I have a DS-7608NI-Q2 / 8P with 4 cameras attached and I am trying to figure out how the internal networking works. I assume that the PVR has it's own internal network of 192.168.254.0/24 that it assigns to the cameras. I also noticed that the cameras default gateway never gets assigned and therefore I can't talk to any external ntp sources?
Should the cameras not get the correct time from the PVR?
The NVR in effect has 2 NICs - the LAN interface, and the PoE interface.
When cameras are connected to the NVR PoE ports, with those ports in 'Plug & Play' mode, and the camera admin password is known to the NVR, the NVR has management control over a range of configuration elements in the cameras, including the camera IP address, which is set to match the IP address assigned to the NVR PoE port the camera is connected to.
When the NVR PoE port is in Plug&Play mode - and the camera is in a 'connected' state, the NVR should be doing periodic time updates to the cameras.
How far out are you finding the cameras time to be?
Are the PoE ports in Plug&Play mode?
The cameras themselves will not be able to access any networks beyond the one that they are on, including the internet, unless these conditions are set :
The camera default gateway is set to the IP address of the NVR PoE interface, usually 192.168.254.1
The NVR PoE port is set to 'Manual' mode, to prevent the NVR in Plug&Play mode from setting the default gateway back.
Virtual Host is enabled on the NVR advanced network settings.
A static route is configured on the LAN gateway (router) to direct traffic for the 192.168.254.0/24 network via the NVR LAN interface.
This type of configuration would be unusual though, and not necessary for normal camera operation, unless some specific direct access to a camera facility, such as SSH or RTSP, is required from a device on the LAN network.
Some discussion on that topic here amongst other threads :
I have a 16 channel HIKVision camera, with virtual host enabled. If I want to access a camera directly through a web browser, I can access like this: http://192.168.250.9:65010 Just the IP address of the NVR and port to connect to. I can configure camera settings, view the live stream via...
www.ipcamtalk.com
