Hello everyone, I most probably need your help ;-)

Sammyf

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It will work on the same cables, but the strong recommendation is to have good pure copper wires. Many consumer ones are CCA. We have seen people have issues when using CCA ethernet cables. But some run just fine as well. For testing it should be ok.
As @Perimeter is from Europe a note. Europeans should pay attention with the term CCA, it is sometimes used to refer to fire rating and sometimes to copper-clad aluminum cable. We want full copper cables, the fire rating depends somewhat on local standards.
 

Ri22o

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I typically use Firefox or Chrome, so either should work, but most prefer Internet Explorer.

I believe you can edit region later? I think it is mostly for choosing NTSC/PAL.
I typically uncheck P2P (but you may need it for DMSS, you can enable it later, if so) and uncheck auto-updates.

Not sure about DNS. I assign the camera a static IP based on my camera network IP scheme.
 

Ri22o

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Worst case, if you mess it up, you can always factory reset and start over without being put too far off.
 

Perimeter

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I got a picture now... :wave:
"Activecam active X" wants a pass for the firewall? Is that OK? All or just private? (I have no clue what it does)
 

wittaj

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That plug-in file is fine.

Keep in mind how the "unknown Publisher" or "potential virus" messages are generated (just called virus moving forward in the rest of this post for simplicity).

It is not a virus, rather it is whatever antivirus you are using has flagged it as a potential virus. Some programs look at the total number of users and below a certain number, it is flagged. These specialty type files/programs get false positives all the time.

You can check the file with VirusTotal , an antivirus website owned by Google that runs it thru a lot of different antivirus algorithms.
 

Perimeter

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I still have it attached to the laptop but it now looks outside the window. I turned off the "illuminators" in all modes. I didn't change anything else really. The result is quite impressive. I don't think I wasted that money. This is a great leap forward.
There are just some things I observed. The cam seems to stutter sometimes and the bandwidth is currently limited at 2000kbps. The static screen nearly requires this bandwidth. Even the reolink is allowed more. What is a safe setting? And for night recording, should I leave it at cbr or VBR? Iframe at 50? (There is just so much stuff to play with... :love: )
I just set the bandwith to 4000. Now it takes 4000.

My next real problem is to move this cam to the main PC without messing up. I would now go "settings-network-TCP/IP and just switch to DHCP. Then I would hook it to my router and give it a try. Sounds right?

I just made a manual recording to HDD. The file exists (.dav) but I don't see it in the playback interface. There I can only access the SD card. Did I miss the option or do I have to play them elsewhere?
 
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wittaj

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Of course it is more impressive than the reolink LOL

For the 5442, these are the best settings:

mainstream
8192 bitrate
CBR
15 FPS
15 iframes
H264

substream
D1
512 to 1024
CBR
15 FPS
15 iframes
H264

Everyone's idea of stuttering is different and a video is the best way to know what your interpretation of stuttering is. Is it a stutter pulse because your iframes are too high or is it a true stuttering due to bandwidth issues of your system.

You never put these cameras as DHCP - always assign them a static address.

Further you really shouldn't put it on your router, but if you do, then you just change the static IP to match whatever your LAN is.


 
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TonyR

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My next real problem is to move this cam to the main PC without messing up. I would now go "settings-network-TCP/IP and just switch to DHCP. Then I would hook it to my router and give it a try.
As stated by @wittaj , don't run through router, assign a unique static IP on the same subnet as your PC and LAN but choos an IP that is OUTSIDE of the router's DHCP pool.
 

Perimeter

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Sorry, I don't quite get you. In order to reach the cam with my main PC, I'd either have to connect it to the router or add a 2nd Lan card to my PC. Is that right?

And you don't want me to connect it to my router?

I just went into the router interface. The DHCP server is to work on 2.100 to 2.199
So I am free to chose endings like 2.11 ?

And then I could try on the main PC. If it doesn't work, I change the notebook for that address and hope for the best.
Is there a viewer PC program from dahua where I can watch several dahua cams? Or do I have to watch one cam at a time? (Something like reolink offers... scnr)
 

wittaj

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Yes, most of us use a VLAN or 2nd NIC into the computer to keep the cameras off the router.

Do not let the router route your camera. Make the IP address of the camera not even the same subnet of the router. This is how most of us do it, except the BI computer in your case would be a computer or eventually an NVR or BI.

1679784421461.png

For one camera, I have found the camera GUI gives you the best experience.

Once you get two or three, then DMSS for mobile devices or SmartPSS for computer makes sense.

After 3 cameras you will want a VMS like an NVR or Blue Iris.
 

Perimeter

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Make the IP address of the camera not even the same subnet of the router.
So if I would set it to .3.11 and connect it to my router, my router would not show it as client, but my PC could access it by calling that address? Is that what you mean?
 

wittaj

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Potentially if the router allows it to pass through - some do and some don't. But then also do not give the camera in the Network area real DNS. Point it back to the camera IP address.

The only way to know for sure is to try it.

Here was a thread not to long ago where this person's system was setup such that even with the cameras not going thru the router, if the router went out, so did the cameras.

 

wittaj

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On this page in the camera give it a fake gateway, Preferred DNS and Alternate DNS so that it can't try to reach the internet and call home.

We are now getting a little advanced and something that can't be done with many of the consumer grade cameras, but we really do not want these cameras having the ability to talk to the internet regardless of who makes them.

1679786078546.png
 

Perimeter

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Just change the last two lines by one digit? Or all to 1?

But if I later want push messages or check from my mobile, I will have to let it contact the web, right? Or is the idea to let the VCR do it? Or are you forfeiting those options for data security?

In any case, many thanks but here it is past my bedtime now! I call it a day.
 

wittaj

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Most of the time you can put down the IP address you gave the camera then it is always calling itself and nothing else.

You can certainly set up push messages and other things from the camera, but a VMS system is a much safer way.

But we have plenty here that don't isolate their camera systems and simply use P2P and port forwarding.

Decision is yours.
 

Ri22o

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Not that it means much to you right now, but this is how my system is put together. I added a dual network card to my Blue Iris PC allowing me to have 3 IP schemes on it.

192.168.0.XX is my standard network IP scheme. (sees internet)
192.168.1.XX is only my desktop POE switch. (Dahua camera default IP is 192.168.1.10)
10.7.83.XX is all in-use cameras on my network.

192.168.1.XX is used only for provisioning new cameras and the only port for it is the desktop POE switch in my network rack.

When I get a new camera I will connect it to my BI PC via the 192.168.1.XX desktop POE switch (default Dahua IP is 192.168.1.108). I will do initial set up and change the camera's IP to 10.7.83.XX. Once this has saved I can either install it or do additional set up by plugging it into my camera network switch as it would normally be ran.

An unforeseen upside to this setup/method is the camera will never have the opportunity to access the internet. If your internet facing network is 192.168.1.XX and you temporarily plug the camera in to that network to change its IP to 192.168.2.XX then it will be able to briefly see the internet.

All of that being said, I choose to port forward although I may look into a VPN at some point (maybe tonight). The basic set up of my network scheme is below. The only thing that has changed is I have now set up some rules in my router to have a segregated network for IOT items and my work PC so they can't see anything else on the network.

1679792429095.png


There is a thread on here where someone tested plugging a camera in and allowing it internet access. He noted that it did a lot of calling home and there were some vulnerabilities exploited.
 

Perimeter

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Good morning everyone! :ipct:

Potentially if the router allows it to pass through - some do and some don't.
After getting some sleep, I somehow realized that IF my router allows another ip range to pass through, the cam could have worked on the router with 192.168.1.108 out of the box. It didn't for some unknown reason.

So I changed default gateway on the cam to 1.108 and connected it to the router again (which is 2.1). I started the router config page and had a look. And there it was, the cam MAC. No IPV4 address shown, but apparently noted on IPV6 with it's IPV6 address.

I tried to reach the cam at 1.108 with that odd IE legacy mode, I tried Edge and I tried Firefox. No success, so I will change IP after testing browsers on the notebook.

I installed firefox on notebook, then moved camera back. When using firefox or edge, I can reach the camera and the configuration menues, but in live view, I am dropped to substream, and there are way less live viewing options in the left bottom and the right top. Do I need to install a plugin again or is this it? Is this where the dahua viewing app might be better to use?

I have changed IP to 2.11 on notebook and changed notebook nic to successfully reconnect. I then moved the cam to router and I can now connect to it from PC. However, even if I use the IE legacy from Edge, I can't view the main stream.
So this is my next construction site. I need to get a viewing option.
So I downloaded SmartPSS . I was asked if I wanted storage service PC-NVR. Should I just get it as an option? Is there anything I have to watch for when installing SmartPSS?


I added a dual network card to my Blue Iris PC allowing me to have 3 IP schemes on it.
I am already thinking about that. I do have plenty of old PCI nics in a box and I do have one free PCI port. I might as well give it a try "later".
 
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