***PSA for those with a New DAHUA NVR with Built-in PoE switch
- Thread starter bigredfish
- Start date
Hi,
Here comes a stupid question..
I'm going to buy NVR5208-8P-4KS2E and a IPC-T5442TM-AS and install it at my mothers place (and then more cameras..)
I want to be able to access it outside.
See pic below.
1. Whats the difference between Remote Access via P2P and Remote Access via Port Forward? - which one is best? (most secure)
2. What's smart PSS?
3. Mobile app - It's says DMSS below, but i always find qDMSS here on the forum. wht's the difference?
Thanks!!
Here comes a stupid question..
I'm going to buy NVR5208-8P-4KS2E and a IPC-T5442TM-AS and install it at my mothers place (and then more cameras..)
I want to be able to access it outside.
See pic below.
1. Whats the difference between Remote Access via P2P and Remote Access via Port Forward? - which one is best? (most secure)
2. What's smart PSS?
3. Mobile app - It's says DMSS below, but i always find qDMSS here on the forum. wht's the difference?
Thanks!!
Attachments
You're going to get bombarded with posts saying not to do either. I'm just going to answer the question. Overall the security is pretty similar although I'd give a slight edge to P2P. With either one, the security vulnerability is determined by the security of the camera and NVR firmware, which will likely (IMO) be the same for either port forward or P2P. The wildcard with P2P is if Dahua's P2P server intentionally or by hacking assists in compromising your cameras or NVR. With port forwarding, the open port can be detected and attacked. In both cases, the firmware in the cameras and NVR provides the defense against attacks. This firmware has a pretty bad history. In the last couple of years Dahua has beefed it up considerably. Is it reasonably secure now? Does it have back doors? I haven't seen any reliable reports either way.
If you port forward you need to have a static IP address from your ISP, or set up a DDNS service so the remote client can reach the NVR and/or cameras. With P2P neither is needed, as both of your endpoints are registered with the P2P server which reports their IP addresses to each another. SmartPSS is a PC application that lets you do remote viewing on a Windows PC. Once you get past its bugs and quirks it works pretty good. I tried DMMS a bit, thought it was pretty lame, and quit using it. It's always possible it was just me not understanding how to use it. One way to reduce your exposure is to not allow Internet access by the cameras, and view them through the NVR. That way you're exposing only one Dahua device to the Internet instead of many.
If you port forward you need to have a static IP address from your ISP, or set up a DDNS service so the remote client can reach the NVR and/or cameras. With P2P neither is needed, as both of your endpoints are registered with the P2P server which reports their IP addresses to each another. SmartPSS is a PC application that lets you do remote viewing on a Windows PC. Once you get past its bugs and quirks it works pretty good. I tried DMMS a bit, thought it was pretty lame, and quit using it. It's always possible it was just me not understanding how to use it. One way to reduce your exposure is to not allow Internet access by the cameras, and view them through the NVR. That way you're exposing only one Dahua device to the Internet instead of many.
Additionally using the built in PoE ports on that NVR adds a layer of protection as the cameras are on an otherwise unreachable subnet (default 10.1.1.x)
Smartpss is a program you install on a pc or laptop that allows easier/better live viewing and downloading of clips than using the NVR interface.
gdmss is simply the android version of the DMSS app
gdmss is simply the android version of the DMSS app
Thanks for great answers! Now I understand 
One more questions. I could see here that it's recommended to do all settings in the camera and not the NVR ?
What happens if I do settings in the NVR (for example motion detection), will the motion detection still be made in the camera or in the NVR?
I mean, is the NVR changing the settings in the camera or is there a motion detection in the NVR?
One more questions. I could see here that it's recommended to do all settings in the camera and not the NVR ?
What happens if I do settings in the NVR (for example motion detection), will the motion detection still be made in the camera or in the NVR?
I mean, is the NVR changing the settings in the camera or is there a motion detection in the NVR?
That depends on the NVR and Camera. It’s not that easy to understand but some NVRs have AI capability (those models with an I in their model number). That means they can carry out the analysis rather than the camera and generate events. However if you also have AI cameras then you can choose whether the camera does the detection or the NVR - confusing? Yes. 
So generally it seems better to use the cameras for analysis rather than the NVR which is better setup on the camera GUI directly. The NVR can push IVS rules etc to the camera but it can be flaky. From my experience I tend to use non AI NVRs and fit AI cameras allowing the cameras to do the IVS rule setting and detection. This seems to work well and saves money when buying the NVR.
So generally it seems better to use the cameras for analysis rather than the NVR which is better setup on the camera GUI directly. The NVR can push IVS rules etc to the camera but it can be flaky. From my experience I tend to use non AI NVRs and fit AI cameras allowing the cameras to do the IVS rule setting and detection. This seems to work well and saves money when buying the NVR.
^^^^^
THIS
in theory yes the NVR will push settings to the camera. In practice however, it can get messy using both. Just start with the notion of making most changes on the camera as the default option. Use the NVR for its main purpose, recording. If some higher level AI functions exist on the NVR that you need and aren’t available on the camera, stop back and we’ll work through those individually.
THIS
in theory yes the NVR will push settings to the camera. In practice however, it can get messy using both. Just start with the notion of making most changes on the camera as the default option. Use the NVR for its main purpose, recording. If some higher level AI functions exist on the NVR that you need and aren’t available on the camera, stop back and we’ll work through those individually.
Huge thanks to the OP. This is exactly what I needed to get into the game with IP cameras. I picked up everything from Andy, and with the help of this post, I was able to setup a camera and test everything out. The only problem I had was that my IP address is not .1, but .0, so it needed to be 192.168.0.254 Once I had that figured out I was off to the races.
Thanks again!
Thanks again!
One issue I had while working with three Dahau cameras via the 4108-8P-4KS2 NVR is that the eight ports seem to be two separate four port switches. I have three cameras connected to ports 1,2, and 3 and for some reason if I plug a computer to configure the cameras into ports 5,6,7, or 8, I cannot connect. I can only connect on port 4. It took me a few days to figure this out. Maybe something can be configured differently, regardless I am good as I can access my cameras.
Just passing this on in case someone has a similar issue.
Just passing this on in case someone has a similar issue.
Good catch. They do indeed seem to be segmented in 4 ports. Though I have a 4116 with 5 cameras and was experimenting. I’m able to plug cam 1into port 6, leaving port 1 empty and it worked fine.
I did note that it took 5-10 minutes to find it and you have to remember to hit refresh at bottom to get it to auto connect . Don’t try and manually move it from top pane to bottom or it will use the wrong port (37777)
I did note that it took 5-10 minutes to find it and you have to remember to hit refresh at bottom to get it to auto connect . Don’t try and manually move it from top pane to bottom or it will use the wrong port (37777)
My setup for the past year is exactly as bigredfish describes in Post #1. In short, my NVR-5216-16P-4KS2E (using default 192.168.1.108) automatically assigned each of the 12 cameras an IP address in the 10.1.1.x range. No issues.
However, my current 5-year old router that is provided by the cable company is failing. I'm going to be replacing it with the exact same model number but I'm assuming the new router will have a different IP address. That being said, I was thinking of doing the following steps to replace the router:
1 - Disconnect the ethernet wire from the NVR but leaving the cameras still plugged into the back of it, and leaving the NVR power "on",
2 - Swap out the new router for the old router
3 - Double check to make sure new router is functioning properly with the other devices like Smart TVs, cable boxes, cell phones, etc
4 - Re-connect ethernet wire to the back of the NVR.......and since I'm using the NVR default 192.168.1.108, everything should connect and work as before.
Is there something I'm overlooking? For example, should I "shut down" the NVR before disconnecting the ethernet wire, should I unplug the cameras, is there going to be IP address conflicts, etc?
However, my current 5-year old router that is provided by the cable company is failing. I'm going to be replacing it with the exact same model number but I'm assuming the new router will have a different IP address. That being said, I was thinking of doing the following steps to replace the router:
1 - Disconnect the ethernet wire from the NVR but leaving the cameras still plugged into the back of it, and leaving the NVR power "on",
2 - Swap out the new router for the old router
3 - Double check to make sure new router is functioning properly with the other devices like Smart TVs, cable boxes, cell phones, etc
4 - Re-connect ethernet wire to the back of the NVR.......and since I'm using the NVR default 192.168.1.108, everything should connect and work as before.
Is there something I'm overlooking? For example, should I "shut down" the NVR before disconnecting the ethernet wire, should I unplug the cameras, is there going to be IP address conflicts, etc?
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
When you get the new router, you want to make sure that it indeed is configured for a 192.168.1.xxx subnet, if it's not, then you would have to change the IP's of every thing on your network, not just the NVR. So, it's much easier to change the routers IP instead at time of install. Your plan with the NVR otherwise should work fine. If the cable co's coming to install the router, make them check that the router is on the 192.168.1.xxx range.
Agree with @looney2ns , make sure the default network is 192.168.1.x first. Ive also found it may require a reboot of the NVR once connected back to the network, sometimes the router doesnt "find it" right away.
I hope someone still reads this thread - i am looking for some help.
I bought Amcrest nvr 4108-POE and flashed it to Dahua V4.001.0000005.1, Build Date: 2020-11-26 firmware and also bought cams from Andy here. I connected cam1 to nvr and tried to follow this thread.
Cam was detected by NVR and I could see live image on the nvr screen. Next I pointed my Firefox to the nvr address on my network, logged in and tried to open camera interface by clicking the blue IE icon in the camera list. It turns out I could not access cam server because Firefox blocks port 10080 (since Nov 2020 due to some malvware security issues). I enabled access to this port in Firefox and was able to login into camera (cam had the same admin pass as nvr as described in this thread) and I could also see live stream, change setting etc.
My first question - is there a way to remap this 10080 port to a different one? I was looking for network setting in the NVR but could get any clue how to change this default behavior
My second question - when I am logged into nvr (using Firefox) and go to Live View when I click on the cmera stream it prompts to download certificate, which I do. But I can't import this certificate into Firefox. General installation of the certificate into the system does not help either - any suggestions how to deal with this certificate issue? to get live view from cameras from nvr?
My third question - I installed SPSS, it basically works and I can see camera stream and other settings. My gripe is it defaults to run with administrator privileges - has anyone tried to make it run as a general user (not an administrator) and if it works ?
Many thanks
I bought Amcrest nvr 4108-POE and flashed it to Dahua V4.001.0000005.1, Build Date: 2020-11-26 firmware and also bought cams from Andy here. I connected cam1 to nvr and tried to follow this thread.
Cam was detected by NVR and I could see live image on the nvr screen. Next I pointed my Firefox to the nvr address on my network, logged in and tried to open camera interface by clicking the blue IE icon in the camera list. It turns out I could not access cam server because Firefox blocks port 10080 (since Nov 2020 due to some malvware security issues). I enabled access to this port in Firefox and was able to login into camera (cam had the same admin pass as nvr as described in this thread) and I could also see live stream, change setting etc.
My first question - is there a way to remap this 10080 port to a different one? I was looking for network setting in the NVR but could get any clue how to change this default behavior
My second question - when I am logged into nvr (using Firefox) and go to Live View when I click on the cmera stream it prompts to download certificate, which I do. But I can't import this certificate into Firefox. General installation of the certificate into the system does not help either - any suggestions how to deal with this certificate issue? to get live view from cameras from nvr?
My third question - I installed SPSS, it basically works and I can see camera stream and other settings. My gripe is it defaults to run with administrator privileges - has anyone tried to make it run as a general user (not an administrator) and if it works ?
Many thanks
OK, I tried to hook up my 5th camera to my NVR, and it does detect something, but it's not recognizing it like it does all of the other cameras. It assigns the camera to IP adddress 10.1.1.xxx while the others are 10.1.1.xx and numerical in order. The status is red, but it does list the device name and the type correctly. It is an EmpireTech NVR5208-8P-4KS2E NVR, and the camera giving me fits is a Loryta IPC-T5442TM-AS 2.8mm Fixed Lens. Everything was purchased from Andy and has worked flawlessly until it was time to run the cable and hook up the next camera this weekend.
I plugged it in just like I have all of my other cameras and this was the result in spite of my trying the following:
1. It is about a 125ft run with underground rated Cat6 cable. I've now moved the camera to a 5ft length of ethernet cable and brought it in the house.
2. I have tried deleting the cameras in the NVR, and powering off the unit. I have then disconnected them, fired the NVR back up, and plugged them back in in different ports. Everything is discovered correctly each time, with the exception of the new camera.
I'm not sure where to go from here. Do I attempt to manually add it somehow?
I plugged it in just like I have all of my other cameras and this was the result in spite of my trying the following:
1. It is about a 125ft run with underground rated Cat6 cable. I've now moved the camera to a 5ft length of ethernet cable and brought it in the house.
2. I have tried deleting the cameras in the NVR, and powering off the unit. I have then disconnected them, fired the NVR back up, and plugged them back in in different ports. Everything is discovered correctly each time, with the exception of the new camera.
I'm not sure where to go from here. Do I attempt to manually add it somehow?
Have you changed the IP address of the camera in IP Config? Dahua uses 192.168.1.108 as a default IP for both NVRs and cameras. I kept having a conflict and it acted the same as you until I change my Dahua NVR to a different IP address. Every time I add a camera I will change the IP after it's setup to prevent conflicts in the future.
dahuawiki.com
DahuaWiki
dahuawiki.com
Have you changed the IP address of the camera in IP Config? Dahua uses 192.168.1.108 as a default IP for both NVRs and cameras. I kept having a conflict and it acted the same as you until I change my Dahua NVR to a different IP address. Every time I add a camera I will change the IP after it's setup to prevent conflicts in the future.
DahuaWiki
Not yet. I'll give it a try and report back. Thanks for the link!