Inherited IP Cameras from Home Purchase, Can't Set Up

[gkrizek]

I recently bought a house that has 6 IP cameras installed with Ethernet ran into a single location. They are a mix of brands and types of camera. Some a Hikvision and some are Loryta. I bought a Hikvision DS-7608 NVR and hooked them up to it. Of course, the didn't work. 3 had an error about username/password incorrect and 3 just had no connection at all. So my plan was to reset them. The Loryta cameras have reset buttons on them which I used. The Hikvision seem to have no reset button on the camera at all. Even after resetting the Loryta cameras, they don't show up. I thought I had to configure the camera itself first. So I got a PoE Injectors and plugged the camera directly into my router, but still can't access anything on the camera.

This is a mess of a set up with several problems, but I'm looking for guidance on what to do here. I'm very tech-savvy, but this just isn't working no matter what I try. Any guidance here? Thanks!

 

[alastairstevenson]

Even after resetting the Loryta cameras, they don't show up. I thought I had to configure the camera itself first. So I got a PoE Injectors and plugged the camera directly into my router, but still can't access anything on the camera.

A good starting point to get some info on the installation is to use Hikvision's SADP tool.
You can either check the cameras one-by-one using the PoE injector with the camera on the LAN.
Or connect all the cameras and the PC to the PoE ports on the NVR.
I'm assuming the (unspecified full-model-number) has these.
SADP will see Hikvision devices and show you their IP address, firmware version and status.

SADP Tool - Updates

www.ipcamtalk.com

 

[wtimothyholman]

You're really not in bad shape right now. The previous owner installed some good cameras, and did it right with Ethernet. Given that you have a mix of different camera brands running into a single location, my guess is that he had them running into a PC or Mac running Blue Iris or SecuritySpy, rather than an NVR.

I can at least suggest a solution for connecting your Loryta cameras. Assuming that the hard reset put them back into Dahua factory mode, then they will have a static IP address of 192.168.1.108. If your current router isn't configured for the 192.168.1.xxx subnet, you won't be able to connect. There are ways to fix this, but what I do is keep a spare junk box router around for precisely the purpose of logging into a new camera and setting the IP address.

 

[Mike A.]

Yeah, you're in better shape than you're probably thinking. At least some decent cams and not a bunch of oddball junk.

Here's Dahua's Config Tool that's similar to SADP that can be used for the Loryta cams. Or as above you can just access them at the 192.168.1.108 address. Need to plug them in one at a time since they'll have IP conflicts otherwise all on the same address.

Maintenance Tools

Maintenance Tools

www.dahuasecurity.com

 

[gkrizek]

Thank you everyone for the help so far! I will give these solutions a try.

Big first question, will the Loryta work ok with the Hikvision NVR?

I can confirm the previous owner did have Blue Iris on a PC. @wtimothyholman i had no idea on that IP, very helpful. My network has a different subnet but I go a old router I can use. Can I change the IP to something outside of that subnet? Mine is on 10.128.0.X.

@alastairstevenson thank you for the SADP tool recommendation. This is helpful and I will try that.

 

[Sybertiger]

Too bad you didn't stick with Blue Iris. It's not too late!

 

[gkrizek]

@Sybertiger its not! It sounds like a lot of people recommend that. I’ll look more into it. Can still return the NVR

 

[Mike A.]

Yes, you’ll change the IP to be something within your same 10.128.0.x address range. (Assuming that you want them on the same network anyway. Could segregate them off on their own but that’s down the road for now.). Generally better to go with a static address vs DHCP.

You don’t have to have another router. Can just change the IP on whatever device temporarily to a 192.168.1.x, access the cam and change its IP, then change device back.

 

[wittaj]

It is best to match brands of cameras with the NVR, but basic functionality will work with the Loryta cams and HIK NVR.

If you factory reset all the cameras and plug them in one at a time to the NVR and not plug the next one in until the image is on the screen can save a lot of headaches. At least the Hik should come in that way.

You may have to manually assign the non-Hik cameras IP addresses that would be in the range that the NVR is putting them out on.

As mentioned above, you do not need another router to set the IP cam up.

Here is how most of us get the cameras to the IP address of our system:

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

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.

 

[gkrizek]

Thank you all for the help! I gave this a try tonight and made some progress but also some things didn't work.

• I connected only 1 Loryta camera to the NVR and also connected my laptop. I had already reset the camera with the button on it. I found the camera on the ConfigTool software, initialized it, connected the NVR to it and boom. It worked!
• I tried the other 2 Loryta cameras, only 1 showed up in ConfigTool, but I was locked out. I'm going to get on a ladder tomorrow and try a factory reset on these again.
• I tried to plug in a Hikvision camera, but they would never show up in SADP Tool or the NVR. I confirmed they were getting power and all that, but I can't access them at all. What's also weird is I can't find a reset button on the cameras at all to do a factor reset. The Hikvision camera I'm not able to find or reset.

Any recommendations on next steps? Thank you again!

 

[alastairstevenson]

I tried to plug in a Hikvision camera, but they would never show up in SADP Tool or the NVR. I confirmed they were getting power and all that, but I can't access them at all.

Did the NVR show in SADP with the PC connected to an NVR PoE port?
That would confirm that it's working correctly.
It would normally show at a 192.168.254.1 IP address.

 

[gkrizek]

@alastairstevenson , Yes when I'm plugged into the NVR and run the SADP tool, the NVR shows up in the list and only the NVR. No Cameras.

 

[DanDenver]

You seem really into this which is so cool.
Consider not going with the NVR long term (any NVR that is), something tells me you won’t be happy based on your enthusiasm and the fact that you said you are tech savvy.
Just a thought!

 

[wtimothyholman]

Another suggestion: if you can easily unmount the non-working cameras, you'll find it much easier to troubleshoot them inside your home. Once you get them working, then remount them outside.

 

[gkrizek]

@DanDenver you’re right! I’ve always wanted to get a set up like this, but ultimately went with the wifi/cloud camera previously. Now I’m forced to learn!

It seems like the consensus here is not to use a NVR. I thought they were the standard but maybe I’m wrong. Is using something like BlueIris recommended? It seemed like more work and money because I’d have to buy a PoE switch and I don’t have a Windows computer readily available.

@wtimothyholman good idea. I just took a camera off the outside and brought it in to figure things out.

 

[DanDenver]

Is using something like BlueIris recommended?

There is no one size fits all in the software (NVR/Blue Iris/etc) or hardware (cameras/switch/etc).

It is really important to know what you are trying to accomplish. Are you covering the inside of a shed? Car? Pets? Something 150 foot away?

My priority is family and my property line. So I want to know if anyone is close to my house. I live on 1/3 acre. My setup allows me to know if anyone steps off the sidewalk or jumps the back fence. If they do, I am quickly notified.

So if you have similar requirements you may want to consider something more flexible in the configuration department than an NVR. Those units 'dumb down' the view into the camera and by their very nature then 'dumb down' the view to you. Not saying they don't work for certain situations, but they may not be the best experience possible

I ran an NVR for 5 years. For the first 90 days it was like a honeymoon as I was excited. But the alerts were endless. My wife tapped out in the first 30 days (not good!). But I hung in there manually reviewing footage every chance I could get. But the alerts were simply useless.

The only thought I have for you is that you should have AI somewhere in your equipment chain. Camera, NVR, Blue Iris, whatever and wherever you can get it. But to not have AI in today's environment is a major setback and that is just a fact. But, this is me assuming you are trying to set something up in a residential exterior installation wherein you want targeted alerts... of which I have no idea what you are trying to do or what your priorities are.

Some people just want alerts if something as simple as leaf moves on their property, and that is fine but it is too many false alerts for me. I get targeted alerts that when received mean action needs to be taken, and my wife is back to subscribing to the front porch alerts as well!

 

[wittaj]

When I was looking at replacing an existing NVR, once I realized that not all NVRs are created equal (the bandwidth it can process is a huge limiting factor), and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer, POE switch and BI than an NVR.

Many of us buy refurbished computers that are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on the WIKI list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine. Could probably get going for $200 or so. A real NVR will cost more than that.

A member here a couple months ago found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. You won't find a capable NVR cheaper than that...

 

[wtimothyholman]

The only thought I have for you is that you should have AI somewhere in your equipment chain. Camera, NVR, Blue Iris, whatever and wherever you can get it. But to not have AI in today's environment is a major setback and that is just a fact. But, this is me assuming you are trying to set something up in a residential exterior installation wherein you want targeted alerts... of which I have no idea what you are trying to do or what your priorities are.

@DanDenver's advice is spot on. The ability to customize and control your camera alerts via AI is something that you'll wonder how you ever lived without. For example:

(1) I get an alert if a human figure walks near my car between midnight and 5 a.m. The detection of a human figure also triggers a sequences of lights turning on and off inside my home, making it seem that someone is awake. I have recorded several door checkers who turned and looked at my house when the lights began snapping on, and then kept right on walking.

(2) My system makes a record of every vehicle or human figure that goes by my street between midnight and 5 a.m. It also takes a snapshot of each event. I quickly review the images every morning, then check the video in case of something suspicious.

Some high-end cameras and NVRs provide built-in AI to do such things, but the last thing you want to do is configure each camera separately, or struggle with the NVR interface. The advantage of software such as Blue Iris or SecuritySpy is the ability to configure all your cameras from a centralized AI interface. It also saves you money, as the computer does all the hard processing; the cameras can be relatively "dumb" and less expensive than cameras with built-in AI.

Another issue is that my neighbors with NVRs never seem to be able to download and share video clips. Many of them resort to taking pictures or recording the monitor screen with their phones, then sharing that instead of the actual video. It's a testament to how annoyingly impenetrable the NVR user interface can be. Blue Iris and SecuritySpy make it trivial by comparison.

 

[gkrizek]

Ok, this is very helpful. Thank you all for the help on this! I'll continue to think and dig on the NVR piece, but for now I'm still trying to just the camera to work, haha.

I took down one of the Hikvision cameras from outside and brought it in. For the life of me, I can't get it to appear on anything. It lights up when plugged in and all that so I know it has power. I could not find any reset button the camera whatsoever. I can never get it to show up on the SADP tool. I've tried connecting directly to my computer, to the router, to the NVR. It never shows up. When I plug it into my NVR however I can see that it says "IP Camera 2 - Incorrect user name or password". So that's a hint that it can detect it, but I have no idea how to factory reset it so I can add it to the NVR. Any ideas?

 

[Mike A.]

Is there some camera reset available through the NVR? Unfortunately I don't know the Hikvision NVR side well enough to help you. Maybe @alastairstevenson can point you in the right direction.