PoE Cameras Not Detected by NVR

[keramics]

If anyone has a spare minute, this total newbie could use your sage wisdom and experience. I need some help figuring out what I (or my installers) might have done wrong trying to set up 2 Dahua 5442 cameras. The internet for my place goes to my router (Fios), and from there a run goes down to my HVAC closet where a PoE switch Netgear (GS308P) is placed. This switch provides internet to my living room and offices. My Dahua NVR5208-4KS2 is currently situated in one of my offices and plugged into the network there.

The installers came and mounted the cameras outside and ran PoE lines out to them from the HVAC closet (max distance of 40 ft. per run, if not shorter). They assured me they tested their lines before plugging everything in to make sure the wires weren't bad. I did not get a chance to do any sort of set-up before they mounted the cameras - they basically were the first ones to open the camera boxes. Both of the cameras are plugged into 2 of the 4 powered ports on the Netgear switch. I installed my WD Purple drive in my NVR and plugged it in, hoping that after a quick set-up, it would just detect the 2 cameras. Note that I'm not network savvy, so the NVR set-up for me was mostly just setting the time zone and video type as "NTSC" and not "PAL". However, I currently don't see either camera in the "Camera List" of the NVR GUI. I thought it would populate here and I could just hit "Add" and be all set.

Any help is appreciated for what might be wrong or what I can do to get these detected by the NVR! Thanks so much!!

 

[wittaj]

If the cameras were plugged in and powered at the same time prior to being initialized or connected to the NVR, you now probably have an IP address conflict OR because they are not connected to POE ports of the NVR, your home network is on one IP address range and the cameras are on another so they cannot be seen. Default IP address is 192.168.1.108. What is the IP address range of your LAN system - if it isn't 192.168.1.xxx you have some work to do.

You have to connect them one at a time to the NVR, or in your case since they are not connected directly to the NVR, you will need to manually add each one as the NVR probably will not find them.

This guide is for NVRs with POE ports on them, but still contains relevant information regarding how to add cameras:

***PSA for those with a New DAHUA NVR with Built-in PoE switch

IF you have a Dahua NVR with built-in PoE switch... DO NOT follow instructions telling you to use the config tool or switch the IP of your cameras or initialize anything..! With NVR's typically with a -P designation (Built-n PoE switch - example: 4208-8P-4KS2) none of that is required and it...

ipcamtalk.com

In the end, you may need to factory reset and start over.

AND....why aren't your installers figuring this out?

 

[mat200]

If anyone has a spare minute, this total newbie could use your sage wisdom and experience. I need some help figuring out what I (or my installers) might have done wrong trying to set up 2 Dahua 5442 cameras. The internet for my place goes to my router (Fios), and from there a run goes down to my HVAC closet where a PoE switch Netgear (GS308P) is placed. This switch provides internet to my living room and offices. My Dahua NVR5208-4KS2 is currently situated in one of my offices and plugged into the network there.

The installers came and mounted the cameras outside and ran PoE lines out to them from the HVAC closet (max distance of 40 ft. per run, if not shorter). They assured me they tested their lines before plugging everything in to make sure the wires weren't bad. I did not get a chance to do any sort of set-up before they mounted the cameras - they basically were the first ones to open the camera boxes. Both of the cameras are plugged into 2 of the 4 powered ports on the Netgear switch. I installed my WD Purple drive in my NVR and plugged it in, hoping that after a quick set-up, it would just detect the 2 cameras. Note that I'm not network savvy, so the NVR set-up for me was mostly just setting the time zone and video type as "NTSC" and not "PAL". However, I currently don't see either camera in the "Camera List" of the NVR GUI. I thought it would populate here and I could just hit "Add" and be all set.

Any help is appreciated for what might be wrong or what I can do to get these detected by the NVR! Thanks so much!!

Hi @keramics

In my experience, when you plug Dahua OEM cameras into the PoE ports of a Dahua OEM NVR it all works well.

However, when connecting from the LAN side of the NVR you will have to go through extra steps .. as listed above by @wittaj the cameras typically come with a 192.168.1.108 ip address which you will need to adjust.. also you probably will have to "manually" add the cameras in the NVRs interface iirc.

 

[garycrist]

On some of the new cams from Andy w/ NVR5216-16P-4KS2E NVR, All I did was plugged it in
and DHCP gave it the next IP in order.

 

[wittaj]

On some of the new cams from Andy w/ NVR5216-16P-4KS2E NVR, All I did was plugged it in
and DHCP gave it the next IP in order.

Yes, if you plug them in to the NVR POE ports, it should do that. The OP is using a POE switch in another room, so it will not behave in the same way as and you have to manually add the cameras into the NVR, along with some other steps to get the cameras on the same IP address range for the NVR to be able to see them. Although I think if someone had everything on the same IP address range, in some instances it might find one that is not plugged into the NVR port.

 

[garycrist]

Mine was through a Netgear POE to Asus Router to NVR

 

[wittaj]

Mine was through a Netgear POE to Asus Router to NVR

I am guessing your IP address of your router must be 192.168.1.XXX then?

 

[garycrist]

198.168.2.1

 

[wittaj]

And you didn't initialize the cameras first to put them on the .2 subnet? You simply plugged them into the router and they showed up in the NVR? You didn't change the subnet first or initialize the camera in any way?

 

[garycrist]

I did use the Config tool. It did the init. IIRC it the IP was already set to the next IP before I
could set it. I left it alone.

 

[wittaj]

OK that makes sense and that is probably the part the OP didn't do!

 

[keramics]

Hi Team, many thanks for all the insight. I will try unplugging one of them from the PoE switch and seeing if I can configure the other one that remains plugged in. Things are about to get crazy up in here!

AND....why aren't your installers figuring this out?

My installers are used to installing basic plug and play wifi cameras and doorbell cameras. I wanted to go the route of pro-sumer cameras. I'm sure if I had just ordered some Ring (their preferred brand), Blink, Reolinks, etc. then there wouldn't be as intense of a set-up process. Also, I bought these myself and simply asked them to mount the cameras and fish the ethernet cables through the ceiling and walls for me. But I'm hoping that once I get these bad boys up and running, they'll blow any regular consumer models out of the water, especially at night. If not, I'll return them and have some nice $400 holes in my doorway ceilings.

 

[wittaj]

OK, this will hopefully keep you from going crazy LOL

Your internal IP address (LAN) is probably different than the default IP address of the Dahua OEM cams. The default IP address for Dahua cams is 192.168.1.108.

The easiest way is to take a laptop or computer (if it has an ethernet port) or a tower and turn off wifi and connect the camera cable to the laptop (obviously you need power so if it is on a POE switch then connect a cable from the switch to the computer).

Then go into ethernet settings and manually change the IP address of the laptop to 192.168.1.100.

Then go to a browser and type in 192.168.1.108 (default IP address of Dahua cameras) and you will then access the camera.

Then change the camera to the IP address range of your home network (using the IPv4 settings), but have the last digits something not already assigned.

Then go back into ethernet settings and change the computer IP address back to what it was previously (probably DHCP)

Then replug in everything like it was and proceed from there.

Or download Dahua toolbox and run the batch config tool where you can Initialize the camera and change it's IP, but most of us do what I mentioned above as we do not like our cameras touching the internet.


OK, that makes sense with the installers. These cameras will blow away the consumer stuff the installers typically install!

 

[garycrist]

Just in case you do not have it....

Dahua Wiki

dahuawiki.com

 

[keramics]

OK, this will hopefully keep you from going crazy LOL

Thank you! Ok here are some updates:

I'm connected to internet but I'm on my desktop now.

First, I tried going to that IP address with the NVR plugged in as well as only 1 camera. It appears like I was able to "set up" that exact camera (time zone, password). However, I wasn't able to see a feed (maybe it was super slow at loading).

Next, I turned off the NVR and went back to the 192.168.1.108 address and logged into my camera. IT'S ALIVE! I can see the footage of the front of my house, so at least I know the camera works and has power and is providing data. I suspect maybe the NVR had the same IP address as previously mentioned.

So you're saying that now I should go into the TCP/IP settings and adjust the 192.168.1.108 IP address to something different?

Regarding "IP address range of your home network (using the IPv4 settings)", how might I determine this range?

 

[wittaj]

Yep the NVR is probably the same IP address.

If you are seeing the camera now, that means your home network is on the 192.168.1.XXX range, so you do not need to do anything with the IPv4 settings I mentioned above, you can simply go into the camera settings and either give it a fixed address that is 192.168.1.xxx where the xxx is not 108 or anything else on the network. Or tell it DHCP and let the network assign it.

 

[wittaj]

Once you get that taken care of, the next step if possible, is you should connect the cameras and the NVR to the same POE switch and then a cable from that switch to the router so that the camera data is not going thru the router.

Wifi routers are problematic for surveillance cameras because they are always streaming and passing data. And the data demands go up with motion and then you lose signal. A lost packet and it has to resend. It can bring the whole network down if trying to use it through a wifi router. At the very least it can slow down your system.

Unlike Netflix and other streaming services that buffer a movie, these cameras do not buffer up part of the video, so drop outs are frequent. You would be amazed how much streaming services buffer - don't believe me, start watching something and unplug your router and watch how much longer you can watch NetFlix before it freezes - mine goes 45 seconds. Now do the same with a wifi camera and it is fairly instantaneous (within the latency of the stream itself)...

The same issue applies if it is hard-wired trying to send all this non-buffer video stream through a router. Most consumer grade wifi routers are not designed to pass the constant video stream data of cameras, and since they do not buffer, you get these issues. The consumer routers are just not designed for this kind of traffic even a GB speed router.

Connecting the cameras and the NVR to the same switch will eliminate that.

 

[keramics]

Amazing! Glad I won't have to fidget with the addresses too much. So I'm going to adjust the addresses for both cameras now with the NVR off. Once both have been assigned new IP addresses, I should turn the NVR on and try to add them manually as mat200 suggested?

 

[wittaj]

If I were you, after you change the IP address of each camera, then plug in the NVR.

After the NVR boots up, then plug in one camera and give it 5 minutes to see if it populates in - sometimes you get lucky like @garycrist did. If it doesn't, then manually add it.

You are almost there now!

 

[keramics]

Ah, thanks for catching that point! I'll definitely try one at a time. Going to go swap the cameras that are plugged in now and set the IP for the second camera.