Dahua Smart PSS Question

[Kitsap]

I have successfully installed Dahua Smart PSS version 2.00 on a Win 7 computer. Configuration of Dahua cameras was straight forward.

Does this software support any other brands of cameras except Dahua? I have not been successful in configuration of a generic bullet camera or a couple of older Foscam wireless cameras.

Trying to get prepared for the close out of NPAPI plugins in a month!

Suggestions welcome. Thanks.

 

[nayr]

Directly? not a chance

if you have a Dahua NVR you can add 3rd party cameras to that via ONVIF or direct RTSP Streams then view/playback via SmartPSS.. but it wont do any configuration or setup for those devices.

 

[Kitsap]

I knew the old cameras were going to have to go sometime....

Thank you.

 

[nayr]

anything thats a rebranded Dahua should work with SmartPSS; Consumer Flir/Lorex, Some Swann, AmCrest and many others.. but why buy rebrands when you can get em directly from the OEM..

I suppose if you need a consumer level of warranty and support, but the financial benefit from cutting out the middle men should make up for that.

 

[Kitsap]

I am going to have to think through some other hardware changes besides the cameras. A NVR was on my wish list and I need POE+ for current/future cameras. Max number of cameras at this location is 3. Whether to look for a NVR/POE+ switch in one piece of equipment or two is the current question.

 

[nayr]

I suggest external PoE in most situations; its much more flexible and permits you to locate the NVR in a location other than your centralized wiring termination point... built in PoE is for very basic and simple setups; it does not permit the setup of advanced configurations..

for example; dont expect the NVR to be able to configure 3rd party cameras.. if you plug 3rd party cameras into a built in PoE switch then its isolated from your network and any time you want to connect to the camera and make config changes will require you to drop off you LAN and join the isolated network the NVR operates.. If you used external PoE you could just configure the camera on your LAN by connecting directly to its IP.

With external PoE you can also redundantly record to more than one device for backup purposes, run other PoE devices such as WiFi/VoIP/Home Automation, branch out switches to various locations, and do basically anything networking will accommodate.

 

[Kitsap]

Thank you. That is enough for me to think on for a while. I am sure there will be enough questions for other threads.

 

[Fastb]

If you used external PoE you could just configure the camera on your LAN by connecting directly to the switch's IP.

@nayr, isn't that true only for a managed switch?
ie: an unmanaged switch doesn't have its own IP addr, built-in web server for browser support, and mgmt screens to configure the switch ?
unmanaged switch = "not-smart" switch.

Unless you connected a cat cable directly to the unmanaged switch for the PC. (But that's not using the switch's ip addr). Then your computer could configure a camera without relying on the NVR...

Fastb

 

[Kitsap]

Point made. Thanks.

From previous discussions on this forum I had in mind a managed switch.

 

[nayr]

@nayr, isn't that true only for a managed switch?
ie: an unmanaged switch doesn't have its own IP addr, built-in web server for browser support, and mgmt screens to configure the switch ?
unmanaged switch = "not-smart" switch.

Unless you connected a cat cable directly to the unmanaged switch for the PC. (But that's not using the switch's ip addr). Then your computer could configure a camera without relying on the NVR...

Fastb

no, i think your confused.. who cares if the switch gets an IP.

Built in PoE = Only NVR is accessible on your LAN.. no network devices plugged into the NVR's PoE ports will be reachable.
External PoE = NVR and Cameras are accessible on your LAN

 

[Fastb]

I re-read you post, and I figured out my confusion.

If you used external PoE you could just configure the camera on your LAN by connecting directly to its IP.

"by connecting to its IP"
I heard "by connecting to the external POE switch"
I shoulda heard "by connecting to the NVR's POE"

External POE is what I use. (unmanaged)
I can reach my cams from anywhere on my camera subnet, ie: with a cat cable connected to the POE, or connected somewhere else, including via the WiFi router on the camera's subnet.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Fastb

 

[Deali]

Directly? not a chance

if you have a Dahua NVR you can add 3rd party cameras to that via ONVIF or direct RTSP Streams then view/playback via SmartPSS.. but it wont do any configuration or setup for those devices.

The NVR will modify ONVIF devices via SmartPSS, but not as you whish. I have done it with motion detect. The selection on the grid is not transfered correctly tho the ONVIF camera. And the behavior is different between NVR models (i tested on 5216 and 4832)
It is also the same with other settings like time or encode. Sometime it locked up the camera and i had to powercycle it.

So my recommendation is not to give the password of the cameras to the NVR! It is not necessary.