Downloading videos files directly from camera via web interface (using other than IE) seems to be capped at *TEN* Mbps

[alekk]

UPDATE: If you use Internet Explorer (with plug-in), you can download videos via the web interface at the full 100Mbps speed - note you can't go any faster because the NIC doesn't support GigE. Thanks @TheOtherMike for pointing that out on the data sheet (maybe for 2024, Dahua will go with 10/100/1000 interfaces) and thanks @wittaj for your (yet another) good suggestion to use Internet Explorer. This can be done by creating a desktop short-cut that has a Target of ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" ienotdead -embedding"

Note that there is still an issue that in newer browsers (which mostly work without the plug-in), the download speed appears to be capped at 10Mbps.
Hopefully a future firmware release will fix this.


I recently got a T54IR-ZE-S3 ... two of them actually ... nice camera's.

It seems that if you use web interface to download videos directly from the camera (Record->Search->Select a clip->Download), the speed is capped at TEN Mbps.

The download popup shows KBytes/sec which quickly hits ~1,000 and stays there for the duration of the several minute download.

However, if use SmartPSS, the download is at least 10X faster - measured by stopwatch since it doesn't show rate. So clearly the cable/camera is capable of much faster download speeds ... so why is the web interface so slow?

I see the same behavior with Edge and Chrome. Since 1 MBYTE/second is (basically) 10Mbps, makes me wonder if some limitation is being applied?
Or maybe I'm just doing something obviously wrong ... but this is very straightforward.

On the camera, I'm running the latest 11/27/2023 Firmware from @EMPIRETECANDY.
SmartPSS is version V2.003.0000004.0.R.201021
Plenty powerful Windoze PC with GigE connection.
All internal LAN connected to same switch on same subnet.

P.S. Is there any way to determine (syslog bootup message?) what the NIC has negotiated for 10/100/1000 MBps?
Update: Answer appears to be NO from the camera itself, but you can, of course, look at the switch if it is managed and/or has an LED showing the link speed.

 

[bp2008]

Please don't capitalize the B in megabits. Capital B means bytes

So 10 MBps is (very roughly) 100 Mbps.




To determine the NIC speed negotiated, I assume the easiest way would be to use a managed PoE switch and look at the port status. Unmanaged switches also tend to have lights to indicate the negotiated speed, but they do not typically differentiate between 10 and 100 anymore. Maybe they would if you had a non-gigabit PoE switch.

Anyway, if it sends the clips 10x faster to SmartPSS, then this is not a matter of the network speed negotiation. Probably it is a matter of the web server being coded to use a much smaller buffer for data sending in this case. I assume the connection with SmartPSS uses very different code than the cam's regular web server.

 

[alekk]

Ooops ... as a network guy, it's embarrassing that I made that typo ... and yes, MBps is (about) 10X Mbps.
Thanks for pointing out @bp2008 and fixed in in OP.

While it would not surprise me that there is a different code path (good point on buffer size), it's amazingly coincidental that the speed is 10Mbps (Bits, not Bytes!) which I saw from both camera's (using different cables) ... so I'm wondering if there is some sort of limit buried in the code.

Is this what other people see also?

 

[alekk]

To determine the NIC speed negotiated, I assume the easiest way would be to use a managed PoE switch and look at the port status. Unmanaged switches also tend to have lights to indicate the negotiated speed, but they do not typically differentiate between 10 and 100 anymore. Maybe they would if you had a non-gigabit PoE switch.

Good suggestion ... but unfortunately I don't have switches that show that info. My "solution" is to hook my laptop up to the end of the cable run and run Speedtest. If it comes back at 100 Mbps, I know there is "something" limiting going on. But if I see 500+Mbps (I have GigE to the house), then I know the NIC negotiated to 1000Mbps ... so the cable/switch/etc. is capable ... and (ideally!) the camera should go GigE too.

 

[wittaj]

Try Explorer and see if it is any faster (yeah we know LOL), but these things are still shown to be the most responsive in Explorer, not Edge or Chrome with IE tab.

Or as pointed out, it could simply be the webserver is the bottleneck.

 

[TheOtherMike]

But if I see 500+Mbps (I have GigE to the house), then I know the NIC negotiated to 1000Mbps ... so the cable/switch/etc. is capable ... and (ideally!) the camera should go GigE too.

Data sheets & stuff

 

[alekk]

Great point @TheOtherMike - I never thought to look at the data sheet since I assumed it would be 10/100/1000 ... since most stuff is these days. For example, I just looked up the specs on the 5 year old Hikvision 5526 that it supports 10/100/1000.

When I did the test with SmartPSS, it took a minute to download a bit over 500 MBytes ... which is pretty close to 100Mbps ... so my guess is that is limited by wire speed - actually the NIC since it won't do GigE.

Still puzzling why the heck the web interface to download videos directly from the camera (Record->Search->Select a clip->Download) results in a speed 10X slower - it seems to be exactlyTEN Mbps.

@wittaj - Internet Exploder isn't part of Windows 11 anymore. There is an "Internet Explorer MODE" as part of Edge ... which I tried ... but downloads (and Live View) didn't work without installing plug-ins ... so I decided not go down that route.

BTW, hats off to Dahua with their Web 5.0 interface (is that what it is called?) that doesn't require all that plug-in crap. It's does "bark" at me about "To use this function, please download and install the plug-in. Click here to download" (for webplugin.exe) at various points, but most stuff seems to work.

 

[wittaj]

It barks at you about the plug-in because despite all their efforts to make it work with other browsers, those that can get under the hood of the firmware can see that Explorer is still the best browser to use. As you found out, that plug-in is for Explorer....Maybe for your needs another browser works or maybe not...

Explorer is still there and there are ways to get Explorer again.

The simple way is to change the BHO folder to another name like oldBHO and BAM Explorer is back...and this thread also shows other ways...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\110.0.1512.48\

Then change BHO to oldBHO or something else and Explorer will open

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ipcamtalk.com

Or this way:

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"But I upgraded to Win11" .... yep still available:

Internet Explorer via W11

Internet Explorer was never supposed to work on Windows 11. Microsoft disabled IE in Windows 11, making it the first version of Windows without IE for more than 20 years. In fact, if you even try to launch Internet Explorer in Windows 11, the OS simply forces you into Microsoft Edge. But...

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[alekk]

As always @wittaj, your suggestions are excellent.

Reading through the threads ... and then doing my own research, it seems the easiest way to run Internet Exploder is by simply creating a desktop short-cut that has a Target of
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" ienotdead -embedding"
If I fire that up, allow it to install the plug-in, click OK for all the security warnings (YIKES!), and then hit the download button, I don't see a rate meter, but stopwatch timing shows I'm seeing pretty darn close to 100Mbps.

Note that there is still an issue that in newer browsers (which mostly work without the plug-in), the download speed appears to be capped at 10Mbps. Hopefully a future firmware release will fix this.

I have updated the OP (and thread title) with this info plus @TheOtherMike observation that the Dahua NIC only supports 10/100 ... maybe for 2024, they'll add GigE.

 

[TheOtherMike]

plus @TheOtherMike observation that the Dahua NIC only supports 10/100 ... maybe for 2024, they'll add GigE.

I know zilch about any Dahua NIC.

IPC-HDW5442T-ZE_S3_datasheet_20230524.pdf