Dahua IP cameras working on LAN not on mobile Tinycam Pro

[jkelley]

I'm racking my brain on this one. I purchased 4 Dahua IP cams (from AliExpress):

1x IPC-HFW4431R-Z
3x IPC-HDW4431C-A

The quality is great. Super happy upgrading from my sPOE Zmodo box set to these.

I'm not setup with an NVR yet. These are just plugged into my POE switch, which is plugged into my router (I just have the one).

I'm setup with a static IP, I've forwarded the ports on my router (I've opened the TCP, the HTTP via TCP, RTSP via TCP, the UDP port - one port for each, and for each camera so 16 ports total), and I'm even able to CONNECT to the camera remotely but I don't get the live video. If I use the Dahua Chrome app "NACL Web plug-in" I can log into the camera and everything, and change the settings, but I don't get video. It says "resource is limited, open video failed!"

On tinycam pro on my mobile (android), it says status is "ok" (that it's connected to it...) but again no video.

All cameras work fine on wifi. Including on my mobile, using tinycam pro.

Any ideas? Very much appreciated!

 

[mat200]

I'm racking my brain on this one. I purchased 4 Dahua IP cams (from AliExpress):

1x IPC-HFW4431R-Z
3x IPC-HDW4431C-A

The quality is great. Super happy upgrading from my sPOE Zmodo box set to these.

I'm not setup with an NVR yet. These are just plugged into my POE switch, which is plugged into my router (I just have the one).

I'm setup with a static IP, I've forwarded the ports on my router (I've opened the TCP, the HTTP via TCP, RTSP via TCP, the UDP port - one port for each, and for each camera so 16 ports total), and I'm even able to CONNECT to the camera remotely but I don't get the live video. If I use the Dahua Chrome app "NACL Web plug-in" I can log into the camera and everything, and change the settings, but I don't get video. It says "resource is limited, open video failed!"

On tinycam pro on my mobile (android), it says status is "ok" (that it's connected to it...) but again no video.

All cameras work fine on wifi. Including on my mobile, using tinycam pro.

Any ideas? Very much appreciated!

Jkelley!

STOP!

SHUT IT DOWN!

DO NOT port forward to your router, your cameras WILL get hijacked. Just a matter of time.

Please read the VPN notes ASAP.

 

[jkelley]

Ah ok, will do

 

[jkelley]

Well I have a D-Link DIR-825 (non-DD-WRT I think, this is about 5-6 years old) on 2.05NA firmware.
The only thing on the router config that mentions anything VPN is on the firewall page under the "application level gateway (ALG) configuration" it has a check box for "IPSec (VPN)" but that's all I can do... just check the box (it was already checked btw).

So I'm assuming I can't setup my own VPN server/host? Can I only do IPSec as a VPN service and I'll have to pay for it?

What are my options now?

Thanks so much!

 

[looney2ns]

Well I have a D-Link DIR-825 (non-DD-WRT I think, this is about 5-6 years old) on 2.05NA firmware.
The only thing on the router config that mentions anything VPN is on the firewall page under the "application level gateway (ALG) configuration" it has a check box for "IPSec (VPN)" but that's all I can do... just check the box (it was already checked btw).

So I'm assuming I can't setup my own VPN server/host? Can I only do IPSec as a VPN service and I'll have to pay for it?

What are my options now?

Thanks so much!

Buy one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Dual-band-Wireless-AC1900-Gigabit-Router-RT-AC68U/dp/B00FB45SI4/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1510156995&sr=1-7&keywords=asus+router

It includes OpenVPN server.
Read this: VPN Primer for Noobs

 

[jkelley]

Buy one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Dual-band-Wireless-AC1900-Gigabit-Router-RT-AC68U/dp/B00FB45SI4/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1510156995&sr=1-7&keywords=asus+router

It includes OpenVPN server.
Read this: VPN Primer for Noobs

Thank you. Spent a good deal of time last night researching this stuff. The 1900 looks like a good option for me, using OpenVPN.

One thing I've still got some question marks around is... do I still need to make an OpenVPN account? Or will the router functioning as a server be all I need? So incoming/outgoing traffic goes through the openvpn server on the router and gets the encryption... or does it still need to pass through an external enterprise VPN server?

 

[Mike A.]

Thank you. Spent a good deal of time last night researching this stuff. The 1900 looks like a good option for me, using OpenVPN.

One thing I've still got some question marks around is... do I still need to make an OpenVPN account? Or will the router functioning as a server be all I need? So incoming/outgoing traffic goes through the openvpn server on the router and gets the encryption... or does it still need to pass through an external enterprise VPN server?

No. You won't be using an outside service. The router running the VPN server will be that service and you'll connect direct to that. The client will negotiate a secured connection with the router/server and traffic to your internal net will be passed through that connection.

You'll then effectively be a client on your network so you'll address the devices using your internal NAT addressing, e.g., 192.168.x.x not the outside IP : port address. The VPN client will need to be pointed at the outside IP which can be done either static or via DDNS.

You could if you want run an external VPN service separately but that's more for securing your outgoing traffic destined for wherever vs incoming traffic to your network.

 

[jkelley]

No. You won't be using an outside service. The router running the VPN server will be that service and you'll connect direct to that. The client will negotiate a secured connection with the router/server and traffic to your internal net will be passed through that connection.

You'll then effectively be a client on your network so you'll address the devices using your internal NAT addressing, e.g., 192.168.x.x not the outside IP : port address. The VPN client will need to be pointed at the outside IP which can be done either static or via DDNS.

You could if you want run an external VPN service separately but that's more for securing your outgoing traffic destined for wherever vs incoming traffic to your network.

Thank you. So in terms of just a regular residential camera security system, I likely don't need to worry about encrypting outgoing traffic likely, right?

 

[Mike A.]

Thank you. So in terms of just a regular residential camera security system, I likely don't need to worry about encrypting outgoing traffic likely, right?

Not unless there's something that you need/want to secure for whatever reason. Not as far as running your cams. The "outgoing" flow between your client and your router/server when you're outside of your network (e.g., via mobile) will happen over the secured connection.

 

[jkelley]

Not unless there's something that you need/want to secure for whatever reason. Not as far as running your cams. The "outgoing" flow between your client when you're outside of your network and your router/server will happen over the secured connection.

Excellent, thank you everyone!

 

[jkelley]

Buy one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Dual-band-Wireless-AC1900-Gigabit-Router-RT-AC68U/dp/B00FB45SI4/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1510156995&sr=1-7&keywords=asus+router

It includes OpenVPN server.
Read this: VPN Primer for Noobs

I was about to go ahead and purchase this but realized that black friday is just around the corner. Here's some deals that popped up. Can any of these run an OpenVPN server? Google search results seem unlcear... are any significantly better that would be worth paying a few extra bucks? like the N8500?

Netgear Nighthawk AC2600 (for $130)
Linksys Max-stream AC1900 MU-MIMO ($110)
Netgear N8500 Nighthawk X8 AC5300 (for $200)
Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 (for $90)

 

[looney2ns]

I was about to go ahead and purchase this but realized that black friday is just around the corner. Here's some deals that popped up. Can any of these run an OpenVPN server? Google search results seem unlcear... are any significantly better that would be worth paying a few extra bucks? like the N8500?

Netgear Nighthawk AC2600 (for $130)
Linksys Max-stream AC1900 MU-MIMO ($110)
Netgear N8500 Nighthawk X8 AC5300 (for $200)
Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 (for $90)

Look on each routers product page on that companies site to verify.

 

[SLC]

I was about to go ahead and purchase this but realized that black friday is just around the corner. Here's some deals that popped up. Can any of these run an OpenVPN server? Google search results seem unlcear... are any significantly better that would be worth paying a few extra bucks? like the N8500?

Netgear Nighthawk AC2600 (for $130)
Linksys Max-stream AC1900 MU-MIMO ($110)
Netgear N8500 Nighthawk X8 AC5300 (for $200)
Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 (for $90)

I have the Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 and run OpenVPN on it (How do I enable the VPN feature on my NETGEAR router using a Windows computer? | Answer | NETGEAR Support). Not sure where you are finding that for $90 but that's a good deal in my limited opinion.

 

[jkelley]

Thanks everyone for the help. I purchased an OpenVPN router and got it working just fine! It's actually much easier to use than I thought.

The one thing that bugs me though is that my camera feed when over a strong LTE signal the feeds are really juttery and inconsistent. I don't think it's a speed issue. The resolution settings are around ~70 kbps which the LTE should be more than able to handle. Anyone have any ideas? I mean, it's pretty bad!

 

[modenet]

hi, why did you so afraid? I'm using a IPC-HFW4431R-Z and I would to use externally using tinycam via http.
as I wrote in other posts the firmware is quite recent (2.621.0000.28.R, Build Date: 2017-09-12).
I still have a problem: I configure tiny cam to access my camera as IPC-HFW2320R-ZS (I thought it was the more similar to HFW4431R-Z) but I can access only in RTSP; http and https give me no image.

 

[modenet]

is secure to expose to internet the rtsp port of a ipcam?

 

[cam5679]

hi, why did you so afraid? I'm using a IPC-HFW4431R-Z and I would to use externally using tinycam via http.
as I wrote in other posts the firmware is quite recent (2.621.0000.28.R, Build Date: 2017-09-12).
I still have a problem: I configure tiny cam to access my camera as IPC-HFW2320R-ZS (I thought it was the more similar to HFW4431R-Z) but I can access only in RTSP; http and https give me no image.

modenet, hackers continuously scan ports and it's only a matter of time that your camera will be compromised. If you don't mind hackers gaining access to your feeds then don't pay attention to this thread. If you do care about security then close all unnecessary ports on your router and use a VPN solution to gain access to your cameras remotely.

 

[fenderman]

hi, why did you so afraid? I'm using a IPC-HFW4431R-Z and I would to use externally using tinycam via http.
as I wrote in other posts the firmware is quite recent (2.621.0000.28.R, Build Date: 2017-09-12).
I still have a problem: I configure tiny cam to access my camera as IPC-HFW2320R-ZS (I thought it was the more similar to HFW4431R-Z) but I can access only in RTSP; http and https give me no image.

Have you missed the posts where dahua cams have been hacked? No it is NOT secure.

 

[modenet]

I saw the post about Dahua cams hacked but firmware was updated after may 2017.
I also use the same hacker tools to scan my cams and everyone results safe.
I not satisfied of gdmss android app, I would open the app and automatically see my favourites cams; now I have to select them in my favourites list with 3 clicks.
I would to expose rtsp with auth and use them with tinycam which is better

 

[Kameraad]

Guess you want to find out the hard way huh!?

Btw, in gdmss you can reload your cams with 1 click. The button left of the microphone button, with the little clock