Help with initialisation of empiretech cameras?

BuseyCB said:
However, despite the necessary connections of Ethernet and 12v pce It’s not powering on.
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You are connecting the camera's 12V barrel connector on its pigtail to a 12VDC adapter of sufficient amperage and with center positive ( + ) and collar negative ( - ) polarity?
 
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Thats fine

Dont connect it directly to your laptop.

Plug in the power and connect it to your router. Then try to reach it with your laptop on your network at 192.168.1.108 This is the default address fro Dahua cameras

Do you know what the address of your LAN network is? Is it 192.168.1.X? If so you should be able to reach it
 
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As @bigredfish says, you need to reach the cam on 192.168.1.108. I always temporarily change the IP on my working computer to an address on the same subnet of the camera (192.168.1.x). Then I connect to the camera and configure it's IP address to my network and then set set my desktop back to my network's subnet range.
 
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My standard post to these questions:

For this camera you will need to use Internet Explorer - not Edge or Chrome with IE tab, but plain ole Explorer. If you use another browser some of the settings won't hold, like tracking time.

The default IP address of the camera is 192.168.1.108, which may or may not be the IP address range of your system.

Unhook a computer or laptop from the internet and go into ethernet settings and using the IPv4 settings manually change the IP address to 192.168.1.100

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Then power up your camera and wait a few minutes.

Then go to INTERNET EXPLORER (needs to be Explorer and not Edge or Chrome with IE tab) and type in 192.168.1.108 (default IP address of Dahua cameras) and you will then access the camera.

Tell it your country and give it a user and password.

Then go to the camera Network settings and change the camera IP address to the range of your system and hit save.

You will then lose the camera connection.

Then reverse the process to put your computer back on your network IP address range.

Next open up INTERNET EXPLORER and type in the new IP address that you just gave the camera to access it.

OR use the IPconfig Tool, but most of us prefer the above as it is one less program needed and one less chance for the cameras to phone home or for something to get screwed up.
 
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actran said:
Just in case it helps...

My home network is a different subnet than the default cam 192.168.1.108. When I get a new Dahau cam, I use Dahua Config Tool to initialize and change cam ip address to my subnet. DahuaWiki
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Are you saying the Config Tool can see and manage cameras not on the same LAN as the PC/Laptop running the Config tool?
 
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I prefer to just temporarily change my computer address over installing and using the config tool. It's simple and takes 10 seconds.

I really don't want to install any Dahua software on my computer that isn't really needed.

YMMV
 
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biggen said:
I prefer to just temporarily change my computer address over installing and using the config tool. It's simple and takes 10 seconds.

I really don't want to install any Dahua software on my computer that isn't really needed.

YMMV
Click to expand...

Same. And gets back to what was being discussed in this Post about is the plug-in safe?

If they developed a config tool that can see and manage IP cameras across different subnets, who is to say the actual camera firmware can't be setup to do the same thing....
 
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BuseyCB said:
Quick question here. Can I download the installer and config the camera offline?
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Yes, these cameras do not need internet service, even though you are using a web browser.

None of my cameras are initialized on a computer with internet access.

I use an old laptop set up to the 192.168.1.xxx subnet and initialize and do everything to set up that camera on a stand-alone computer that never touches my network.
 
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Excellent @wittaj So to be clear…

1. Plug cameras into router
2. Go to ip address (does not need to be connected to internet)
3. Config from there

I’ll be using a Mac and have already downloaded the dhua mac installer. I hope I’m not missing anything.
 
BuseyCB said:
Excellent @wittaj So to be clear…

1. Plug cameras into router
2. Go to ip address (does not need to be connected to internet)
3. Config from there

I’ll be using a Mac and have already downloaded the dhua mac installer. I hope I’m not missing anything.
Click to expand...

By plugging the camera into the router, you are now giving the camera access to the internet.

Further the router does not provide the camera power.

It is best to use a POE switch or POE injector not connected to the LAN to provide power to the camera and connect the computer to that.

And these cameras are centered around Windows, so YMMV using MAC lol.
 
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A PoE switch on the LAN also allows it access to the Interwebs no?

I just did it using a 12v wall wart, worked fine, and my network appears to not have been taken over by Bolivian hackers
 
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Ive used the Config tool in the past, but its been years. Didnt recall it being able to see across networks. But logging into the camera GUI is simpler
 
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bigredfish said:
A PoE switch on the LAN also allows it access to the Interwebs no?

I just did it using a 12v wall wart, worked fine, and my network appears to not have been taken over by Bolivian hackers
Click to expand...

True, comes down to the risk one is willing to take.
 
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