AaronHolio

Glad finding the thread helped. When I was first figuring out my system these forums helped me quite a bit. So onto your questions... Yes it is a little annoying that Q-See puts it on a subnet that you cannot access very easily.. Or more so, that they NVR doesn't allow you to configure ALL the settings you can configure via the direct camera web interface. It took me a month to realize that the camera was setting its own time to a different time zone (than the NVR) and every night at 2am rebooting and re-syncing its time to 1 hour ahead of the NVR. Among many other things, you cannot make several changes to the cameras without directly hitting their web interface. The good news is (as I think you've realized) if you buy your own PoE switch, you can put all the cameras on your local network (i.e. giving them all 192.168.x.x addresses) and the NVR will find them over its WAN port. Unfortunately while you can add a hundred cameras on your local LAN, the 804 will only let you add 4 of them -- or 8 for the QC808 -- or 16 for the QC8016, while the debate remains if the hardware is really much different between the units other than several hundred dollars in price. So you can take that route, I think I got a pretty good Zyxel PoE switch for around $110. Now, if you don't want to do that, you can connect up your cameras to your local LAN, use configtool.exe to find them on your network (assuming your router gave them a DHCP address), then right click and open them in Internut Exploder (no advanced controls are available in any other browser) -- install the activex cab file (select "Allow for all sites" or you'll be clicking that often) and then you can fine tune all the things the NVR doesn't allow you to set. There are lots of features you need to comb thru to get things just like you want. Something wise to do is change the camera's default login admin pw: admin to admin pw: so if someone taps into your network they can't jump right onto your camera. NOTE If you put your cameras on your main LAN, they will all try to set ports 85 37777 37778 via UPnP just like your NVR does. And guess what this causes? A whole lotta confusion to your router -- You'll need to go into your camera's network config and turn off the UPnP settings. None have to be on for the NVR to find them on the local LAN. And if you don't, your NVR won't be able to grab the ports itself.. So if you try to connect remotely, you'll be a bit confused that you'll get one camera at a time and it crashes.. I like to let my NVR handle all my viewing on the internet. So let your NVR have those ports, of it you really want, set the cameras to live on other ports.. although you'll have to take note of the info.. because you'll have a total of 15 camera related ports exposed to the internet world After you are done, plug it back into your NVR's subnet and it will keep the settings and you should be good to go. As for setting the camera to NEVER turn on the LED lights. As far as I've discovered, not possible. You can set the camera into black and white or color mode, as well as set times for it to change into each mode (or auto which is default), but no matter what, the LED lights turn on when they want to turn on. I actually took an odd route with 2 of my cameras, I used a dry erase black marker and blacked out all the glass (except the camera lens center of course) - and that caused the LED lights to always be on and be barely visible. Since I run all my cameras now in color mode 24/7 the IR light doesn't really matter. For the one part of my back yard that isn't bright enough, I have a motion sensing light so anytime something (including squirrels) is back there, it lights right up and the motion record feature turns on and it is all good. Q-See could have very easily (software wise), simply turned the on board PoE ports into a network bridge switch -- in other words, have it bridge into your LAN over its WAN port.. come to think of it, maybe it does do this. I never turned off its DHCP server. Perhaps I should have tried that. I was so angry that after I tried to plug a 5th camera into its 10.1.1.x network it freaked the whole thing out. I didn't even know it would detect cameras over its WAN port onto your local LAN until someone gave me the tip (although I did try but must have done something wrong the first time). You can do other things from the camera's manual configuration, like give it a unique device name (instead of the serial # as a name) - for example "FrontDoor" and various other things that make it much easier to deal with when it is on your LAN. If you don't have a PoE switch you can plug the camera into a 12v power supply and plug it into your non-PoE router. You could try plugging your computer into the PoE switch on the NVR, maybe get a DHCP address, and then use configtool.exe to find it.. although not sure that would work or not. If you do more than 4 cameras, just do yourself the favor and buy a good 16 port PoE switch for your entire network. Then you can see everything from the NVR and your computers. It is a shame that Q-See's NVR has such promise, yet such annoying shortfalls that it turns off a huge amount of customers. Heck, their PSS software feels so clunky and non user friendly that their Android software even feels more modern... and even it kind of stinks half the time. Their software always gives very generic error messages, has little to no mouse over tool tips, and their manuals barely cover anything. Their web interface only works with IE unless you want to do anything more advanced that look at the cameras, and to top it off the Active-X .cab control now crashes IE version 10 across several of their DVR (and this NVR model) A bit more processing power and some firmware updates and it would be close to a small enterprise class system. But they are hung up on such silly little issues. I only see them fixing some bugs in future firmware releases if we are lucky, and unlikely adding any new features (such as support for other browsers, more camera control without logging into the camera, etc). They seem to do the minimum on a platform, then release a new platform and ignore the previous models. As grumpy as I sound, I still like my system and will stick with it. Once they release the 8016 at a price that doesn't have an absolutely ridiculous price mark up, I've got several other sites to buy units for. Hope this helps.

I mentioned to q-see on their Facebook Page the issue about the flashing IR LED issue (mentioned before where the light sensor is seeing its own light from the IR LEDs causing it to go into an endless on/off loop) and they said they'd look into it. I really hope this means we get a firmware update for the cameras. If this issue or the RTSP stream corruption bug is bothering you too, I recommend going to Q-See's FB page and liking that wall post or adding a comment of your own to encourage them to address it.

Hey thanks for the well thought out and thorough review. If you can, take some pics of the various configuration screens and camera views and post them. Glad to see that it still sounds like the company (even with no protecting their trademark name?) is possibly going to stick around. The more competition for consumer grade IP cameras available via the bulk sellers like Costco the better IMO. I've got lots of clients and sites waiting for prices to drop on 8+ High Def IP camera systems and really hoping to see Q-See and others boost their total FPS processing capability so all the 1080p cameras can display at true 30FPS. Dividing 120FPS over 16 cameras is just lame. From my posts I've made discussing the Q-See systems: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=33196 viewtopic.php?f=19&t=33075 viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32554 You'll note that I am one of those users who doesn't much use the PC software/web browser to access some of my installs. I take the 1080p HDMI port on the NVR and feed it into a HDMI switch then feed it around to 32"+ monitors around the site for a good clean live feed. It really looks great that way and you don't have to have a PC or device burning thru CPU to decode the (slightly) delayed stream. For one install, I'm even working on taking the trigger alarm output to turn on the monitors at the location when there is activity. Which brings me to one more feature request for all DVR's. It would be very cool if they used the ability of VGA/HDMI to go into sleep mode (like when your PC shuts off your monitor until you move the mouse) when there is no activity, then awake based on activity as well as day/night timers.

Interesting. That sure brings up a list of questions. Looks like they have the HDIP logo still (https://www.trademarkia.com/company-pc-open-inc-3560836-page-1-2), I wonder if they were a one shot product attempt at Costco, or if there is something else going on with them. I notice that with all the time they've been for sale on Costco's site, only one review for the 8 channel system. http://www.costco.com/AvertX-8-Channel-Professional-IP-HD-Security-System-with-2TB-Hard-Drive-and-4-1080p-IP-Cameras-.product.100021434.html#BVRRWidgetID Someone suggested this was a Costco branded system, like a "Kirkland Security System" if you will.. But it doesn't look like "PC Open INC. company is anything tied to them. Notice the OpenEye logo on that link above? http://www.openeye.net/products/recorders/n-series So the mystery is, was AvertX a temporary attempt at a product name, or did they just go in a different direction (or fail?)

I just got the new months "online only" deal advert from Costco. Unfortunately they don't have the QC808 or QC8016 deal yet. So we've got another month to see if that shows up. They did have a deal on an analog 16 camera system, but not what we are waiting for. I did get a note from someone on the Facebook Q-See page that Sam'ss club is selling the QC808 now for $800. But with only 4 cameras. Seeing that I paid $600 for my QC804 with 4 cameras 4-5 months ago, I'm going to keep waiting. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/8-ch-4-cam-nvr-sys-4-hd-720p-ip-bul/prod9130159.ip?navAction=

- I see. Well doesn't seem to have any effect on this one. I just double checked and plugged it in then unplugged. Looks like they keep the PoE board pretty isolated from the main board.

FYI cross post link. I posted an image of the internals of the QC-804 QC-808 QC-8016 to this thread viewtopic.php?f=19&t=33196&p=211759

Heh - I tried to take the CPU heatsink/fan off, but it looks like the spring loaded hooks are connected on the other side of the board. Not something I'm in the mood to remove at the moment Sorry, are you meaning to say if I unplug the PoE PS it would reset the NVR? It doesn't seem to, or did you mean something else? Since I did those power readings on my kill-a-watt meter, I now have 6 cameras powered via a Zyxel PoE switch. Which brings my total power usage to 42.2w for 6 cameras (and PoE switch). Now minus the 3TB hard drive, going to put a 1.5TB in instead. So that dropped the total power by 3w or so until I replace it. My guess is that 2nd drive + external PoE + 6 cameras with IR LEDs on + NVR will come out to 46-49 watts. Ah - well that is cool. Now if 4GB drives were affordable -- I was lucky and managed to get 3) 3TB drives for $85/ea on a Cyber Monday deal. Kind of wish I'd gotten a few more at that price.

Then I am truly curious if this CPU and/or decoder vary with the model #'s. BTW, some power data I collected; The NVR only pulls 15.5-16.1 watts without the on-board PoE switch powering 4 cameras. With a 2nd hard drive, no cameras running (unplugged the PoE power supply) – it pulls 17 watts. Plug the PoE PS in, with 2 cameras in color, and two cameras in B&W (IR LEDs on) it goes up to 38 watts. Pretty reasonable power usage really. I figured that is about $1.50-$1.90/mo in power. And here is a pic I took when tinkering with a 2nd 3TB hard drive. (need to take a better one, a bit lost in the shadow on this one)

Kind of what I figured. I was listing a possibility in case I missed something. Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know what CPU they use in these? An Intel Atom, or more likely an ARM variant?

Yes, I'm aware when someone from support says destroy the motherboard it is either a scare you into not doing it statement, or they just don't know. I'd like to try the firmware update, but in no mood to send it in for repair if I brick it temporarily. The latest feedback I got from q-see was that the 808 and 8016 models "had a stronger chipset, so that is why it costs more" -- so my question is, if it has a "stronger" chipset, why does q-see still list 120FPS of total processing capability for all 3 models? 804 - http://www.q-see.com/products/product_description.php?cId=139&pId=273&id=139&pid=114 808 - http://www.q-see.com/products/product_description.php?cId=140&pId=274&id=140&pid=114 8016 - http://www.q-see.com/products/product_description.php?cId=141&pId=275&id=141&pid=114 All 3 show -- Real Time: 120 FPS (30 FPS Per Channel) - So, 16 cameras at 720p and you get about 7fps at best. Again, my bets are that this is a mere software difference and not hardware, unless q-see simply forgot to update the tech specs on their product pages for the 808 and 8016 to show that they handle 240fps and 480fps respectively. I suppose it could need more CPU to handle the writing/management of the data to the storage, but I'm not sure why you'd release a device that displays 7.5fps and records 30fps.

buellwinkle: I am now running them all on my LAN because the NVR can see them on the it's WAN or sub-LAN switch. The limit is only software based. The DVR can see all 6 cameras (I bought a 4 camera system, q-see support on their facebook page told me that I could add more cameras with a switch) so I bought 2 more ($300), tried to add them after the NVR's subnet and it just confused it. Then I learned it could see cameras on it's WAN port (plugged into my local LAN) -- and there you go, the NVR can SEE all the cameras, but their software limits you to only accepting 4 to be active. I suspect the 804 808 and 8016 models are the exact same hardware and they are just charging you more for them to be able to add more cameras at once. Considering the 808 and 8016 have the same 120fps limit, I think this is just their cheap way of getting people to pay more for a software switch. Yes, I would lose frame rate by adding more cameras, but it would be within an acceptable loss. I did get a reply from Q-See and they told me the hardware was different. But opening them up and comparing the hardware, they look exactly the same. No difference at all. They said if I tried the 8016 firmware it would likely destroy the motherboard. Wish I could just try the 8016 firmware without fear knowing I could rollback if it didn't work.

Interesting. I poured over the documentation and searched online, as well as tried a bunch of configurations but I just couldn't get it to connect. I think the piece I was missing was that it could find cameras over the WAN port. I had done a search previously while the cameras were on my main LAN, but perhaps I had something wrong at the time. My NVR's LAN was running different (in the 10.x.x.x world) so that isn't a problem. And since I don't have to contend with it trying to hand out DHCP addresses on my network there are no conflicts. I am getting them to add manually now. Thank you for the information. " title="Applause" /> Unfortunate that I am still stuck with 4 cameras. I have watched q-see's site for a firmware update and seen none, do they not post new versions unless people contact them for the latest? I have 2.610.qs00.0.build2012-7-16 And do you happen to know if I can flash my unit to act like a 8016? Update edit: Just got off the phone with q-see support. They want me to use PSS to access the other cameras, but I explained that isn't my goal. I have the HDMI from the NVR split out to displays around the house and would like it to handle more than 4 cameras in the live feed and recording. They are forwarding my ticket to the firmware peeps to see if anything will be possible. I guess I wouldn't be as insistent about this if when I bought the device they said the 804 could support more cameras than 4 by adding a switch. If it is possible to FW upgrade it, I'd like to do it.

What would truly impress me is if the Q-See NVR's were designed smart enough that you could access cameras both on it's internal PoE switch, as well as as the network LAN (or WAN if you set it up that way, but it's LAN port) In other words -- Say I buy a bunch of extra PoE Q-See cameras along with my QC804... My home network switch is a 16 port PoE switch, and is connected to an ASUS RT-AC66U router (HECK of a router by the way if you can afford it) -- I want to plug the extra cameras into my main home network. They will get a DHCP address from my router like everything else on my network, just like the 804 does. So now picture going into the NVR setup, telling it to also search for cameras on the LAN/WAN side and adopt them. I can assume there may be a limitation where the cameras only want to be accessed by one device at a time, but that wouldn't be a problem if you were using the NVR as your main access to all your cameras. Anyway, I know I laid out the obvious there - but I didn't want any confusion. This is something I hope Q-See (Dahua) and other manufacturers think of in the future. Theoretically it is all software solvable. I'm most likely moving away from Q-See since their techs repeatedly told me I could just add more cameras to my QC804 and it would adopt them, but so far I haven't been able to get this to work at all. I wonder if the QC804 thru QC8016 are the same hardware and I could firmware update my 804 to support more cameras. I'm actually starting to learn towards giving the AvertX system a try. http://www.costco.com/AvertX-16-Channel-Professional-IP-HD-Security-System-with-2TB-Hard-Drive-and-8-1080p-IP-Cameras-.product.100021442.html

Any further information on these? Did anyone buy one, if so I'd love a hands on review. I'm growing tired of the limitations of my Q-See QC-804 that Q-See's tech promised my could support 16 cameras with a PoE switch but really don't. While the $3000 price is a bit high, thinking about this with a built in 16 port PoE switch, good expansion capabilities, and 8 1080p cameras only takes it about $500 of the mark of what I'd expect to expend after all was said and done. Not too worried about the cameras not being IR as the locations I'm installing in have pretty good lighting as well as motion sensor lighting.

Yes, I accessed it via ConfigTool.exe by plugging it into a PoE switch that is on my local lan (vs. being on the PoE subnet that is behind the NVR. ConfigTool comes on the discs with both the cameras and the NVR). If you don't have a PoE switch, you can power the camera with a 12v power supply and plug it into your main network (The cameras have both a RJ45 and a DC power plug on them). It will then request DHCP from your router. I should clarify, ConfigTool.exe just finds it on my network, you right click on the camera when it finds it and you can select "open web device", which then brings it up in Internut Explorer. So, technically you can just look on your router's DHCP client list and find it there too. It defaults on port 85. So http://:85/ and then you login with admin admin until you change the PW. It is a bit of a shame that they don't allow you to configure all the options via the NVR that you can by directly hitting it via the web service. I've gone thru about 5 different pieces of PC based IP camera NVR software. It seems none of them give me the stability of the NVR handling things, that or they simply didn't have drivers for it. I have two different apps on my Android phone that access the NVR pretty well. I haven't tried accessing them directly with my phone, but one person told me they were getting some bad image corruption problems, which I got the same via my PC (accessing the RTSP stream).

Has anyone gotten any info on a firmware update on the QC-804 to enable more cameras. Contrary to what Q-See has said on their facebook page and support, the QC-804 does NOT allow extra cameras to be connected after the internal switch. I finally got some time on my hands to hook up a PoE switch behind it, and no matter what I do, the NVR will only find 4 of those cameras. I could be making a technical error, but so far it doesn't seem so. On the good news side of things, I was finally able to log directly into one of my 2 spare cameras and I did find the setting to turn it into color only mode. Which for 3 of my cameras, is best because they point to areas that are illuminated by street lights. When they did change to B&W mode, I lost lots of quality. Color mode actually stays pretty decent in low light.

Found this. A bit cheaper than the Louroe stuff. http://www.cctvcamerapros.com/Audio-Surveillance-Microphone-p/mic-cctv-02.htm Not outdoor, but it looks a little more sealed than the other unit. Maybe worth tucking under the eve of your house and remembering not to hit it with the hose.

Got around to putting up a couple of my IP 720P cameras today, so took down the older analog models. -- and look what I discovered, the light sensor does have a shroud around it extending almost all the way to the glass front lens. This may explain why the IP camera is so much more sensitive to its own visible spectrum IR LEDs. Also note the IR LEDs on the analog camera, the are shaded a bit more to pass less visible light, while the IP camera has clear plastic. Although both seem nearly as bright when viewing in pure darkness. Perhaps the LEDs used on the analog cameras are more powerful and that is balancing the comparison out.

Hey Kylek, a great idea. I had thought of that myself. But I haven't found a foam or plastic doughnut around the house that would do the job. I'm sure I can find something online if I search long enough but haven't made the effort. I'm willing to bet that if the light sensor only saw light coming from the outside of the glass it would make a good difference. But maybe also cause the camera to prematurely switch to night (B&W) mode as it wouldn't be seeing as much day light. I wonder if there is a clean IR filtering flim out there that I can find that could be placed over the sensor -- you know, something that would pass normal day light, but filter out the IR that the LEDs are sending out. I guess I won't have much of a problem once I finally go up in the attic and mount the cameras where their view is 30+ feet away from the target view.

Ah thanks, I hadn't searched much and read up on the other threads. viewtopic.php?f=19&t=32694 They could have at least reverted to the $499 price for the NVR + 2 cams. But supply and demand wins I guess, I'm sure these are selling pretty well or we may have seen a better deal come up by now, or the same deal to at least continue. Glad you heard from them we'll see the 8 channel system after new years. I can wait that long. Hope the deal is good. Maybe after that we'll see the 1080p cameras show up.

Well this is a bad sign. Costco isn't shipping the 4 cam nvr for $699 anymore and has the 2 cam nvr for $599. Not the direction I was hoping to see them head. Guess it is selling pretty well ? http://www.costco.com/Q-See-4-Channel-HD-Digital-NVR-with-1TB-Hard-Drive-and-2-HD-720p-IP-Cameras.product.11767205.html Meanwhile they have a lower price on the 16 channel DVR with 16 included cameras at $699. The digital IP revolution is not happening at the pace I hope for http://www.costco.com/.product.100007973.html

Odd, I didn't see that in the manual for the camera. I better double check. I'll have to order a PoE switch this week so I can login to the camera and check it out. Thanks for the tip. I'll report back if I find out that I can rig it to the settings I want. p.s. I did click Like on the q-see FB page, and have liked some of their postings. I'm just a critical reviewer.

Hey Sport, I read thru the manual for the camera and I didn't see that option. Did I miss something? Unfortunately I have yet to buy my PoE enabled switch so I haven't directly logged into the camera, and once it is behind the 4 port PoE on the NVR they become their own subnet - unreachable by anything on the LAN side of the NVR.. Maybe I better double check again once I buy the PoE switch?? Let me know if you know more.

Groovyman: That looks to me like pretty mild lens flare. As for the flickering, I'm only noticing it when I'm getting odd bounce back off the IR LEDs being reflected back in.. In other words, the camera seems to be thinking "It's too dark! Turn on the LEDs! It's now bright and must be day! Adjust the luminance internal settings and turn off the LEDs. It is odd, in some placements I have of the camera, it is perfect, the image beats the pants off of what I was getting out of the analog cameras. On your last point, I think I remember reading that q-see is calling this their first dual core cpu powered box. I'd like to know the processor being used (anyone wanna take theirs apart and see, or know offhand?) - but I can tell you, whatever CPU they are using, I bet my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has 5 times the processing power. Because if they are rating it as doing 30fps on 4 720 cameras, I can already tell you the system is stressed. I have a direct HDMI connection to a 42" TV that I use to monitor it.. and when cars drive by, and it is dealing with recording it. It is certainly NOT 30fps per channel. It can get choppy, looks to be about 20-22fps. Now add to that load -- setup the automatic FTP upload of video and snap shots, email alerts, and other background processes, and I've even had it where the mouse skips unresponsively across the screen. So q-see, if you are reading this, you better (or you better ask your actual OEM) to start to get serious about adopting a better processor than my cell phone has. Because this isn't cutting it. It supports up to 16 cameras, where you are going to drop to 5-7fps (not including if you have a few 1080p cameras in the mix. This latest (new) NVR should be their bottom of the line model. I mean really, it costs about $100 and comes with a 1TB HD, supports having two 3TV internal HDs.. That is pretty good, but they've skipped out on expandability. They should be very hard at work at this point at a model that can handle 16 1080p cameras at 30fps. Because 2-3 years from now, that is going to become standard issue. The reason I still like them, it is cheap. Sells at Costco where I can return what I don't like easily, and get cheap replacements. If a camera dies, I can likely get a free replacement. 3-5 years ago a camera with these specs was $800. Last month I bought complete 4 camera + NVR system for $700. I bet in late January or February, we see this same system going for $500, the 720 cameras going for $80-$100/ea, and hopefully, the 1080p cameras below the $225 mark. I can tell you for sure, there are many lighting situations where the camera could still perform excellently in lower light conditions before it is switching to B&W IR illumination mode. A good solid firmware update could fix this, but from what history has shows us, q-see doesn't seem to really make any dramatic upgrades to their hardware, only minor fixes. If money was no object, q-see wouldn't be my pick. But in the next half year I have about 40 cameras to deploy across our business and for some clients. None of which could happen if I was spending $500 per camera.. So you are right, there are some trade-offs here.