Help! Dahua wireless cam #2 will not stay connected after power cut!

[flyinhawaiian]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can step me through whatever I'm doing wrong here! I just added a second camera, a Dahua IPC-HFW1200S-W camera to my Blue Iris system and it will not reconnect after a power cut! FYI, I have one more camera that's identical to this one in my system, it works perfectly and has been for about 3 months now. All I wanted to do was add a second cam into the system, but this is proving to be impossible!

The issue is that I can connect to the network, blue iris sees both cams, everything is great, but I have to initally plug the network cable in to get it to show up, this includes the supplied config tool. Once I connect with the net cable, I can disconnect the cable and I can see the wireless connection to the camera, go into config tool, its all good there. Go into chrome and type the wifi ip in, logs right in no problems. Blue Iris has no hiccups whatsoever.

Now, I need to disconnect power to mount it to the house! Unplug power, move to area I want the cam, plug it in, nothing comes up anywhere. Go back inside, plug back into power, still nothing, but once I connect the network cable, about 4 seconds later it shows up in the config tool! Now I wait another 30 seconds, and wifi's ip comes up and all is good again. I disconnect ethernet, camera is still working correctly. Disconnect power, wait 5-10 minutes, absolutely nothing happens.

Its acting almost as if it needs the wired connection to log into my Asus RT-AC66r router to gain connection! I've copied all the screens from the other cam, have set every parameter identical (obviously changing the ip for new cam one up, each cam's ip is 192.168.0.20 for 1st cam, and 192.168.0.22 for 2nd cam), yet it just won't reconnect on wifi by itself.

Any help would be graciously appreciated! Hopefully before I rip what few grey hairs I have left!!!

Chris

 

[fenderman]

Generally on wifi ip cameras, there ip for the wireless will be different than the ethernet (they use distinct mac addresses). Set the camera to dhcp and run a network scan to find the camera.

 

[flyinhawaiian]

Generally on wifi ip cameras, there ip for the wireless will be different than the ethernet (they use distinct mac addresses). Set the camera to dhcp and run a network scan to find the camera.

Thanks for the quick reply Fenderman! Yep, I noticed there are two ips for each camera, one for wireless and one for ethernet. What I have right now:

Cam #1 (correctly working camera)
Wifi: 192.168.0.20
Eth: 192.168.0.21

Cam #2 (the one that won't reconnect)
Wifi: 192.168.0.23
Eth: 192.168.0.24

I'm not sure what's causing the issue with reconnecting only via wifi. Once its connected, it works perfectly, and there are no conflicting issues with ip addresses (all other equipment in my home/shop are DHCP with the router's DHCP server setting each item correctly), and once its connected with the cable plugged in, disconnect and the camera works perfectly. In fact, I set it up last night, and its been working with no issues whatsoever via wifi only since around 8PM!

I erased the settings twice and started over from scratch, following the rather poor instructions that came with the camera, but nothing seems to change it. I know the first camera did the same thing when I first installed it, but its now been working perfectly and doesn't have a problem reconnecting when power is cut and re-applied. I sure wish I remembered what I did to make that one work correctly!

Gonna try to change the password and see if its some weird thing where the camera requires changing the password for it to work correctly. It seems to be the ONLY thing that's different between the two cams setup screens!

 

[flyinhawaiian]

So, it seems it is now working with just wifi without having to connect to ethernet first, but it takes the camera close to 20 minutes for it to connect. I suspect there may be something wrong with the camera itself, perhaps something in the firmware, but after 45 minutes of trying to find the correct firmware so I could update this camera (found a ton of firmware, but not absolutely positive its for this exact model and don't wanna chance bricking it), I've given up and will run the camera as-is for a week to see how it does. If I find any other issues with it, I'll return for another one.

 

[nayr]

its your wifi

 

[flyinhawaiian]

its your wifi

its your wifi

And you say this with certainty how? Why is it that one camera works perfectly, yet the other does not?

Rather than say "its your wifi", how about explaining what I should be looking for to rectify the issue? I'm not a noob when it comes to network management, so please get technical if you must!

Honestly, there is no reason for this cam to not work correctly. All settings are IDENTICAL to the other camera, with the exception of their ip addresses, and I'm well-versed in configuring dhcp servers! In fact, I'm so anal about it, that every single networked device in my home and shop (shop is a separate building on my property and hardwired) is set via their usual MAC address! That even includes the 4 cellphones and the samsung tv!




I appreciate the help with the issue, but when people post a comment like that, it helps no one, and it would be more than appreciated if you elaborate on what you think might be the issue.

 

[nayr]

And you say this with certainty how? Why is it that one camera works perfectly, yet the other does not?

Rather than say "its your wifi", how about explaining what I should be looking for to rectify the issue? I'm not a noob when it comes to network management, so please get technical if you must!

Because Wifi is not an appropriate transport for Surveillance Video use, it not only lacks the throughput for multiple HD video streams... it lacks the reliability, your subjected to environmental interference beyond your capabilities to control. Most people start running into issues with 2 Wifi Cameras.. how many do you have now? Microwaves, RC Toys, and all sorts of things can screw with your camera.. I have an app on my phone that'll deauth it from your wifi network and prevent it from reconnecting if I am in range.

So far everything you have done is pointing at your wireless network, works perfectly fine on wired and you have not tested another wireless network, so until you do; its your wifi..

try taking your first camera off the wireless network and try it again.

 

[flyinhawaiian]

Because Wifi is not an appropriate transport for Surveillance Video use, it not only lacks the throughput for multiple HD video streams... it lacks the reliability, your subjected to environmental interference beyond your capabilities to control. Most people start running into issues with 2 Wifi Cameras.. how many do you have now? Microwaves, RC Toys, and all sorts of things can screw with your camera.. I have an app on my phone that'll deauth it from your wifi network and prevent it from reconnecting if I am in range.

So far everything you have done is pointing at your wireless network, works perfectly fine on wired and you have not tested another wireless network, so until you do; its your wifi..

try taking your first camera off the wireless network and try it again.

Don't you think I already tried that?

Never mind, if there's an admin, feel free to close this thread for me. Camera's still working just fine, and I don't intend to disconnect it from power, that should alleviate any further issues and no further discussion is necessary. As far as this site is concerned, my issue has been resolved.

 

[gordo]

I have an app on my phone that'll deauth it from your wifi network

Nayr, what app would that be, WiFiKill?

 

[nayr]

aircrack-ng actually, but that looks like it could do the job too.. you need root and the right wifi chipset, or an OTG Wifi dongle that has it.