New to IpCams

[george dy]

Just bought a fixer, had the whole thing wired up with Cat5e and Cat6a from the start! Loving that all my APs and IpCams are where I want them.

I wouldn't call myself an enthusiast, but I did wire up 6 HikVision cams (4MP DS-2CD2142FWD-I HD WDR IP Network Dome 2.8mm Len) around the perimeter of my home hooked up to a HikVision NVR in my networking closet. It's my dream setup, but I'm admittedly new to networking and had help setting up everything to work just right.

Learning more about how they work with my home network, firewall, ISP and already have questions regarding remote access.

Question: I had my router/modem setup to allow ports 80, 8000, 8554 for a remote feed. The feed worked on an NVMS7000 app I was using for the last 6 months, but recently it stopped working. I checked my port on canyouseeme and saw that 8554 is blocked. Called the ISP (Comcast) who insisted it was open and that I call the modem provider (Arris), who in turn tells me that they can't access my modem because of the model and that I contact the surveillance company that installed my cameras.

Any help on opening the port?

 

[looney2ns]

Welcome,
Opening ports is dangerous, huge security risk.
Please read these:
VPN Primer for Noobs
Randy : OpenVPN on a Asus router
How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) | IP Cam Talk

You should chastise the installer for selling you 2.8mm lens, with Domes.
And for his error in using port forwarding.
Also see this: cliff notes.

 

[psnsfrg]

Using a VPN is much better. You should also close the ports you've already opened.
You can find a guide for most routers here just close the port instead of opening it. There's often a button to click to delete the setting in the list of open ports.
If you have ports forwarded for any other applications be careful not to delete those

 

[gwminor48]

All the advice about not forwarding ports is good but it is curious why it stopped working after 6 months.

 

[TonyR]

Another first-timer had a similar issue with NVMS700 about 2 years ago here and most likely @fenderman helped him out.
It could be that you have a similar issue with DDNS or an IP that has changed.

BTW, during setup, did you 'Manually Add' the NVR and/or cams or did you scan a QR code?

 

[george dy]

Thanks all! Appreciate the info about using a VPN vs. port forwarding. I had no idea!

Regarding the initial setup, the installer manually added each of the cameras to the NVR, no QR scanning. So, I'm still getting the feed on each of the cameras to the NVR appropriately and getting all my playback, I'm just puzzled about why it failed as well. I don't have a static IP, so perhaps that could have caused some issues - I also called Xfinity since I've read somewhere they may block ports on their end to prevent malicious attacks? But they told me that was not the case.

Thanks for the link above, I'll take a look at that and look into VPN. Honestly, it's all a bit over my head, but I'll surely find some guides on here that are more step-like.