NVR losing static IP-address

May 31, 2024
14
11
Netherlands
Dear all,

After some search on several forums I am not able to find an explanation why the NVR is losing it's static IP-address.
The NVR is a: DHI-NVR2104HS-P-4KS2.

What i've done so far:
  • set static IP-address manually and directly on the NVR using USB keyboard and mouse (192.168.2.108)
  • Make a MAC address IP reservation on my ISP router for the NVR
  • Changed the DHCP lease of my ISP router from 24 hours to 14 days. The lease is based on the MAC-address of the NVR's NIC ethernet address
  • Removed the NVR's reboot time from 'Every Wednesday' to ' Never'
  • Rebooted the ISP router and NVR and verify if it saved the settings

Although I saved these settings on both devices the NVR's IP-address changes every 48 hours to the NVR's default of 192.168.1.108.

Does someone have an explanation for this behaviour?
 
What web browser are you using to make the changes on the NVR itself? Many here have mixed results when NOT using Internet Explorer (IE).

Micro$oft has deprecated IE, so the general consensus here is that Pal Moon browser is the 'next best thing' to make the changes.

</$0.02>
 
+1^^. And use the 32 bit version of Pale Moon.
Also....
Log into your router and find out what the DHCP server's range is, like from 192.168.1.02 to .199, etc.

Assign a unique, static IP to the NVR that is OUTSIDE of the router's DHCP pool, like 192.168.1.200 (in the case of the above example) up to 192.168.1.254 or anywhere above the high end of the pool range.

You can change the pool to suit your needs; the above allows 198 IP's via DHCP and 54 for your static devices.

If done correctly, there are no lease time time issues or need for an IP reservation. :cool:
 
Hi SpacemanSpiff,

thanks for your reply. I only make changes directly on the NVR connected to a TV locally. Without use of a browser or network connection.

This is for me the only solution to manually change the IP-address of the NVR. When changed I use MS Edge or Chrome to get access again to the NVR until it resets itself back to the default IP-address 192.168.1.108
 
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@Tony
The router's DHCP range is 192.168.2.1 until 192.168.2.199. The NVR has a static IP-address of 192.168.2.108. I will try to set it up with the IP-address 192.168.2.250 for example and post an uupdate if that worked out the way you described.
 
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@Tony
The router's DHCP range is 192.168.2.1 until 192.168.2.199. The NVR has a static IP-address of 192.168.2.108. I will try to set it up with the IP-address 192.168.2.250 for example and post an uupdate if that worked out the way you described.
Great!
And if no joy the first time, try Pale Moon 32 bit as suggested by @SpacemanSpiff .
 
I’ve just updated the IP-address to 192.168.2.250, and the DHCP range is 192.168.2.0 to 192.168.2.199

Usually it loses its address after 48 hours. I will update Sunday evening.

*edit: no MAC reservation for the IP-address 192.168.2.250, only a static IP on the NVR.
 
Unfortunately my last changes did not resolve the issue. After using different static IP-address on the NVR it changed back to the factory default of 192.168.1.108 instead of 192.168.2.250 after TonyR’s advice.

In the log files of the NVR I’m not able to find any logs or information related to reboot, network outages or a different technical issue. Does maybe somebody experienced the same in the past?

I work in IT for 14 years but can’t find a logic reason why the NVR keeps changing it’s static IP-address (set by me) back to 192.168.1.108.

Does anyone have an idea why this keeps happening?
 
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Does it retain the username and password you set up without returning them to default?
 
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Yes, the existing admin credentials but also the seperate users stay intact.

edit: also the time zone settings, name settings of the NVR and PoE camera’s stay intact. Just like other settings.
 
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Strangely I just checked again and the NVR is working. The Playback function delivers time-outs however there are no outages visible from the PoE camera’s.

Let’s wait some more time. I’ll keep you all posted and TonyR thank you for your quick responses so far!
 
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NVR just lost the connection. The static IP that I’ve set just jumped back to 192.168.1.108.

It’s really frustrating me….

It would be pretty hard to believe this is hard coded in the NVR. If this was my box I would do the following because you have nothing to lose!

  • Factory reset the NVR to a out of the box OEM state.
  • NVR: Ensure the unit is set to DHCP.
  • Router: Assign a Static IP Address via MAC Reservation that is outside the DHCP Pool for the NVR. Verify nothing else has the same MAC Address / IP Address!
  • Do not connect anything else to the NVR like cameras.

Reboot the NVR five times and it should have the same reserved IP Address. Follow up in a day, week, month to see if the NVR reverts back to the default IP Address.

If it does throw it in the garbage, get a refund, initiate a warranty repair.
 
Thanks @Teken for your response. I will set it to DHCP this evening as the NVR sits at a friend’s home.

If the issue comes back I will put it back to the factory default settings because a MAC reservation did not yet have any effect so far. The ISP router did not reboot and yet lost connection with the NVR.

Putting it out of the DHCP pool also didn’t work so far. I will update in +/- 72 hours because that’s the timeframe it usually loses it’s address
 
Thanks @Teken for your response. I will set it to DHCP this evening as the NVR sits at a friend’s home.

If the issue comes back I will put it back to the factory default settings because a MAC reservation did not yet have any effect so far. The ISP router did not reboot and yet lost connection with the NVR.

Putting it out of the DHCP pool also didn’t work so far. I will update in +/- 72 hours because that’s the timeframe it usually loses it’s address

For the benefit of others who may be asking or running into similar problems. I am going to call out some of the things you noted was done in post 1.

But, is NOT Industry Best Practices . . .

The target device will be either assigned a Static IP Address, Assigned a DHCP Leased Address, or Reserved IP Address based on MAC. You do NOT assign a Static IP Address anywhere else besides the target device or from the Firewall / Router / DHCP Server.

This must be done only in a single location / service . . .

You do NOT run more than a single DHCP Server unless you know what you're doing and it serves a specific edge case. Such as another isolated network that provides specific services etc. Outside of the NVR being hard coded which is extremely hard to believe.

Any device that is acting strange should always be factory reset to a good known state. Doing so will remove configuration conflicts / errors. Sometimes you may have to reflash the firmware or upgrade the same to resolve a corrupted system or to fix an unknown bug.

The reason you reboot the device more than once is many devices will install the firmware. But, won't fully load everything that was asked of it. Rebooting the target device several times will quickly mimic a request to release the IP Address and reach out to the DHCP Server for the assigned IP address.

This is a dynamic tests of the entire network infrastructure . . .

A static test would be to allow the reserved IP Address to be accepted by the NVR. Once accepted and assigned whatever it's supposed to be - unplug the Ethernet cable. You will see one of two scenarios where the assigned IP Address will remain the same or it will revert back to whatever the default is.

This is important to note because many network devices have a Fall Back Address to ensure Joe Public can follow the RTFM because the IP Address is known and is from the User Manual. Most devices have a Watch Dog timer for different aspects of the system to determine state of health, reachability, and operation.

In the above scenario (IF) the NVR keeps the assigned IP Address. The next step is to reboot the NVR to see what happens and dollars to donuts it will return to the default or assigned address. This is expected because the NVR is set to DHCP and can't obtain a lease / reserved IP Address and thus falls back to the default IP.

Every network device is supposed to follow industry best practices of keeping the assigned address unless its rebooted. Because it also has a lease time before it releases the IP address it was given and this only applies to when its NOT connected to the DHCP Server / Firewall / Router.
 
@Teken loud and clear. Right now it’s on DHCP because the router of the Dutch ISP has a hardcoded DHCP scope, so changing to 192.168.1.X is not possible.

What I did do is:
  • removed NTP server
  • removed local time sync. Maximum is 168 hours (7 days)
  • keep the NVR on DHCP without MAC reservation

If the NVR stays reachable for a longer period of time it must be a NVR local time/date issue and factory reset will follow up. End of this week, maybe Saturday I will update again.
 
Unfortunately my last changes did not resolve the issue. After using different static IP-address on the NVR it changed back to the factory default of 192.168.1.108 instead of 192.168.2.250 after TonyR’s advice.

In the log files of the NVR I’m not able to find any logs or information related to reboot, network outages or a different technical issue. Does maybe somebody experienced the same in the past?

I work in IT for 14 years but can’t find a logic reason why the NVR keeps changing it’s static IP-address (set by me) back to 192.168.1.108.

Does anyone have an idea why this keeps happening?

Hi Fernando,

is the NVR losing power ?
DO you have it on a UPS ?

( test to see if this is a power issue, or reboot issue .. )
 
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