Why is everyone desperate to upgrade firmware?

[Lunchietey]

OK so I am a super NOOB to IP stuff and have just finished my first part of my install around my house.

Stage one has been,
NVR - Hikvision DS-7608NI-E2/8P with 4TB WD Purple drive(will add a second drive later)
2 x DS-2CD2232-I5 3MP Bullets
1 x DS-2CD3332-I 3MP 'Turret'
APC UPS to protect it.

This all covers the front of the house and the front door. Installation was easy and worked essentially plug and play. I already have a great image and it is a substantial increase in quality over my last Ebay sourced 5 cam TVL system.

So it all works quite well so whats the reason there seems to be an 'obsession' to upgrade every cam's software? So I have a great image, everything works and yet every second topic is "I want to change software...?"

 

[fenderman]

There is no need to update the cameras if they are not directly exposed to the internet-which they should never be. The old firmware is just fine..I have cameras running on the very early versions of 5 firmware with ZERO issues. See this thread and/or comment there for any further discussion on this subject. http://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/3636-IP-Cameras-Update-Firmware-Or-Not-Update-Firmware-What-s-Best-Practice?highlight=mongering

 

[fenderman]

As stated many times in the past. Please substantiate that with documentation from the manufacturer otherwise.

Thanks for your opinion.

Don

I am not going to rehash this argument again . The users can go read your fear mongering nonsense in the thread I linked to. Do not post anything further on this subject here. Any further posts by you will be deleted.

 

[Lunchietey]

Ah ok, I guess that highlights my 'NOOBieness' to IP cams of this quality. I had no idea about some of those features etc. Probably something I won't ever need and as such I wouldn't risk all the issues people have by updating the firmware but at least I get the point of all the hassle if you really wanted/needed specific features

Doing more reading of my own, I noticed some are also shopping around and buying odd cams from wherever is cheap and getting Chinese cams etc and trying to change them to English etc

Thanks for the info Fenderman and the PDF was a great read!

Seeing as my cams are running stand alone, I will have no need to update

 

[NVR]

Most of us here know what we got before we got it, Chinese or English-Hacked cams. Considering the high possibilities of bricking your cam and time spent loosing hair, it is not worth it. They are working just fine the way they are in English or in Chinese. Chrome translate the Chinese version just fine, We rarely need to go inside the cam other then for first time setup.
As far as security, although the cams are on a certain ports, none of these ports are forwarded. This cancels out any possible remote hacking if indeed any of these updates evolve around this topic.

If you have someone sitting outside your house scanning for camera ports ( which will only work locally since theyre not forwarded) then attempting to hack the cams password, then you have bigger issues to deal with than a FW update.

 

[NVR]

Ah ok, I guess that highlights my 'NOOBieness' to IP cams of this quality. I had no idea about some of those features etc. Probably something I won't ever need and as such I wouldn't risk all the issues people have by updating the firmware but at least I get the point of all the hassle if you really wanted/needed specific features

Doing more reading of my own, I noticed some are also shopping around and buying odd cams from wherever is cheap and getting Chinese cams etc and trying to change them to English etc

Thanks for the info Fenderman and the PDF was a great read!

Seeing as my cams are running stand alone, I will have no need to update

The Chinese cams are perfectly fine, 8 of my 10 cams are all in Chinese, I translated them in Chrome, changed the default password, changed the port and never had to go back in there again, no need to touch even if in Chinese.

 

[alastairstevenson]

One reason to look at upgrades is the expectation of useful new features.
As a for example, something that I'd value in the NVR web GUI is a playback timeline for continuous recording that is marked with the camera events such as intrusion detection and line crossing detection, such as exists in QNAP Surveillance Station. It does exist in the NVR VGA/HDMI access, so it might be reasonable to expect the code to be added to the web GUI as a useful enhancement. That expectation has not yet been met.

We all know that we can't rely much on Hikvision's change logs to document all useful changes, they don't go into enough detail for people to make an informed decision about whether an upgrade would be worth doing.
Significant changes that I've seen in recent NVR firmware versions include for example dropping ONVIF support, enhanced support for configuring actions for smart video analytics events, HTTPS support, channel zero support, digital zoom on playback, enforced improved authentication measures, a fresh-looking style etc.

 

[Del Boy]

I don't always agree with the knowledgeable @fenderman, but I 100% agree that don't touch it if it's fine. I have cameras running on early versions of 5.0, some on 5.1.6 and a few Chinese ones on 5.2.5 with no problems. The only thing I would like to upgrade is my NVR to 3.3.2 (so that I get virtual host) but then the push notifications break, so upgrading at times can actually make you worse off!

It's not just IP cams though. I run my "old" iPhone 5S on iOS 7. I don't see the benefits of iOS 8 outweighing the slowdown of running it. Plus the fact whenever I update it goes wrong and I have to reset it back to factory defaults... so it's not just Chinese cams but supported devices from the world's biggest company! Don't get me started about car firmwares... it's very rare for you to upgrade that, yet they are available!

OP, I think you'll find it's mostly inexperienced who update the firmware. When it goes wrong (even for International cameras) and you ask why, they don't have a good answer.

The other problem with firmware updates from Chinese manufacturers is that they often change the mainboard... therefore the version you are updating yours to might not be supported as you don't have the v2 main board revision. This is a common problem with ASUS, ASRock and similar big name brands for computer motherboards. The only way of knowing... opening up your computer and looking.

So here's hoping for NVR v3.3.3 which is less buggy than my current earlier version.

 

[corkangel76]

Why is this guy constantly a douche, rude, and a fear monger? Seriously dude, be nice or STFU!

Why do you update any device that has the ability to be updated?

Because there is no such thing as "Perfect Software".

Much like any device that has updates available from time to time. There are valid and good reasons to update software when the manufacturer of that device releases updates.

While some may make totally unsubstantiated claims ("As they have") that there is "Nothing" and "No Reasons" to update. Those claims are nothing besides opinions that are contrary to both the manufactures suggestions are well as common sense for anyone who also has other devices that have software updates of some kind.

Here are a list of the recent ("Documented") firmware changes for NVR/DVR 3.3.1 and IP Cameras 5.3.0:

http://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/4348-Hikvision-IPC-Firmware-v5-3-0-New-Features-Release-Notes-PDF

Note: While it maybe impossible from time to time to upgrade software devices due to them being purchased in "Gray Markets". That has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that "Best Practice" is that when/if that device does support using specific updates from the manufacturer to install those updates. When those updates and/or retrofitted versions of those updates have been shown to be stable.

If you don't feel that's correct. Then I suggest that you completely stop implementing ("Any and All") software updates supplied by their manufacturers to ("All") your other devices when those updates are/were stable enough to be installed.

I wish you "Good Luck" on that journey!

Don

 

[badmop]

If it's not broke, mess with it, and it will be. LOL
I have experienced that on all kinds of things, weather it's android apps or what. If it's doing what you need it to do at the time, don't tinker.
Now if it becomes a security fix, then an update is best to happen. Just my thoughts.