How To Access Cameras That Previously Were Assigned IPs by NVR

skywaytp

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Dear All,
I'm utilizing some LaView cameras to use with Blue Iris. These cameras were connected to a NVR before and each of them has a private IP which I believed was assigned by the NVR (192.168.254.x). I could not access them by going to their IPs.

I really want to access them so I can configurate them with the Blue Iris system I have just built. I only could see their IPs by using the SADP Tools provided by LaView. Anyone has problem and solution for this.
Please advise and many thanks!


privateNVR_IPs.jpg
 

SouthernYankee

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What is the IP of the BI machine?
The subnet of the bi machine and cameras need to be the same.
 

skywaytp

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The IP of the BI machine is 192.168.1.xxx assigned by the router.
Yes, they all have the same subnet.
I just wanted to log into some of the LaView IP cams that were used with the old NVR, but I could not do so.
 

Mr_D

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The IP of the BI machine is 192.168.1.xxx assigned by the router.
Yes, they all have the same subnet.
I just wanted to log into some of the LaView IP cams that were used with the old NVR, but I could not do so.
Yeah that's not going to work. You need to temporarily assign a PC to 192.168.254.x and make sure x doesn't conflict with any of the cameras. Then login to each camera and assign it an IP address on your 192.168.1.x network so BI can see them.
 

skywaytp

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Yeah that's not going to work. You need to temporarily assign a PC to 192.168.254.x and make sure x doesn't conflict with any of the cameras. Then login to each camera and assign it an IP address on your 192.168.1.x network so BI can see them.
Hi Mr_D, I wish I would have read your post earlier before I was playing around with Hikvision Tools since LaView cams are rebranded from Hikvision.

1) I used LaView SADP Tool (provided from LaView's website) to read all IP cams information especially the serial. I could even export the info to an Excel file which I did.
2) I placed each camera's serial into the Hikvision password reset tool, first box, to read its admin reset code
Hikvision Password Reset Tool
3) I entered the code back to LaView SADP Tool to reset the IP address of each camera (please see attached image).
All IP addresses now are reset within the range of the router, but their password have been reset to something and I don't even know or could not login using with the one I have in record. I am thinking of calling LaView tomorrow to ask them how.


ResetIP_HikvisionTool.jpg
 

skywaytp

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Would have been a lot easier to temporarily assign a 255.255.0.0 netmask on the Blue Iris machine... ;)
Totally agree. I'm brand new to BI and learned the harder way. I didn't have to ask LaView for help since I was able to reset and log back into the cameras using Hikvision PW reset Tool. :rofl:
I'm reading the BI app folder now since I need to set up BI app on my phone. I bought the app, but don't know how to make it work yet since I do not have any user/pwd for the BI computer or the BI program on the PC. I'm confused about the user/pwd part and port forward regarding to viewing the cameras on my phone when I'm not on the same network at home.
 

skywaytp

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I was able to set up all of my cams with Blue Iris and also the Blue Iris mobile app. Thank you every one.
A few things to keep in mind for those who might need:

1. I assigned statics IP addresses for all IP cams and Blue Iris PC (so they can work w/o Internet). Blue Iris PC's firewall need to be OFF in order for the PC to get back online (I spend a lot of time finding for this info)
3. I set all static IP addresses outside of the dynamic IP range so that the router will not accidentally assign any device with the same IP addresses of the IP cam or Blue Iris PC.
2. I set port forwarding in the router so I could use the BI mobile app with information given by Blue Iris (i.e. port number). Information for this can be found on portforward.com

I will continue to read threads from this forum, study the Blue Iris videos, and ask questions to learn more. There are a lot of knowledge in this forum from the people who have various experiences.
I like to know more about VPN vs Port Forwarding as noob suggest and set our system up accordingly. However, my family members live at the property and I'm 6 hrs away due to my job. I'm satisfied with our system at the moment and will get into the VPN when I'm home next time.
 

Mr_D

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I was able to set up all of my cams with Blue Iris and also the Blue Iris mobile app. Thank you every one.
A few things to keep in mind for those who might need:

1. I assigned statics IP addresses for all IP cams and Blue Iris PC (so they can work w/o Internet). Blue Iris PC's firewall need to be OFF in order for the PC to get back online (I spend a lot of time finding for this info)
3. I set all static IP addresses outside of the dynamic IP range so that the router will not accidentally assign any device with the same IP addresses of the IP cam or Blue Iris PC.
2. I set port forwarding in the router so I could use the BI mobile app with information given by Blue Iris (i.e. port number). Information for this can be found on portforward.com

I will continue to read threads from this forum, study the Blue Iris videos, and ask questions to learn more. There are a lot of knowledge in this forum from the people who have various experiences.
I like to know more about VPN vs Port Forwarding as noob suggest and set our system up accordingly. However, my family members live at the property and I'm 6 hrs away due to my job. I'm satisfied with our system at the moment and will get into the VPN when I'm home next time.
1) I haven't experienced any issues with the Windows firewall and BI. I just left the firewall at the default settings. You will need a firewall exception to make the BI web server accessible but BI should do that automatically.

2) Yes, it is very important to keep the two ranges separate to avoid conflicts which can present as intermittent network failures of various devices.

3) Port forwarding is not advised as exposes the computer to constant port scans from the Internet. Unless you, Microsoft, and BI's author are 110% on top of things, you'll probably get owned at some point. A VPN is much safer but I am happy to use ngrok.io (found on BI's web site) most of the time since it is very convenient.
 

skywaytp

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1) I haven't experienced any issues with the Windows firewall and BI. I just left the firewall at the default settings. You will need a firewall exception to make the BI web server accessible but BI should do that automatically.

2) Yes, it is very important to keep the two ranges separate to avoid conflicts which can present as intermittent network failures of various devices.

3) Port forwarding is not advised as exposes the computer to constant port scans from the Internet. Unless you, Microsoft, and BI's author are 110% on top of things, you'll probably get owned at some point. A VPN is much safer but I am happy to use ngrok.io (found on BI's web site) most of the time since it is very convenient.
Thanks Mr. D,
I'm interested in learning more about creating an exception for windows firewall since did not know how.
VPN as I read is much safer but with a limited time I was at our property, I could not have all the time I needed. Can you elaborate more about ngrok.io or show me where I can read more about it?
I will be home next month and patch those insecure setups.
 

Mr_D

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Thanks Mr. D,
I'm interested in learning more about creating an exception for windows firewall since did not know how.
VPN as I read is much safer but with a limited time I was at our property, I could not have all the time I needed. Can you elaborate more about ngrok.io or show me where I can read more about it?
I will be home next month and patch those insecure setups.
Install TeamViewer on your BI PC so you can access it remotely and use it to configure your router.

Go to Ngrok.com. It is a small program you install on your BI PC which then makes outbound connections to their server, giving you a public URL to point your mobile app or web browser to. No port forwarding is required. The free version gives you a random url like ae549f3b7e.ngrok.io which changes each time you restart the program. I just don't restart it very often so I've hung onto the same url for months. You can purchase a non-random url for $5/mo. I also have VPN access so even if ngrok crashed or the url changed, I can still get connected. The VPN requires the extra step of making the VPN connection first which requires a few taps if you use the native VPN client in iOS or Android.
 

skywaytp

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Install TeamViewer on your BI PC so you can access it remotely and use it to configure your router.

Go to Ngrok.com. It is a small program you install on your BI PC which then makes outbound connections to their server, giving you a public URL to point your mobile app or web browser to. No port forwarding is required. The free version gives you a random url like ae549f3b7e.ngrok.io which changes each time you restart the program. I just don't restart it very often so I've hung onto the same url for months. You can purchase a non-random url for $5/mo. I also have VPN access so even if ngrok crashed or the url changed, I can still get connected. The VPN requires the extra step of making the VPN connection first which requires a few taps if you use the native VPN client in iOS or Android.
Hi Mr. D,

Thanks for you advice. I realized that my Asus have an option to set up VPN as I was watching the instruction on youtube. However, I did not know what to do next with the url once it's set it up in terms of incorporating it into Blue Iris.
I'm glad that you mention "a random url" which Ngrok.com will generate. In Asus router, I could name my own. My question is what should I do with that url next with BI for the set up? Where to key it in? Thanks again for your heart of support.
 

Mr_D

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Hi Mr. D,

Thanks for you advice. I realized that my Asus have an option to set up VPN as I was watching the instruction on youtube. However, I did not know what to do next with the url once it's set it up in terms of incorporating it into Blue Iris.
I'm glad that you mention "a random url" which Ngrok.com will generate. In Asus router, I could name my own. My question is what should I do with that url next with BI for the set up? Where to key it in? Thanks again for your heart of support.
It sounds like you set up a dynamic DNS address. That's actually separate from the VPN but makes your VPN server easier to reach. Most people at home have a dynamic (changing) IP address. So you'd look up your IP address, configure your phone or laptop to connect to it, then the address would randomly change at some point and you'd be unable to connect until you put the new address in. Dynamic DNS lets you create a host name like skywaytp.no-ip.com which then maps to your actual IP address. The mapping is kept current by the router or a small program on your PC.

You use the VPN to put your phone on the home network, then the BI mobile app connects to the BI PC using the same LAN IP address you'd use over Wifi. Just think of the VPN as a really long network cable reaching from your phone back home: Once you're connected, you're on the LAN. The downside of a VPN is that you must bring the connection up each time you want to interact with BI when you're away from home.

I use a VPN and dynamic DNS too, but not for BI except as a backup. I find ngrok more convenient since I don't have the extra step of making the VPN connection. I just put the ngrok host name into the BI mobile app under the WAN field and it connects when I'm away. I use the VPN to connect to other resources on my network and I could use it to talk to BI if ngrok ever failed while I was out.
 

skywaytp

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Roger that and thanks Mr. D,
the random url which ngrok generates will take place of the WAN field on the BI mobile app as I understood you.
I will try it out. Here is what I see while testing ngrok:

ngrok by @inconshreveable (Ctrl+C to quit)

Session Status online
Account ABC <--my comp name (Plan: Free)
Version 2.2.8
Region United States (us)
Web Interface removed (x = number)
Forwarding removed> localhost:80
Forwarding removed-> localhost:80

Connections ttl opn rt1 rt5 p50 p90
0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Since the forwarding ip generated by ngrok (removed-> localhost:80) changes each time my computer is restarted, I'm thinking of paying a small fee/month to have a static url.
Yes, I have a dynamic DNS with Xfinity Cable but set my BI PC on a static IP address.
 
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Mr_D

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Yes, but you may want to edit that url out of your post unless you've already changed it.

Yes, the ngrok.io url goes in the WAN field of the BI mobile app.

I just leave ngrok running on BI do it doesn't change unless I reboot or accidentally close it. But you're right. For $5/mo you don't have to worry about it changing.
 

skywaytp

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Yes, but you may want to edit that url out of your post unless you've already changed it.

Yes, the ngrok.io url goes in the WAN field of the BI mobile app.

I just leave ngrok running on BI do it doesn't change unless I reboot or accidentally close it. But you're right. For $5/mo you don't have to worry about it changing.
Thanks Mr_D !
 
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