Need to access cameras behind Dahua NVR

[Flintstone61]

You need a seperate POE switch with cams addressed in the 192.168.1.1 scheme.
But you'd need to access every cam you want to change using the current IE method, go to TCP/IP and change DHCP to Static
start with something easy to recall...like 192.168.1.200 and go up....
and a gateway of 192.168.1.1
I have a 4108 NVR from Amcrest....for whatever reason the 10080 port type of connection to the Cams is slow as shit...on this device.
When i moved them to " remote devices" they began opening like normal. Making going in a tweaking the cams much less of a hassle.

 

[Flintstone61]

My home network is a 192.168.0.1 so this just an example
you'd need 1.1 to make yours work.

 

[haselnut]

Ok looks like I need to get an 8-port POE switch. Thanks for clarifying.

My home network is a 192.168.0.1 so this just an example
you'd need 1.1 to make yours work.

Looks like this would work only if I had cameras directly on my main network. I doubt setting IPC ip address manually to another subnet somehow skips the subnet and gateway of the subnet it is in by NVR's setting. Or is there some chinese-labyrinth-secret-door thing behind this solution?

 

[looktall]

Be aware that if you move the cameras off the NVR Poe network and onto your main network they will be exposed to the internet unless you take steps to mitigate that.

 

[Flintstone61]

192. addressed cams on mine are on a Cisco Poe switch. It just takes away the network latency my NVR has when it tries to push cam GUI's out the door on port 10080....
and then I can visit the cams from my PC or even a laptop etc...and make changes without visiting the NVR web interfarce.

 

[Flintstone61]

If you ever buy a 16 CH NVR, a lot of them have 8 POE ports and the rest have to " remote in" off the network from a POE switch ( usually)

 

[haselnut]

Be aware that if you move the cameras off the NVR Poe network and onto your main network they will be exposed to the internet unless you take steps to mitigate that.

What do you mean by cameras will be exposed to the internet?
Like, cameras will then have internet access and can reach servers I do not trust?

 

[looney2ns]

What do you mean by cameras will be exposed to the internet?
Like, cameras will then have internet access and can reach servers I do not trust?

Yes, see this: How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) | IP Cam Talk

 

[looktall]

What do you mean by cameras will be exposed to the internet?
Like, cameras will then have internet access and can reach servers I do not trust?

Yes.
For my cameras that I have on my main network I just block all the ports so they can't send anything outside of the Lan.

 

[Coltect]

Yes.
For my cameras that I have on my main network I just block all the ports so they can't send anything outside of the Lan.

I generally set static ip address info in each camera and then give them a bogus gateway address. If it is a system where I cannot separate the cameras from the main network, for whatever reason, I'll set the gateway to something like 192.168.1.254 when the real gateway is 192.168.1.1 and then set the BI pc or some pc on the network with the 1.254 as an Alternative IP address.
Be aware though that some cameras freak if they can't find their gateway and some will still freak if they can find a gateway and can't talk to china. It may take weeks before they get upset though. I haven't had that problem with Dahua or Hik cameras, but some no-name dodgy cameras do it. I have one site I inherited where I was concerned about the camera traffic going to a TenCent site, blocked everything and the cameras started failing/going offline about 3 weeks later. Client there doesn't want to replace the cameras and doesn't care.

 

[haselnut]

My first approach would be to use router's firewall to block cameras' mac addresses from accessing internet. Secondly I would create a separate vlan for cameras but right now I have an unmanaged switch.
But another question arises for me: NVR has an accesst to the internet. Is NVR safe in terms of contacting China but cameras are not? Both are Dahua's.

 

[haselnut]

How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) | IP Cam Talk

OK nothing China is safe. This is probably another topic by now but to be safe I should completely separate NVR and IPC's from my main network (only access TO these devices) and no internet. This has a downside of not having remote access by the mobile app (DMSS).
So for me a good setup would be:

• Isolated NVR & IPC's (connections TO NVR and IPC's from LAN still allowed)
• NVR does only recording
• For remote access I should self-host another software like ZoneMinder

Am I on the right track?

 

[wittaj]

OK nothing China is safe. This is probably another topic by now but to be safe should I completely separate NVR and IPC's from my main network (only access TO these devices) and no internet. This has a downside of not having remote access by the mobile app (DMSS).
So for me a good setup would be:

• Isolated NVR & IPC's (connections TO NVR and IPC's from LAN still allowed)
• NVR does only recording
• For remote access I should self-host another software like ZoneMinder

Am I on the right track?

You don't need another VMS software - use OpenVPN if your router supports it or something like TailScale or ZeroTier.