Sweet! LTS is releasing an ONVIF compatible doorbell with SD card slot and 940nm IR

Bitslizer said:
That's the version I meant, try again later or tomorrow, or rebooting the doorbell? Mine started loading fine again next day after I got that error... Shrug
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Thanks :) Will give it a shot. hopefully I like this more than hikconnect and will stick with it because the hikconnect is terrible with motion. but I do love that I can record to a local nas
 
I sort of hate adding another post to what is already a brain-buster of a thread, but thanks to all who have posted about how to work with the HikVision doorbells. I've been futzing with a Nelly's NSC-DB1 for a week or so, and have been struggling to decide whether it's worth the trouble. Spending a couple of hours today reading all 1,344 posts currently in this thread leads me to think I rushed into buying one, but oh well. At least now I know the ONVIF I treated as a steadfast requirement means squat as far as doing much with my basic Dahua NVR (no motion detection, possible conflict with other streaming), and I've picked up a few tricks here on how to recover from the "device is offline" problem I've had about 85% of the time with the dang thing.
 
Bitslizer said:
That's the version I meant, try again later or tomorrow, or rebooting the doorbell? Mine started loading fine again next day after I got that error... Shrug
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Just wanted to say thanks for the recommendation of the RCA app. App is stellar! Not a single false notification as of yet, been 48+ hours at this point.

Only gripe is that I cannot jist swipe to remove the motion notification, have to actually go into the app. But at lease its steady!

Thanks again!
 
elitef said:
Just wanted to say thanks for the recommendation of the RCA app. App is stellar! Not a single false notification as of yet, been 48+ hours at this point.

Only gripe is that I cannot jist swipe to remove the motion notification, have to actually go into the app. But at lease its steady!

Thanks again!
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Well, so you probably want to check to make sure that motion detection is actually working by watching in front of the camera. Sometime no false notification maybe a sign that it's not working at all :p
 
klunkerbus said:
I sort of hate adding another post to what is already a brain-buster of a thread, but thanks to all who have posted about how to work with the HikVision doorbells. I've been futzing with a Nelly's NSC-DB1 for a week or so, and have been struggling to decide whether it's worth the trouble. Spending a couple of hours today reading all 1,344 posts currently in this thread leads me to think I rushed into buying one, but oh well. At least now I know the ONVIF I treated as a steadfast requirement means squat as far as doing much with my basic Dahua NVR (no motion detection, possible conflict with other streaming), and I've picked up a few tricks here on how to recover from the "device is offline" problem I've had about 85% of the time with the dang thing.
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what do you mean conflict with other streaming? I (finally) got everything set up the way I wanted, 24/7 recording to my Dahua NVR, but using the Hikconnect (RCA App) for Motion Detection and push notification. The MD wont work on the NVR, but I can get the timestamp off Hikconnect and use that to find the recording. My Device offline problem was solved by a combination of solving the wifi signal issue and resetting and readding it to Hikconnect
 
Just a quick update, here is what my final extended antenna solution looks like

Not too noticeable with the baby gate camouflaging it had

The cable other than a short 4 inches stretch are hidden behind the couch, the best I can do without opening baseboard and quarter rounds to hide the cable

The flat panel directional antenna helps a lot compared to the stubby antenna from the router I was organically using for testing this extended antenna solution

My 2.4ghz signal strength is through the roof (better than -40 Dbm) according to my phone's wifi analyzer app when I'm standing by the door bell just inside the house
 

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Bitslizer said:
what do you mean conflict with other streaming? ...
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On initial setup, I rambo'd through a lot as far as setting up the NVR (I believe it's a rebranded Dahua N42B2) and the cameras it came with, multiple apps for the NVR on multiple PCs and phones, the NSC-DB1 doorbell, and multiple apps for the doorbell on my PC and on multiple phones. What I found was that little with the doorbell was ever working, although the ONVIF feed to the NVR was usually working. Either the doorbell would be offline, or I'd get no notifications from it on either of the phones.

I may get back to to trying the connection to the NVR again with info I've learned here. I'm very grateful for the trick of re-adding the doorbell at hik-connect. That should be helpful.

For now, I'm slowly working through things one at a time so I can monitor how things go and see what breaks things. Nelly's replaced the NSC-DB1 since the lens on the first had a blemish that bloomed at night. I've moved one of my Ubiquiti access points to improve the Wifi signal. I've rerouted most of the doorbell wiring to power it off a UPS and now drive my chimes off a custom circuit that "fixes" the no-dong, or too-close ding-dong forced by the serial connection of the doorbell and the chime.

I've been rock solid with notifications to Guarding Vision on one phone for about a day; after another day or so I'll try adding notifications to a second phone. If that works, I'll then try adding the doorbell to the NVR again.
 
WannaTheater said:
...
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Thought I'd mention that the same "old" version is available through Nelly's Security as their NSC-DB1. Mine was received without any branding on it. AFAIK, the online "quick start" guide Nelly's provides for the doorbell is second to none, and support from Nelly's has been great for me. They have a thread on the NSC-DB1 in the ipcamtalk vendor area at NEW 1080P WiFi Video Doorbell.
 
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I wish their wedge mounts were cheaper because for my Ring Pro, I had 4 wedges to bring it out to face the way I need, plus 1 facing down, so 4 side wedges and 1 tilt wedge. Purchasing that from Nelly's would be the cost of a new doorbell.
Seems silly
 
currently using la view doorbell camera on fw: 171219 and to my understanding all the fw are interchangeable. I downloaded 20180629 build on here but is there a place i can find the older fw builds? Does anyone have fw: 171219 just in case I can downgrade since it was stable for me. I want to test if fw: 20180629 actually get rids of the "subscriber is not available" messages since some say that fw does.
 
FWIW, the Nelly's Security firmware downloads page has firmware from 171201, 171218, 180505, and 180726 available. Select the camera type, NSC brand, and then model NSC-DB1.

Edit: Maybe not the EXACT date stamps you're looking for, but my belief is all in the same general timeframe are actually the same file from HikVision.
 
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Bitslizer said:
... I (finally) got everything set up the way I wanted, 24/7 recording to my Dahua NVR, but using the Hikconnect (RCA App) for Motion Detection and push notification. The MD wont work on the NVR, but I can get the timestamp off Hikconnect and use that to find the recording. My Device offline problem was solved by a combination of solving the wifi signal issue and resetting and readding it to Hikconnect
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Can you clarify a few things?

Am I correct to interpret your references to Hikconnect to mean RCA Security app as your preferred flavor of Hikconnect? I noticed it hasn't been updated as recently as all the others. I wonder if that's part of why it might be better for some. Do you know how it compares to Uniden One I gather was (also) for the RCA/Uniden U-Bell? I see it hasn't been updated for a while either.

How do you "reset" your doorbell? I'm only aware of doing that by power cycle or rebooting via the doorbell's web log-in. Is there some other way through one of the hikconnect apps?

Do you do anything through the hik-connect url? IIRC, someone here suggested that was the best place to "re-add" a device that has been having issues. That's what I've been doing in my NSC-DB1 "phase 2".

I'm also curious as to what you use for an app with the Dahua NVR. Edit: Any whether you record the doorbell 24/7 or only record it when the NVR detects an event on some other channel.
 
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klunkerbus said:
Can you clarify a few things?

Am I correct to interpret your references to Hikconnect to mean RCA Security app as your preferred flavor of Hikconnect? I noticed it hasn't been updated as recently as all the others. I wonder if that's part of why it might be better for some. Do you know how it compares to Uniden One I gather was (also) for the RCA/Uniden U-Bell? I see it hasn't been updated for a while either.

How do you "reset" your doorbell? I'm only aware of doing that by power cycle or rebooting via the doorbell's web log-in. Is there some other way through one of the hikconnect apps?

Do you do anything through the hik-connect url? IIRC, someone here suggested that was the best place to "re-add" a device that has been having issues. That's what I've been doing in my NSC-DB1 "phase 2".

I'm also curious as to what you use for an app with the Dahua NVR.
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I have both Hikconnect app and RCA app, but with the new RCA app if things are working fine I can see myself uninstalling the hikconnect app. Hikconnect can also be used interchangeably with their cloud backend service which ALL flavors of the app rely on. I have not used the Uniden app, and have but not used the LaView app for a while.

I have not yet tried multiple app + Dahua NVR (mine is a Amcrest rebadge), that's probably next that I'm fairly happy with the performance and false positive notification, so I can deploy this to my wife's phone

reset - not just a reboot, which can be accomplish on the device's web portal, but more like a factory reset. First remove the faceplate to access the reset buttons, then delete the device from the app, then re-add it to the App (using the App) and go through the Wifi setup. This may have fixed my MD video not loading on 180726 firmware, but be warned that the password will reset to the device's default password. I have not got time to try playing with it, but I'm leaving my doorbell on the default password right now. I suspect that my offline or no MD notification is either due to weak Wifi signal or that I was using a custom password. But at this point I'm more on the if it ain't broke, don't fix it stage and hesitant to play with the setting some more.

The doorbell being offline issue in the App even though it is still running on the NVR... see if you can rule out wifi signal issue first, half of my problems fixed itself as soon as I put in the extended antenna solution. FYR, i now have better than -40Dbm signal on the inside of the house by the wall where the doorbell is mounted, but when I go outside to put my phone next to the doorbell (Wood trim and wood frame exterior wall with vinyl siding) I'm only getting -60 or -65Dbm. With the weak wifi on the device it can easily cause a lot of intermittent connection issue. When you view your doorbell through the NVR, pay attention to the time stamp, does it progress steadily like a clock? or does it seem to speed up/slow down/skip randomly without rhyme or reason? That's one of the symptom of weak wifi, where the NVR stream from the doorbell is either maxing out the doorbell/wifi connection or the connection is intermittent. when you try to live view the doorbell or load a MD recording on the app while the NVR is streaming from the bell at the same time, it can easily overload the bad wifi connection and make the video not load or the hikconnect backend thinking it is offline. If using a wifi repeater or mesh unit or extended antenna is not possible, try lowering your bitrate for the stream to the NVR to see if that lead to a more stable connection.

Dahua NVR app, I ended up using the rebadge ADT VideoView Mobile app, as I found it works better on my phone, the Amcrest app would not work right when I was setting up the NVR over a year ago, not sure about now, the ADT app also let me view channel 0 which is what the NVR otuput to a monitor which is nice. ADT also have black background which save battery on my phone (OLED screen) what do you use? any recommendation?
 
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Thanks. That does clarify a few things, especially on the reset/reboot. So far in my recent round, the doorbell only went offline once after an intentional power reconfigure, and a reboot through the web portal and a delete/add at the hik-connect URL someone gave earlier (not any app) was all it took to get me back on track. No factory restore.

I certainly understand and agree with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I think I'm good on the WiFi level. My new location for the access point is actually farther away from the doorbell, but it's now in a normally unoccupied room and I can crank up the 2.4 GHz power level for that AP a bit to give the doorbell a stronger signal without overpowering other active WiFi devices in the area. What I remember reading when setting up my Ubiquiti stuff is that some devices start going into saturation over about -45 dBm, so going stronger may not always be better for all devices. I'll pay more attention to this as I progress to adding the doorbell to the NVR, etc. I do know that my Ubiquiti/Unifi controller is reporting excellent signal strength on what it is receiving back from the doorbell.

I haven't explored the NVR apps much yet, so thanks for the reference to the ADT one. So far I've been exposed to two - Lechange and MontavueGo. Lechange came about as a natural part of the install. I think the NVR prompted me to install EasyIP, which has apparently been replaced by Lechange. My NVR is a Monatvue rebadge, and the documentation referenced MontavueGo. I'm sure that's just a copy of some Dahua app, but I haven't dug into it yet. I don't record anything 24/7 - everything right now is event driven. As best I can tell, with Lechange app notifications to the phone are an all or none. It either reports all the events the NVR triggered on or I can get none of them. Also, something between Lechange, T-Mobile and our LG phones keeps us from being able to reliably look at live view or recordings when on the cell network, which is a big hindrance. I haven't spent any time trying to fix that. I have found MontavueGo is more reliable at being able to view things on the cell network and it gives me the option to pick and choose the channels I want to receive notifications from, even though the NVR is still recording all events. That's a step in the right direction for me, but I find it to be more cumbersome to use than Lechange. I'm mostly interested in figuring out the best "viewer" app for the NVR. Configuration changes and such I'll likely keep doing right at the NVR keyboard/monitor, at least for now.

Edit: A correction on the WiFi level. What I think I remember reading is that the "sweet spot" for most devices is between -45 dBm and -55 dBm, not that devices risk going into saturation at -45 dBm.
 
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klunkerbus said:
Thanks. That does clarify a few things, especially on the reset/reboot. So far in my recent round, the doorbell only went offline once after an intentional power reconfigure, and a reboot through the web portal and a delete/add at the hik-connect URL someone gave earlier (not any app) was all it took to get me back on track. No factory restore.

I certainly understand and agree with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I think I'm good on the WiFi level. My new location for the access point is actually farther away from the doorbell, but it's now in a normally unoccupied room and I can crank up the 2.4 GHz power level for that AP a bit to give the doorbell a stronger signal without overpowering other active WiFi devices in the area. What I remember reading when setting up my Ubiquiti stuff is that some devices start going into saturation over about -45 dBm, so going stronger may not always be better for all devices. I'll pay more attention to this as I progress to adding the doorbell to the NVR, etc. I do know that my Ubiquiti/Unifi controller is reporting excellent signal strength on what it is receiving back from the doorbell.

I haven't explored the NVR apps much yet, so thanks for the reference to the ADT one. So far I've been exposed to two - Lechange and MontavueGo. Lechange came about as a natural part of the install. I think the NVR prompted me to install EasyIP, which has apparently been replaced by Lechange. My NVR is a Monatvue rebadge, and the documentation referenced MontavueGo. I'm sure that's just a copy of some Dahua app, but I haven't dug into it yet. I don't record anything 24/7 - everything right now is event driven. As best I can tell, with Lechange app notifications to the phone are an all or none. It either reports all the events the NVR triggered on or I can get none of them. Also, something between Lechange, T-Mobile and our LG phones keeps us from being able to reliably look at live view or recordings when on the cell network, which is a big hindrance. I haven't spent any time trying to fix that. I have found MontavueGo is more reliable at being able to view things on the cell network and it gives me the option to pick and choose the channels I want to receive notifications from, even though the NVR is still recording all events. That's a step in the right direction for me, but I find it to be more cumbersome to use than Lechange. I'm mostly interested in figuring out the best "viewer" app for the NVR. Configuration changes and such I'll likely keep doing right at the NVR keyboard/monitor, at least for now.

Edit: A correction on the WiFi level. What I think I remember reading is that the "sweet spot" for most devices is between -45 dBm and -55 dBm, not that devices risk going into saturation at -45 dBm.
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I would recommend using a VPN to allow NVR access instead of just simply allowing open access to the NVR from the web. I also use T-mobile and does not have any problem with my samsung phone, but again I'm going through my Router's VPN server. ADT allows per camera notification, the updated Amcrest View Pro app seems to be working on my phone too but seem to have trouble viewing 2 of my channels for some reason, but it auto load all the channel which simplify the initial setup.

I would suggest you record the doorbell 24/7, the doorbell recording is on the SD card and not on the cloud, that's how hikvision provide the service for free (as they don't have to deal with storing your recording). Since MD is not working on the Dahua NVR with the doorbell, you would lose all footage if someone steal your doorbell
 
Chadsturgill said:
I capture all video from 7 cameras but only keep video where there is motion. Blue Iris always has the doorbell up and able to be seen anytime I launch my app. I have access to it remotely due to allowing the port forward through my firewall. Now the cloud based app, has been broken many times where it says the doorbell is offline when it clearly is connected to Blue Iris and working. My internet is fine, because I can stream the camera via Blue Iris remotely. So that tells me, the cloud service is not always up or connected to my camera. Just curious if others see the same results. The reason I care, is for the times someone might come up and hit the button. Funny thing here is sometimes I continue to get alerts via the app from the camera, but it shows offline and I can't see the image or live feed but the alerting is still working. Next time it goes offline I will test to see if ringing the doorbell still will trigger the in app calling of my phone. It may still work however, it seems very likely that they have a backend problem with maintaining a reliable connection to all these cameras in the field.
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I just updated from 171219 to 180726 and now the Laview App is showing my doorbell as offline. Nelly's site only has 171218, so I can't even go back to my original.
 
Thanks, that worked.

Another question. I have a regular mechanical chime. Instead of getting a ding dong sound, I'm only getting the ding.... Anyone have an idea how I can fix this? I don't the resistor installed and now sure what it would help.
 
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