JoeyJoey

I received this Swann dome camera yesterday, will install it this weekend. It can be adjusted on all 3 axis, has a micro SD card slot. Some of the wiring inside does block the screw holes, so it'll take a little careful adjusting to mount. I got it for the fixed zoom in capability, as I didn't want to risk the purchase from China on getting a Hikvision different sized lens camera, beside the site Aliexpress not allowing people from Washington state to purchase anything, must be a reason there.

Get a bigger spider.

I found that (as with the Qsee NVR) that the HDMI port was disabled out of the box, had to connect a VGA cable to go into the settings to set a correct resolution. I saw this problem a lot in their reviews, you'd think that they'd learn to set a default config with a working hdmi port. That page for the electronics data on Costco isn't usually on the Costco site itself, its embedded from another location.

Is that the swann firmware or did you flash the hikvision version? What does the sd card slot software settings do, used for what capabilities? uSD or SD? size max limitations?

The Qsee models export their video in a non-standard format, where as the Lorex/Swann use mp4.

So the cameras in the system are of lower build quality than the standalone or the cameras in the previous 4 camera system?

That is a computer house, you can't kid me.

Great! I get one of these this week too. They're huge!

Some things are better, some things are worse. Firmware version V2.3.3, Build 130620 Encoding version V1.0, Build 130509 One issue, kinda big I think. The POE-LAN doesn't work correctly, it doesn't provide data to the cameras. In the local UI via VGA, in the System Maintenance-Network Detection screen, only the LAN Ethernet port is listed, can't select another port. Which leads me believe that this might not be the correct firmware for this NVR. After setting the POE IP address to something like 192.168.254.1 (The default Internal NIC IPv4 address), I hook up a laptop to that POE Switch, I can't ping the NVR's POE IP.. If I plug a Ethernet cable from the POE-Switch into my LAN, it goes crazy, stepping on each others toes until it just stops working, my whole LAN. This means that the internal POE switch can not be used, no plug and play cameras can be used. Using an external POE switch, allows me to use the system as usual, adding the cameras manually. Flashing this firmware on the NVR caused it to lose its admin account. So I had to request a serial reset code from Hikvision. After about 20 codes, I got one that worked. It took that long because they needed me to supply the date for their code generator. But... if I can't log into the NVR, how can I see the date needed? Is it todays date, tomorrows? Is the date even set correctly? Well, using the SDAP/iVMS application, the NVR device will show up on the online device list, there is a column called 'start time'. The date listed was usually 1970-01-01, sometimes twenty years in the future. This is the date you need to give tech support. The serial number they need to use is NOT the serial number of the device, but a shortened version of it for example. If the serial number of your device is LNR2800923423490893423402394890384FGB, then they need to use 0923423490893423402394890384FGB. Ignoring the first 6 digits. Make sure in their screen, that they enter this correct. Is it worth putting this Hikvision firmware on this Lorex NVR? Well, the NVR now supports the full 3MP (2048x1536) square images from the cameras, as long as you put version 5.0 of the firmware on them. They are listed at 30 fps too. A wider angle view point. The web interface lets you edit camera information now, before it was display only. The web playback interface forgets what cameras you selected on the screen, so each and every time you go back to view the playback, you need to select and place the camera, very annoying. But losing the internal POE switch is a big problem. I see the readme.txt notes on the latest firmware, they did fix some issues, maybe they broke them too. I have doubts to whether this Lorex NVR is the http://www.hikvision.com/en/Products_show.asp?id=7294 Hikvision DS-7608NI-SE/P model. If you're going to flash this firmware, I'd do a few things before to prepare. First flash all the cameras to v5.0 firmware. Delete the Web components from the Windows PC that you use, don't want different devices using different versions as editable fields get mixed up on the webpages. In the NVR, reset to defaults, disable the NTP time server connection, set the date to 1970-1-1. After flashing, if you can login with the default admin and 12345 password on the local VGA connected UI, perform a factory reset. I found logging into via the web port before I did this, crashed the NVR and caused it to reboot. After a factory reset, never crashed again and was fully web accessible.

Ok, got it up and running. Will explain later, in case it helps anyone else.

I have found with Lorex that they are trying for the speed record in how fast they can close a ticket. They close tickets before anything has been done. example: Me- "Lorex support, I need to reset a password" Lorex Support- "You need to contact level2 support, ticket closed" Trying calling their 800 number, be on hold for 45 minutes, listening to mind numbing reminders to register your product, again and again and again. Then you hear noises of people speaking, then click. They hung up on you. Useless none existant support. I only ever try and contact any tech support for any product as a last resort as I have very low expectations for any tech support. I wasn't expecting it to be this low. I have contacted Hikvision by email many times, they have emailed me about 20 reset serial codes, none work. It seems they are guessing. A TERRIBLE system design where we have to depend on a reset serial code from tech support when updating firmware on the NVR. The cameras can be updated no problem. They said they need the Serial number of the NVR (fine, I have that) and the date that is on the NVR. How can I get the date if I can not login to the NVR and see the date. I was seeing a 'start date' with their iVMS/SADP application software. This date changed, ranging from 1970 to 2026, no rhyme or reason. I should not have to depend on the NVR having the date to reset a password, there should be a reset button on the NVR, just like on the cameras. A few more days, then out comes the hard drive, clear it on my PC and everything goes back. Rant over.

Yes they can be used by themselves. http://www.networkcameracritic.com/?p=1729

Buellwinkle said it might cost a lot, it could cost even more than the device itself. Its part of the risk of buying it from another country.

Norway has different system for import taxes based on whether a similar item is available in the country. It might be cheaper finding a store in your own country. Or buy from a vender on Aliexpress (Aliexpress is NOT the store,it is a collection of stores) instead of Costco, especially after the membership fee.

Thanks that explains what I'm seeing on mine with no admin account existing. Hikvision sent me more codes to try, will try later tonight. If people are interested and want to work backwards and create codes, I can post them later on. I wish the NVR had a reset button like regular devices. I don't like relying on tech support.

Any UPS that has a USB connection to save the data integrity would be ok. I use an APC 1500 UPS, big enough to power the PC plus monitor.

Yes, I followed that pdf and sent the request to both Lorex and Hikvision. I got an email today from Hikvision, their codes didn't work though. Although it looks like they didn't enter the correct information into their serial decoder app. I wish we could have that app...

No, I can't get to any menu item. Maybe I should've done the factory reset before I updated the firmware. On the VGA o/p login screen, there isn't even an account name listed, not even admin, the pull down is empty. The web login screen lets me enter any id/password, just doesn't accept anything. I hope to hear from support on Monday.

No, how do I do that sb_jim?

Yep, I have reset a camera before and it does keep the previous password. I don't like how there isn't a reset button that I can find on the NVR, many pins inside the system, so it is possible that a jumper could be used to reset. I don't know about this though. I will wait to see if either company gives me a series code to force the unit to reset to the default password. If not, oh well.

I flashed the Hikvision firmware onto Lorex NVR, it booted up and came up fine. But.... the admin password got reset to an unknown value. Admin is the id and password of 000000/12345/123456/admin don't work. Any ideas? I decided to try this as I noticed that the motion detection grid in the NVR is basically being ignored, it is using the full picture for motion control and not just the grid you draw. Individually in the cameras, the grid is being used, if configured that way, but not correct in the LorexNVR. This is the reason for so many false motion alarms. I submitted a password request to both Lorex and HikvisionUSA, sending them my serial number. Because Lorex isn't updating their firmware, I had to resort to trying the Hikvision one. The Hikvision firmware update does mention this fix.

Does it have a microSD card slot?

There are quirks with the Hikvision/Lorex apps too. You only need to forward two ports, the client and the mobile port, not the web admin port unless you want to. The client port can be set to pretty much anything and forward to pretty much anything. example: internal can be 7000 and external can be 8000 The mobile port however has to have the same internal (LAN) port as the external (WAN) port. example: both have to be 5000 internal and external, same. But this quirk I found only applies to the android tablet (what they call HD) apps. Strange.

The firmware version 5.0 manual does mention that camera model.

This how both the Lorex cameras look. buellwinkle, did you get the different sized lens on that bullet camera, greater than 4mm?