IPC-HDW5231R-Z IP address constantly changing

[Matt2017]

So, I was trying to migrate my cameras from a Dahua NVR to Blue Iris. I was able to web browser into the camera (IPC-HDW5231R-Z) and do a factory reset. Everything worked fine.

Then I ran into a problem where the camera kept becoming unavailable via the web browser. When I looked at my Ubiquiti Unifi controller I could watch the camera change it's IP address from what I had it assigned 192.168.4.200 (static) to 192.168.1.251, and then it would switch back and forth between those IP addresses. I could access it via web browser while it was on the IP address I assigned it, but never via the 192.168.1.251 address.

Finally with enough speed I logged in and initiated a factory reset, again fixing the problem. Rinse, wash, repeat a few more times. I updated to the latest firmware and have narrowed down the problem. When I set the date/time on the camera it starts cycling ip between those two IP addresses. But with the new firmware it does it so fast now I can no longer log in.

Has any one seen anything crazy like this before?! I'm going to take the camera down (dome mounted, so annoying) and factory reset it locally one more time, then I'm just never going to set the date/time on the camera...

 

[justin_144]

Is your poe switch connected to a router?

 

[Matt2017]

Is your poe switch connected to a router?

It is a ubiquiti system with a USG (which is the router (to my understanding)) and then a couple of switches that do POE.

 

[justin_144]

So when you set a static IP, I assume you are doing that in the camera's web interface? If you are not using a dual NIC setup, you should probably use the router to set a static IP for the camera, and set the camera to DHCP in the web interface

 

[Matt2017]

I've tried it both ways, either way if I set the date/time in the camera web interface the ip address cycling starts occurring.

 

[justin_144]

What is your router's subnet mask?

 

[Matt2017]

What is your router's subnet mask?

I run my normal network on 192.168.4.1/23 with 255.255.254.0. Being lazy and temporary in order to more easily gain access to the default ip address range of the cameras at 192.168.1.108 I expanded the subnet to 255.255.0.0. Which worked fine for accessing the default IP address.

 

[Dave Lonsdale]

Matt, I’m not sufficiently IT literate to understand your subnet message but did you know there’s a problem with the most recent firmware for this camera. If it’s version ...16... I suggest changing it to a previous version. See the thread:

IPC-HDW5231R-ZE Rhea V2.800.0000016.0.R.200430 Latest new firmware

I'm catching up on this thread and the original post from Andy doesn't appear to have an attachment or link to the firmware mentioned here. His post immediately prior to this one included a Word doc with the download link, but I'm not seeing an attachment or link for this thread. Was it removed...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[achalmersman]

Sounds like you may have a a device acting as a dhcp server that you don't know about? Whichever one responds first is going to be the one the camera accepts an address from.

Assign the camera a static address on the camera itself. If the IP changes on its own then that's an issue with the camera. Your network should only have an effect if the camera is set to dhcp

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Matt2017]

Sounds like you may have a a device acting as a dhcp server that you don't know about? Whichever one responds first is going to be the one the camera accepts an address from.

Assign the camera a static address on the camera itself. If the IP changes on its own then that's an issue with the camera. Your network should only have an effect if the camera is set to dhcp

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

That is what is perplexing me, I have tried a static IP set in the camera itself. But 100% of the time I set the date/time in the camera it starts alternating between the two IP addresses, only becoming accessible via the web interface for a few seconds at a time. And, as luck would have it, I appear to be the only one who's ever had this problem . Going to pull the camera down tomorrow and physically try reseting it, and a few other things.

 

[achalmersman]

That is what is perplexing me, I have tried a static IP set in the camera itself. But 100% of the time I set the date/time in the camera it starts alternating between the two IP addresses, only becoming accessible via the web interface for a few seconds at a time. And, as luck would have it, I appear to be the only one who's ever had this problem . Going to pull the camera down tomorrow and physically try reseting it, and a few other things.

So you're saying if you manually log into it, set an IP, and change the date / time when the IP changes you can log into it using the new IP, go to the web GUI for network config and it shows a different statically assigned address?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Matt2017]

So you're saying if you manually log into it, set an IP, and change the date / time when the IP changes you can log into it using the new IP, go to the web GUI for network config and it shows a different statically assigned address?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

No. From a complete factory reset. Access via default IP address, set password, log in set static IP address of 192.168.4.200. Camera works fine, can connect to Blue Iris everything is good.

Log in to camera Set Date/Time in web config. Camera disconnects from Blue Iris, no longer accessible from web config. If I watch my network interface which shows all connected devices to my network I see the camera is now showing an IP address of 192.168.1.251, then about 20 seconds later it changes IP addresses back to the assigned address, 5seconds later web config is briefly accessible, then becomes inaccessible. Network again shows it changing IP address back to 192.168.1.251.

So it is in an endless loop of alternating between the 2 IP addresses, web config only accessible for a few seconds on the assigned IP address I assigned. So weird.

 

[achalmersman]

Thats crazy. Never heard of that.

Does it do it with the camera plugged into a flat VLAN with no connectivity to anything else? Create a new VLAN on your switch with no layer 3 gateway and assign 2 ports to that VLAN. Plug the camera in 1 and your laptop in the other. Repeat the same steps and see if the same behavior happens. You'll need to statically assign your laptop an address in the same subnet

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Mike A.]

That is very strange.

Yeah, try to isolate the cam to a single connection between it and whatever access device and see if it happens (likely not). Then work back up in steps back into your normal network from there.

Do you have any other device which might have a conflict for that same IP? Is that IP outside of whatever DHCP range you have set up? Do you have some MAC/IP reservation for that or other cam that could be affecting it?

 

[CCTVCam]

Is the address within the range of available addresses to your router? This is a very long shot as I know almost zero about networking but I was just thinking if the address you assigned was unavilable for some reason, maybe the router was rejecting it and setting a default, then the camera being static re-applying it etc. I'd go into my router and check the address range and what addresses are available. After a reset it might even be worth just setting a different static ip for the shear hell of it (within the range discovered).

 

[achalmersman]

Is the address within the range of available addresses to your router? This is a very long shot as I know almost zero about networking but I was just thinking if the address you assigned was unavilable for some reason, maybe the router was rejecting it and setting a default, then the camera being static re-applying it etc. I'd go into my router and check the address range and what addresses are available. After a reset it might even be worth just setting a different static ip for the shear hell of it (within the range discovered).

Assigning a static address to a client device is just that. A static manually configured address. Address, mask, gateway, DNS servers etc all need manually defined. The router (or more specifically dhcp server) has zero bearing on a static address. If you manually assign a static address in a range not accessible by the router (for whatever reason) it just won't be routeable.

If this behavior duplicates on an isolated layer 2 network segment (which removes ALL possibilities of dhcp / ip conflicts etc) then there is zero doubt that this is a camera fault.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Matt2017]

Well, this is going to remain a big mystery. I took the camera down, performed a factory reset by holding the button manually inside the camera for a minute. Restarted, set up the camera, and now it is back to working fine.

 

[rajuabju]

No. From a complete factory reset. Access via default IP address, set password, log in set static IP address of 192.168.4.200. Camera works fine, can connect to Blue Iris everything is good.

Log in to camera Set Date/Time in web config. Camera disconnects from Blue Iris, no longer accessible from web config. If I watch my network interface which shows all connected devices to my network I see the camera is now showing an IP address of 192.168.1.251, then about 20 seconds later it changes IP addresses back to the assigned address, 5seconds later web config is briefly accessible, then becomes inaccessible. Network again shows it changing IP address back to 192.168.1.251.

So it is in an endless loop of alternating between the 2 IP addresses, web config only accessible for a few seconds on the assigned IP address I assigned. So weird.

I dont know whats going on, but as of yesterday, I have a Dahua mini Dome Camera (HDBW4231FP-AS) doing the exact same thing... the normal static IP for this particular camera is 192.168.245.4 ... it will go to that IP, then switch to 192.168.1.251 ... back and forth in a loop, not long enough for me to get into the camera config. I've tried hard reset using button on Camera, doesnt seem to fix. I have 21 Dahua cams and havent changed IP or network settings in a long time, this is just out of the blue.

 

[Matt2017]

I dont know whats going on, but as of yesterday, I have a Dahua mini Dome Camera (HDBW4231FP-AS) doing the exact same thing... the normal static IP for this particular camera is 192.168.245.4 ... it will go to that IP, then switch to 192.168.1.251 ... back and forth in a loop, not long enough for me to get into the camera config. I've tried hard reset using button on Camera, doesnt seem to fix. I have 21 Dahua cams and havent changed IP or network settings in a long time, this is just out of the blue.

Well I'll be damned, that is exactly what happened to mine. I held the reset button for like a minute straight and then was able to configure via the 192.168.1.108 address. Since my problems seemed to start when I set the date/time I got suspicious of default NTP server and turned it on directed towards pool.ntp.org instead. I also ended up using DCHP (but then in my Ubiquiti I set it to always hand out the same address to the device) and got it working again.

But truthfully I found no smoking gun at all... Could be I clicked my heels 3 times and it worked...

 

[rajuabju]

Well I'll be damned, that is exactly what happened to mine. I held the reset button for like a minute straight and then was able to configure via the 192.168.1.108 address. Since my problems seemed to start when I set the date/time I got suspicious of default NTP server and turned it on directed towards pool.ntp.org instead. I also ended up using DCHP (but then in my Ubiquiti I set it to always hand out the same address to the device) and got it working again.

But truthfully I found no smoking gun at all... Could be I clicked my heels 3 times and it worked...

Really strange indeed. I will try again holding the reset button for 1+ minute to see if it can just stay on the .1.108 address instead of the loop. I'm also on a Unifi network setup. I've even tried moving the camera to a different port just to see if it was the switch acting up but not. Maybe I just need to click my heels a bunch of times too.