back into my system. I did NOT add the Plex server to my Vorke V2 (Windows 10 microPC), but instead added one of my Android boxes running Linux and Plex server running on that. That particular box is a 4 year old + Android box with a Rockchip RK3288 SoC, with Ubuntu 16.04 Linux installed to the internal ROM. These boxes only use less than 10 watts at full load.

My Plex Media Server is also running on an Android box that uses less than 10 watts full load. It is running on an X9 (Amlogic S905x) that is dual booting Android and OpenPHT, which is a stand alone Plex Media Player.

When my problem started, more than a month ago, now, both of these devices running the same OS's that they are running now, were dropping off the network EVERY night, along with the IP cam and networked tuner.

I am still at a loss on what is causing my devices to drop off my network.

I still have one more Linux box to put back onto my network. I still have to install the Plex server onto my Vorke V2. Then, I should have everything back on my system, when my problem started.

IF, I can NOT get my devices to drop off the network, again, can I **ASSUME** it was a power issue from my electricity provider?? I have no other explanation........

But IF it was a power issue, why only certain devices dropped off the network??

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Since it has been 13 days now, since the last time my devices have dropped off the network, I guess it is time to stop posting. Sadly, I have no idea what caused the issue or what cured it.

I am almost positive it is NOT a networking, or device specific, hardware problem, since I either replaced or swapped almost all of my networking equipment. I have removed and replaced all of my networked devices from my network with varying degrees of success. Each time, I replaced a different piece of networking equipment, and went 2 or 3 days without any of my devices dropping off the network, I would **think** the problem was solved, only to be disillusioned when the next day my devices dropped off the network.

Since my devices that were dropping off the network, had only my router in common or the incoming power from outside, I was thinking about the power issue. As a retired industrial electrician, I know how bad the incoming voltage can be, lots of spikes and sags. Is it a coincidence that I received a card from DTE Energy saying that they currently updated their equipment, and that it has improvements to the power quality, just after my issues stopped? DTE technical dept. reps were supposed to call me on the phone so I could discuss what they did, but I have still not received that call.

All I can do at this point, is cross my fingers that this issue has been put to bed. I have used the same or similar setup for years, and have NEVER had any of my devices drop off my network.

 

[looney2ns]

Do you have the network devices all plugged into a backup UPS with AVR?

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Do you have the network devices all plugged into a backup UPS with AVR?

No, I have no UPS's. Foolish?? Maybe!!!

 

[Q™]

This is all very interesting. I had a Longse S500 which dropped off the network every single night like clockwork, and then came back up every morning. I didn’t put a lot of effort into troubleshooting the issue, I simply replaced it with a Dahua starlight unit several months ago. But I always wondered what was going on, and I’m hoping you @Ronnie Bailey will uncover the answer!

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

This is all very interesting. I had a Longse S500 which dropped off the network every single night like clockwork, and then came back up every morning. I didn’t put a lot of effort into troubleshooting the issue, I simply replaced it with a Dahua starlight unit several months ago. But I always wondered what was going on, and I’m hoping you @Ronnie Bailey will uncover the answer!

One of my devices that kept dropping off the network was my fairly new Dahua starlight camera.

The tech from my electric company finally called me today and had some answers but not all. She said the work order showed the job completed September 25 or 27th, don't recall the date exactly, but it falls in the time frame that my devices stopped dropping off the network. She said they replaced some poles and fuses. Should could not answer the biggest question of all, WHEN DID YOU START that project.

I swapped/replaced almost everything that had to do with the transfer of data on my network, and problem persisted. The problem JUST STOPPED, and I have no idea what caused it or what cured it. Being a retired industrial electrician, I know that alternating current and transmission of that voltage is very "dirty". Lots of spikes and sags, that plays havoc with electronics. But, my devices NEVER lost power, just lost communication. When my Dahua camera lost communication, I had to power cycle it for it to work again, same for my other devices that dropped off my network.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Do you have the network devices all plugged into a backup UPS with AVR?

It does seem strange that when I talked to the tech from my electrical power company, she said they completed their work around the same time as my problems went away. Without some data about the condition of the voltage coming into my dwelling, I can't make a statement that their power was causing my devices to drop off my network.

Now fast forward to today. I was meandering through the electronic dept. at Walmart this morning. Suddenly, there in front of me was an APC branded battery back-UPS. It is listed as a 450VA/255 watts with 2.3 hours of runtime. Since I only have 5 IP cameras connected to POE switches which I am making an educated guess that they draw approximately 6 watts each, so 30 watts. I also have an older Synology DS 211j NAS which draws 23 Watts (I only power it on occasionally as a backup to my backup).

In the same cabinet, I have 1 - 8 port Ethernet switch, 1 - 4 port POE switch (for 4 of my cams), 1 - POE Ethernet adapter for my 5th camera.

I have 3 Android boxes that feed into the 8 port Ethernet switch, they only draw around 10 watts each, max. Lastly, I have a Tronsmart Ara X5 microPC connected to the 8 port Ethernet switch, and it draws 15 amps max.

So, I have a total usage of less than 100 watts. Since the UPS is quoted at 255 watts, I should be good to go.....

In other words, the only thing in the cabinet are my switches and my spare Synology NAS, and my Ethernet cables.

Any comments on my calculations???

thanks.

 

[Ronnie Bailey]

Just another update on my devices dropping off my network. It has been about a month or more since those devices stopped dropping off the network. It stopped just as suddenly as it started.......

The sad, part, I had no idea what caused that issue or what cured it. Fortunately, I only purchased a different 16 port gigabit Ethernet switch. I was suggested by SiliconDust to replace one of my networked tuners, but I did not replace it, and it has been functioning perfectly, since the problem went away.

I did notice today, that I have not turned on my Zidoo X9S in a long time, so I powered it back on. This is what made me think about my issue.

And to add a piece of the intrigue, was when I got the letter from my electrical power company that they had started work on their system about the same time my issues started. And their work competed around the time MY issues stopped.

I did purchase and install an inexpensive UPS that I installed in the basement, that my security cams connect to. But, I have not had any devices drop off my network, since I installed it, so that was not able to help me test if it was an incoming power issue from my power company.