Hikvision NVR Virtual Host Question

Hunda67

Hunda67

n3wb
Jan 13, 2025
8
4
UK
Hi,

I have several Hikvision NVR's all with Virtual Host enabled so I can connect to the cameras on the NVR internal network from the NVR network and all works just fine. However, I have a few cameras that are connected via LigoWave wireless links. Is it possible to access the LigoWave wireless links (which are on the same internal network as the cameras) from the NVR network outside?

Thanks.
 
Hunda67 said:
Hi,

I have several Hikvision NVR's all with Virtual Host enabled so I can connect to the cameras on the NVR internal network from the NVR network and all works just fine. However, I have a few cameras that are connected via LigoWave wireless links. Is it possible to access the LigoWave wireless links (which are on the same internal network as the cameras) from the NVR network outside?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

When you ask "is it possible to access the LigoWave wireless links" do you mean hit their IP address with a PC browser and open their embedded wenGUI?

If the PC had a static IP on the same network subnet as the links (which you said "are on the same internal network as the cameras") AND the PC was connected to one the NVR's POE ports, then I would think you would be able to access those wireless links.

If by saying "from the NVR network outside" you mean from the same subnet as the NVR's LAN then I'd say no, not likely. That's the point of the NVR's internal network, to isolate the cameras from the LAN and the Internet.
 
Hunda67 said:
However, I have a few cameras that are connected via LigoWave wireless links. Is it possible to access the LigoWave wireless links (which are on the same internal network as the cameras) from the NVR network outside?
Click to expand...
Did you try this, and what was the result?

Hunda67 said:
I have a few cameras that are connected via LigoWave wireless links.
Click to expand...
Are the links just being used as a cable extension, with the LigoWave ethernet port at the NVR location connected to an NVR PoE port?
 
TonyR said:
When you ask "is it possible to access the LigoWave wireless links" do you mean hit their IP address with a PC browser and open their embedded wenGUI?

If the PC had a static IP on the same network subnet as the links (which you said "are on the same internal network as the cameras") AND the PC was connected to one the NVR's POE ports, then I would think you would be able to access those wireless links.

If by saying "from the NVR network outside" you mean from the same subnet as the NVR's LAN then I'd say no, not likely. That's the point of the NVR's internal network, to isolate the cameras from the LAN and the Internet.
Click to expand...
Hi. Yes that's exactly what I mean. PC is on NVRs LAN. I was wanting to know if there was a way to access the links on the camera LAN and was guessing that the answer was no. But thought I'd ask just in case. Thanks.
 
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alastairstevenson said:
Did you try this, and what was the result?


Are the links just being used as a cable extension, with the LigoWave ethernet port at the NVR location connected to an NVR PoE port?
Click to expand...
Hi. I didn't try as not sure how to. The links are used as a cable extension. If a camera at the far end goes offline then the only way to check if a link or camera problem is to plug a laptop into the camera LAN to check. However, I'm not always at the location where the NVRs are and it would be nice to check the status of the links remotely. Thanks.
 
Hunda67 said:
The links are used as a cable extension.
Click to expand...
OK, that's clear.
With the caveat that I'm unfamiliar with those link devices - presumably they have individual IP addresses configured.
That's what you'd be accessing in order to check on their status when a PC is connected to an NVR PoE port?

If so, and their IP addresses have been set to be in the same (usually 192.168.254.x) range as the NVR PoE ports - there may be a way to access them from a PC that's on the NVR LAN interface IP address range. Though to do this remotely, the remote access would need to be a VPN such that the remote device is assigned an address in the same local range, as if it was connected directly to the local LAN.

Essentially, with Virtual Host enabled, and with the default gateway of the link device set to be the NVR PoE interface IP address (usually 192.168.254.1), setting a static route on the LAN gateway device (the router) like this :

For <IP_address_range_of_the_NVR_PoE_ports> use <NVR LAN interface IP address> as gateway.

should allow direct access to any device on the NVR PoE interface address range. Provided that such a device uses the NVR PoE interface address as default gateway - as the traffic has to traverse the NVR, so the device needs to know where to send the traffic.
 
alastairstevenson said:
OK, that's clear.
With the caveat that I'm unfamiliar with those link devices - presumably they have individual IP addresses configured.
That's what you'd be accessing in order to check on their status when a PC is connected to an NVR PoE port?

If so, and their IP addresses have been set to be in the same (usually 192.168.254.x) range as the NVR PoE ports - there may be a way to access them from a PC that's on the NVR LAN interface IP address range. Though to do this remotely, the remote access would need to be a VPN such that the remote device is assigned an address in the same local range, as if it was connected directly to the local LAN.

Essentially, with Virtual Host enabled, and with the default gateway of the link device set to be the NVR PoE interface IP address (usually 192.168.254.1), setting a static route on the LAN gateway device (the router) like this :

For <IP_address_range_of_the_NVR_PoE_ports> use <NVR LAN interface IP address> as gateway.

should allow direct access to any device on the NVR PoE interface address range. Provided that such a device uses the NVR PoE interface address as default gateway - as the traffic has to traverse the NVR, so the device needs to know where to send the traffic.
Click to expand...
Hi, Thanks for the reply. What you say makes sense and is something I will try to do and see if I can get it to work.
 
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So I have a PC on the NVR LAN (192.168.64.0/24), and I decided to do some testing here rather than adding routes in the VPN that I use for accessing that LAN remotely and confusing the issue. I figured if I could get the PC on NVR LAN to connect (or ping) to the cameras by IP address (Camera LAN - 192.168.50.0/24), rather than through the virtual host address (:65001 etc. after NVR IP address) then it should work.

So I added a static route on the PC to the Camera LAN - route add 192.168.50.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.64.211 - where 192.168.64.211 is the IP address of the NVR. Note the IP address of the PC is 192.168.64.220 and the default gateway of the 192.168.64.0/24 LAN is 192.168.64.1

Now from that PC I can ping all the cameras and access them directly. I could not do that before adding the static route. So the NVR is acting as the gateway to the camera network. However, I still cannot ping or access the microwave links which are also on the 192.168.50.0/24 LAN. Therefore, it seems that the NVR is acting as a gateway, but only to the cameras and not any other equipment. Not sure if there is some other setting I need to be looking for in the NVR - I'll have a search and see what I can find.
 
Hunda67 said:
Now from that PC I can ping all the cameras and access them directly. I could not do that before adding the static route. So the NVR is acting as the gateway to the camera network. However, I still cannot ping or access the microwave links which are also on the 192.168.50.0/24 LAN. Therefore, it seems that the NVR is acting as a gateway, but only to the cameras and not any other equipment. Not sure if there is some other setting I need to be looking for in the NVR - I'll have a search and see what I can find.
Click to expand...
Interesting -
The fact that you can access the cameras directly confirms that the routing configuration is working correctly.
That's an unusual address range for the PoE-connected cameras, did you customise it away from the default values?
And did you have to specifically set the camera default gateway to be the NVR PoE interface IP address?

I didn't know if any other PoE-connected devices in the same address range as the cameras, such as the link devices, would be accessible in a similar way, it's not something I've (yet) tried.
I would have expected them to be accessible though, and surprised they are not.
Presumably their IP configuration has the same default gateway as the cameras?

By the way - this is how 'Virtual Host' works :
"Enabling Virtual Host implicitly turns on the Linux kernel 'ip_forward' facility - not to be confused with 'port forwarding' which is something entirely different.
In addition to that forwarding capability, Virtual Host also creates a NAT facility within the iptables (actual the newer xtables) program to create the 6500x mapping on top of the native NVR LAN interface IP address with no extra network configuration."
 
alastairstevenson said:
Interesting -
The fact that you can access the cameras directly confirms that the routing configuration is working correctly.
That's an unusual address range for the PoE-connected cameras, did you customise it away from the default values?
And did you have to specifically set the camera default gateway to be the NVR PoE interface IP address?

I didn't know if any other PoE-connected devices in the same address range as the cameras, such as the link devices, would be accessible in a similar way, it's not something I've (yet) tried.
I would have expected them to be accessible though, and surprised they are not.
Presumably their IP configuration has the same default gateway as the cameras?

By the way - this is how 'Virtual Host' works :
"Enabling Virtual Host implicitly turns on the Linux kernel 'ip_forward' facility - not to be confused with 'port forwarding' which is something entirely different.
In addition to that forwarding capability, Virtual Host also creates a NAT facility within the iptables (actual the newer xtables) program to create the 6500x mapping on top of the native NVR LAN interface IP address with no extra network configuration."
Click to expand...
Hi, Yes the fact that I can access the cameras directly proves that the routing on the PC works as it should. It's not even that a camera needs to be connected to the NVR directly because I can access both cameras at the far end of the links directly.

I've had a troll through the NVR settings and don't see anything that may be of help, so maybe it is just not possible. Maybe something in NVR that only recognises cameras on the internal LAN so only forwards to them when acting as the gateway?

Would have been nice to do just so I could check remotely if one of the cameras at the end of the links goes down I could narrow the fault down to the link or the camera before heading to site. Not to worry though.

Yes I customized it away from default values - I have two different CCTV systems and just put the cameras on each system on different networks just so it is easy to keep track of what camera is where. Not needed I know but I like everything to have an unique IP address.
 
Just posted last reply and had a sudden thought. The cameras do have a default gateway configured (the NVR's internal address). It might be that no default gateway was configured in the links. Not on site right now, but next time I'm there I'll plug in a laptop to check. Maybe that's the issue? If it is: its your line "And did you have to specifically set the camera default gateway to be the NVR PoE interface IP address?" is the reason I will check it. So thanks for that hint :)
 
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