Is it possible to access IP cameras on LAN from NVR with different POE subnet?

[Deadeye]

I'm a newbie when it comes to IP cameras, and I just picked up a Hikvision DS-7716NI-SP / 16 NVR and I've also purchased two Hikvision dome cameras that connect to the NVR POE switches and they set up like a breeze and work just fine.

Now, I had heard that you can use other IP cameras on an NVR, so I was hoping that I could put a camera in my garage and connect it to a switch so that the NVR could see it. I can't run a line from the garage from the NVR to plug into one of the ports directly so a non-POE IP camera on a switch is my only option.

So to test it out, I just put the camera (it's a Foscam ONVIF, that I know works fine as I had it working using BlueIris) on the network with a static IP and tried to use a manual setup on the NVR, and I believe I have all the settings correct, but it says "The network is unreachable". I know the NVR is online because I can see it from my PC, and it is picking up a DHCP IP of 192.168.1.x from my router (and I can log into it, ect), but I noticed that the cameras that connect through the POE ports on the back are getting IP addresses 192.168.254.2 through 17. I was wondering if the NVR isn't able to add IP cameras that are outside the 254.x range that it uses? Is it actually possible to add ONVIF compatible IP cameras that are on the same network that the NVR connects to, but are assigned a different IP than 254.x? I hope it can and that I'm just missing something simple.

*NOTE* I JUST tried changing the "http port" of the IP camera from 80 to 8000 (because I saw that in the NVR camera settings that the management port defaults to 8000, so I thought it might have been incorrect on the camera, but I think they're two different things?) and on the NVR's browser camera management page, the IP camera's status went from "Offline(Network Abnormal)" to "Offline(Parameter error)" (and from "the network is unreachable" to "Unknown error" on the NVR camera management screen), so it MUST be able to communicate with it somehow to be able to notice the difference, no?

Any input is appreciated. I'm running out of ideas on this one.

 

[fenderman]

I'm a newbie when it comes to IP cameras, and I just picked up a Hikvision DS-7716NI-SP / 16 NVR and I've also purchased two Hikvision dome cameras that connect to the NVR POE switches and they set up like a breeze and work just fine.

Now, I had heard that you can use other IP cameras on an NVR, so I was hoping that I could put a camera in my garage and connect it to a switch so that the NVR could see it. I can't run a line from the garage from the NVR to plug into one of the ports directly so a non-POE IP camera on a switch is my only option.

So to test it out, I just put the camera (it's a Foscam ONVIF, that I know works fine as I had it working using BlueIris) on the network with a static IP and tried to use a manual setup on the NVR, and I believe I have all the settings correct, but it says "The network is unreachable". I know the NVR is online because I can see it from my PC, and it is picking up a DHCP IP of 192.168.1.x from my router (and I can log into it, ect), but I noticed that the cameras that connect through the POE ports on the back are getting IP addresses 192.168.254.2 through 17. I was wondering if the NVR isn't able to add IP cameras that are outside the 254.x range that it uses? Is it actually possible to add ONVIF compatible IP cameras that are on the same network that the NVR connects to, but are assigned a different IP than 254.x? I hope it can and that I'm just missing something simple.

*NOTE* I JUST tried changing the "http port" of the IP camera from 80 to 8000 (because I saw that in the NVR camera settings that the management port defaults to 8000, so I thought it might have been incorrect on the camera, but I think they're two different things?) and on the NVR's browser camera management page, the IP camera's status went from "Offline(Network Abnormal)" to "Offline(Parameter error)" (and from "the network is unreachable" to "Unknown error" on the NVR camera management screen), so it MUST be able to communicate with it somehow to be able to notice the difference, no?

Any input is appreciated. I'm running out of ideas on this one.

Welcome to the forum. Note that this unit is an older model, less features, no substantial firmware updates etc. Hopefully you knew that and paid accordingly..
You can use a poe camera, just use a poe switch or injector.
Avoid domes. Ir reflection is a problem.
While you can run other cameras on the NVR, its hit or miss...you will not be able to use any of the advanced hik functions like line crossing.
There are many threads with instructions on how to manually setup cams manually on the NVR.
Blue iris will run circles around this NVR.

 

[psnsfrg]

Now, I had heard that you can use other IP cameras on an NVR, so I was hoping that I could put a camera in my garage and connect it to a switch so that the NVR could see it. I can't run a line from the garage from the NVR to plug into one of the ports directly so a non-POE IP camera on a switch is my only option.

Why not use a PoE switch?

I noticed that the cameras that connect through the POE ports on the back are getting IP addresses 192.168.254.2

How is the switch connected in your network? is it connected to the NVR or does it reach the NVR through another switch?
Why not change the camera to the 192.168.254.0 subnet?

 

[Deadeye]

Welcome to the forum. Note that this unit is an older model, less features, no substantial firmware updates etc. Hopefully you knew that and paid accordingly..
You can use a poe camera, just use a poe switch or injector.
Avoid domes. Ir reflection is a problem.
While you can run other cameras on the NVR, its hit or miss...you will not be able to use any of the advanced hik functions like line crossing.
There are many threads with instructions on how to manually setup cams manually on the NVR.
Blue iris will run circles around this NVR.

Yeah, I picked it up on Kijiji for not that much.
I might use a POE camera in the future, but I just can't run a line back to the NVR. The garage is detached so I'll have to use a wireless bridge.
I don't need a whole lot of features on the cameras away from the house, so as long as I can record.
Yeah, I've followed the instruction in the manual, but it doesn't seem to "see" it so I thought it might be a networking limitation of the NVR.
I tried BlueIris but decided against it as it uses up so much CPU time that I'd have to buy another PC to run it. Thought an NVR would be easier.

 

[Deadeye]

Why not use a PoE switch?


How is the switch connected in your network? is it connected to the NVR or does it reach the NVR through another switch?
Why not change the camera to the 192.168.254.0 subnet?

Right now (just for testing/troubleshooting) the NVR and IP cam are on the same switch that is also connected to my main router.
You mean just change the IP of the camera to a 254.x IP or physically connect it to the NVR? It's currently not connected, so I'm not sure what effect changing the IP of the camera would do? Would it take it offline? I guess I could try and see what happens. I can always hard reset it if something goes wrong.

*EDIT* Tried changing the IP of the camera to a 192.168.254.x IP address (it wouldn't let me enter the IP of my router 192.168.1.1 as the gateway though, said it was invalid) and it still wouldn't connect.

 

[fenderman]

Yeah, I picked it up on Kijiji for not that much.
I might use a POE camera in the future, but I just can't run a line back to the NVR. The garage is detached so I'll have to use a wireless bridge.
I don't need a whole lot of features on the cameras away from the house, so as long as I can record.
Yeah, I've followed the instruction in the manual, but it doesn't seem to "see" it so I thought it might be a networking limitation of the NVR.
I tried BlueIris but decided against it as it uses up so much CPU time that I'd have to buy another PC to run it. Thought an NVR would be easier.

I think you are confused, you dont need to run the line back to the NVR to use a poe camera with a poe switch. Its a network switch.
The manual wont help you.
Blue iris needs to be setup properly. You always want a dedicated pc for blue iris or any VMS. For most setups a 100 dollar i5-3570 is more than sufficient.

 

[Deadeye]

I think you are confused, you dont need to run the line back to the NVR to use a poe camera with a poe switch. Its a network switch.
The manual wont help you.
Blue iris needs to be setup properly. You always want a dedicated pc for blue iris or any VMS. For most setups a 100 dollar i5-3570 is more than sufficient.

I think we have our lines crossed. The camera I'm trying to connect now isn't POE, so I don't really need a POE switch just yet (I'll probably add some POE cameras to the garage in the future, but I just want to make sure that I can add IP cameras to the NVR if they aren't directly connected). But I can't connect the camera to the NVR, so I need to try to find a way for my NVR to see it.
I'm realizing that the manual is useless and I'm probably over my head.
I costed it out and a used NVR was cheaper, and as long as it records video and can e-mail me events, I'm sure I'll be happy.

 

[fenderman]

I think we have our lines crossed. The camera I'm trying to connect now isn't POE, so I don't really need a POE switch just yet (I'll probably add some POE cameras to the garage in the future, but I just want to make sure that I can add IP cameras to the NVR if they aren't directly connected). But I can't connect the camera to the NVR, so I need to try to find a way for my NVR to see it.
I'm realizing that the manual is useless and I'm probably over my head.
I costed it out and a used NVR was cheaper, and as long as it records video and can e-mail me events, I'm sure I'll be happy.

The cameras have to be setup manually in the NVR with the camera ip address. There are about 100 threads that discuss this.
Good luck with the emails, you will probably stop looking at them after the first 100 come in a few hours.

 

[Deadeye]

I know it has to be done manually which is what I was describing what I was trying to do with this Foscam in my original post, but just kept getting Offline (Network Abnormal) with most of the settings I would use to get it to connect. Most of the threads that talk about connecting an IP camera on the network just give the basic "switch it to manual, enter the IP address, and done" but my issue goes beyond that.

I also just wanted to verify that this NRV actually can support IP cameras outside of it's POE port 192.168.254.x range, and I'm posting the following information below for the reference of anyone else who had the same issues as me.

I wasn't sure if the Foscam or the NVR was the problem (thought it was the NVR as the Foscam works fine with BlueIris), so I took one of my Hikvision cameras, reset it, put it on the POE switch I'm planning on putting in the garage, and assigned it a 192.168.1.x IP address. I was able to add it to the NVR and get video with no issues. Confused as to why Blue Iris was able to use the Foscam via ONVIF, but the Hikvision NVR wasn't, I popped the Foscam back on Blue Iris and was able to get all of the information on the camera in the settings (RTSP port/ONVIF port, etc) which was really handy because I couldn't find any of that information anywhere online (so tip, if you can't find any port info on a camera online, download the Blue Iris trial and let it discover the camera and it will pull it all for you). I entered in the info that Blue Iris was using (that worked for it) into the NRV settings for the camera and it unfortunetly still saw it as Offline(Network Abnormal). Dangit.

I think I just have to write this Foscam off as "Not Supported" by the Hikvision NVR and I'm probably just going to have to pony up the cash and buy a Hikvision for all my camera locations. I also noticed that the Foscam didn't show up using the Hikvision SADP tool, but I thought at first that it was only designed to find Hikvision cameras. I'm guessing that if the camera doesn't show up in the SADP tool, Hikvision doesn't support it. Foscam has their own "IP Camera" discovery tool, but it didn't show any of the information that the NVR required (beyond IP) so it wasn't much help.

Now that I know that I can put an IP camera in the garage (of a specific brand), I can proceed ahead with drillign holes! I hope this info is able to help someone else out.

 

[alastairstevenson]

I popped the Foscam back on the NVR and was able to get all of the information on the camera in the settings (RTSP port/ONVIF port, etc) which was really handy because I couldn't find any of that information anywhere online

ONVIF Device Manager (sourceforge.net) gives a wealth of information about ONVIF devices.
It will find them on the same address range as the PC automatically.
The RTSP URL shows in the 'Live Video' page.
The 'ONVIF port' (usually 888 for Foscam - that's what you may be missing) shows in the URL at the bottom of the 'Identification' page
And if the camera generates ONVIF event notifications such as from motion, these will show in the 'Events' page.
And much more.

 

[58chev]

@Deadeye
Set your non-poe camera up with 192.168.1.x IP address (make sure it is not in your routers DHCP Range.)

On your NVR can you manually setup a camera? input the IP of the camera and you should be good to go.

I have one camera on my regular network and the rest directly attached to my NVR and they all operate the same.

 

[Deadeye]

ONVIF Device Manager (sourceforge.net) gives a wealth of information about ONVIF devices.
It will find them on the same address range as the PC automatically.
The RTSP URL shows in the 'Live Video' page.
The 'ONVIF port' (usually 888 for Foscam - that's what you may be missing) shows in the URL at the bottom of the 'Identification' page
And if the camera generates ONVIF event notifications such as from motion, these will show in the 'Events' page.
And much more.

Sorry, my post was supposed to say "...popped the camera back on Blue Iris...." not the NVR, and I was able to get the RTSP (554) and ONVIF (8999 for some reason) port from Blue Iris.
I tried out the ONVIF Device Manager app and it doesn't look like it was able to see my Foscam or the Hikvision cameras for some reason (I've got one connected directly to the NVR right now and one on a POE switch just sitting on the LAN). The only two devices it would detect are the NVR itself and my Canon printer. I tried manually entering the IP of the Foscam and it looks like it sees it but I got some weird errors (an error when I try to connect to the NVR, which doesn't go away when I enter in my admin username and password at the top) which I've attached below (the NVR is at 1.10 and the Foscam I manually added and it's IP is 1.40):

I have no idea why I'm having such trouble with this, especially since Blue Iris had absolutely no issues with the Foscam or either Hikvision. I've read the manual for this app, and it doesn't seem to cover issues like this. It just seems to "work" out of the box, or at least it should.

@Deadeye
Set your non-poe camera up with 192.168.1.x IP address (make sure it is not in your routers DHCP Range.)
On your NVR can you manually setup a camera? input the IP of the camera and you should be good to go.
I have one camera on my regular network and the rest directly attached to my NVR and they all operate the same.

The Foscam IP is already statically set to 192.168.1.40 which is out of my router's DHCP.
Yeah, I've tried adding it manually (details in first post) and that doesn't seem to be enough, even adding the correct ONVIF port that I discoverd using Blue Iris.

 

[alastairstevenson]

It just seems to "work" out of the box, or at least it should.

Yes, it does. It finds ONVIF compliant devices on the same IP address range automatically. No need to manually add IP addresses.

(I've got one connected directly to the NVR right now

That one will not be found by ODM - unless you connect the PC to a spare NVR PoE port and change the PC IP address to one in the same range as the NVR PoE interface.

 

[Deadeye]

Yes, it does. It finds ONVIF compliant devices on the same IP address range automatically. No need to manually add IP addresses.

That one will not be found by ODM - unless you connect the PC to a spare NVR PoE port and change the PC IP address to one in the same range as the NVR PoE interface.

This Foscam is ONVIF compliant, which is how BlueIris was able to pick it up, so why wouldn't it show up in the ODM? If I do a factory reset, would it show up (does it only show devices that have no password)? No, that can't be it, otherwise my NVR wouldn't show up. Perhaps it's slightly defective?

Ok, that makes sense, but it's also odd that ODM didn't pick up the one Hikvision that I set up on another POE switch as a manual IP camera (sitting at 192.168.1.64, working on the NVR just fine now when set up manually).