tomdlgns

I have a few bosch cameras at various sites (running on exacq servers) and I can tell you this, the bosch cameras are slowly being phased out from our installs/setup. I am not a fan of the current bosch cameras and I had such a bad experience with the cameras that I don't want to use them anymore. First, it was a grounding issue (according to the bosch rep). This is important to note because we designed the box with the camera electronics to only have a power outlet and PoE switch, each camera was going to plug into the PoE switch (I did not want injectors). Of course because of the grounding issues (known to bosch) I had to add some injectors. Then it was a firmware issue (they had trouble connecting to exacq, sometimes they would connect and other times they would randomly drop offline). The weirdest issue was one site had 6 bosch cameras. I was told their firmware issue was fixed. We staged all of the equipment in our office, everything connected to exacq...no problems. We take the equipment to the site, start installing each camera one at a time...exacq kept showing 'connecting' and i was not pleased to see that. at the end of the day, the minute we plugged in the LAST camera, they all connected within seconds. I have no idea what caused that. If your camera is on the compatibility list for exacq, it should work. Assuming you have active support, exacq should escalate the issue. I will say this, be 100% certain that all your connections are good. We had a duplex issue that presented itself about 1 year after everything was working great, it was process of elimination that got us to the camera that was causing issues and it was a machine made cable. Maybe some moisture got into the connector? Possibly a bad pin and the cables were moved/bumped that caused the issue.... not sure, we replaced the patch cable and everything came back online (many cameras were flopping connected/connecting, etc...it was very annoying).

I took these cards out of the DVR at my office to try to track down what kind of system this is... there is no paper records at all on this DVR in our office. all i know is that its a rackmount, and when i reboot it it just loads straight to the DVR. i dont see and windows screens, i dont see a start bar, it just loads straight to my 8 camera views. also, i dont think its a linux based DVR becuase usually during a linux boot you see something along the lines of it being a linux box. so i took out the cards and im hoping someone on this forum can help me. the model number on one of the cards, if you zoom in the picture you can see these numbers. model- CV08A p/n 4B08VN-s1.2 920610 thats all i got. i have tried to google all that and i havent been able to come up with anything at all. thanks guys

If I may ask which software did you use instead?, I'm in desperate need of something good for hikvision cams, and can't find anything decent for good price. i went with a professional VMS application (avigilon), was not a free/cheap solution, but it does what i need it to do and works great.

"- Set a different Server Port for each camera to allow easy access via smart phone." i suppose it a user wants to directly connect to 1 camera then your advice is accurate and makes sense, but again, i assume people want to connect to the server and then view the cameras from there. thanks. I think he is right, because I dont think you can connect your mobile app or remote client to the ivms server directly, unless you use the PCNVR version, in order for you to view cameras remotely you will need to port fwd each camera individually. I disagree with him in regards to change internal camera port, I think you can leave it to default and just assign dif ports in your router for each camera and link it to local cam ip. Please note that in order to play recorded files on your mobile phone you will have to add the storage server port separately and when reviewing on your phone you will select the storage server not the individual camera. ok, if that is how the program functions (connecting to each camera) then i am really glad i ditched this software. yes, you are right, you can use different ports, externally, and map them to the same camera port, internally. for example, your firewall/router rules can say (assuming your firewall/router supports this) (external) port 8180, ip 192.168.1.100 ----> port 5000 (internal) (external) port 8181, ip 192.168.1.101 ----> port 5000 (internal) (external) port 8182, ip 192.168.1.102 ----> port 5000 (internal) (external) port 8183, ip 192.168.1.103 ----> port 5000 (internal) (external) port 8184, ip 192.168.1.104 ----> port 5000 (internal) with that being said, i am no longer port forwarding unless i absolutely must for whatever reason. best way to connect to your camera system is to setup a VPN connection. it is more secure and you don't have to mess with firewall/router rules for the cameras, NVR/camera server, etc... i realize that this isn't an option for all. if your only option is to port forward, make sure to use a strong password.

thanks for taking the time to write that up. i am not longer using hikvision, but i still read it. i have a question with this step "- Set a different Server Port for each camera to allow easy access via smart phone." i disagree with this. i don't think you should have to mess with the camera ports. isn't the entire purpose/point of the server to setup a VPN or port forward the server ports so you connect to the server, which you can then access 1 camera or all the cameras....? i suppose it a user wants to directly connect to 1 camera then your advice is accurate and makes sense, but again, i assume people want to connect to the server and then view the cameras from there. thanks.

avigilon (from a couple recommendations from this forum). there are a couple things that i wish avigilon would improve, but it is a very good system. i had a lot of geovision analog system in the past, i am phasing them out one or two at a time every year.

just thought of something....how are you navigating to the synology/NAS folder from within geovision? i have never tried selecting something other than a local hard disk, does that menu (from within gv) see network shares? how about creating an iscsi between the gv pc and the synology...make it a D, E, F drive....whatever you can use, then tell gv to save to that (should see it as a local drive) and see where that takes you.

Curious if you ever got this to work or not. I'm considering purchasing a Synology NAS as well for my GV-NVR system. thanks i am still curious to see if this works, but i ended up replacing the geovision system with another IP VMS. geovision has too many limitations (in my opinion) and i was sick of dealing with them.

yeah, i was able to find the two gateway accounts, those were visible when i first accessed the gatewat (after install). thanks for pointing out the group tab, didn't even think to click on it...makes sense now.

where can i purchase exacqvision w/o needing to deal with a rep? i am not an integrator, so i'd like to avoid purchasing from a company that only deals with integrators. i am building a PC (family business) and i want to run exacq on it (use it at work and i am familiar with it). i was going to use the hikvision NVR, but after some more testing, i am not a huge fan of it. i am in the process of running cable and mounting cameras, might be another month or so before i have it all done (only working it on the weekends). these are the cameras i will be using, hikvision 2CD2132-I and they are on the exacq compatibility list. i have 11 cameras, for the initial build, but when the system is complete, i will have 14. edit- based on pricing of purchasing individual licenses and paying to build my own server, it might be cheaper if i buy a server with exacq on it. just looking to see if there are online stores where i can buy this vs dealing with an integrator.

It's 2 step login process First log in is to access mobile App second to access server meaning YOU create new users on Server Get it ? i created the user on the server, but that user can't login to the mobile app. i don't have any issues logging into the mobile app with the administrator account, for obvious reasons. also, i can't seem to restrict a user to specific camera(s), they are all checked and grayed out when i am editing the permissions/settings.

It's also help to read help manual and watch YouTube training video http://4a54f0271b66873b1ef4-ddc094ae70b29d259d46aa8a44a90623.r7.cf2.rackcdn.com/assets/Uploads/en_US/PDFACCGateway06172015.pdf i got some answers to my questions from that PDF... - http authentication...when checked this disables the force of https/ssl. still not clear on the mobile/web users. this section explains the two built-in users but nothing about creating new users.

yeah, after a second look it was there, the files did not auto arrange, the 3 exported file were not by the player shortcut, at quick glance the player icon blended in with the client, gateway and control icons...thanks.

question number 6 is now answered as well as the bookmark/export, thanks. edit- i exported some video and forced it to limit the video to 700 to act as if i was going to copy to CDs and i checked the box to include the player. when export was complete, i saw 3 .ave files, where is the player? trying the export, again, this time in avi format to see if windows media player has any issues with the file. as i was typing this it appears that a 20 minute clip will take 3 hours to export (avi, full res). i stopped the export. i will try a lower resolution. thanks.

Bookmarks are simply to mark a incident for future review or to prevent the video from being deleted. is creating a bookmark the same thing as creating a start/stop point? do i need to create a bookmark before i see an option to export?

ssmith10pn, thank you for answering the questions. thewireguys sent me a PM and answered every question i had and gave me some additional information, i appreciate the help from everyone. after experimenting with the software, i think it is fair to say that i didn't give avigilon a fair chance, i am not sure why i dismissed them so quick, it might have had something to do with bringing the cameras (hikvision) into the system, but once i got over that hurdle, things looked much better. as i have stated in this thread a few times, i have been using exacq for a while and i guess i was just expecting everything to work the same as exacq, regardless, once you get the hang of things, it isn't that bad. i do have some more questions, feel free to answer them, if you'd like to and have some time (you too twg...thanks again) i have the server/client/gateway installed on the main server/site PC, everything is working great. at the remote site, i tested the HTML5 web client and the local fat client, both work great, but i don't see a need to use anything other than the HTML5 web client....i will still test both, but i am very happy with the web client. i have downloaded the player software, but i have not installed it yet (one of my questions, which is why i didn't install it, yet). 1. what is http authentication in the gateway program/setup? by default it is not enabled and i still had to authenticate. answered http authentication forces http to used instead of https. 2. is it possible to disable https? i have ports open for https and http, but when i use http it redirects to https (chrome and ff). i don't have a certificate for the https so the end user will always see the warning message. it isn't a big deal, i can live with that, but i am curious. also, right now i am connecting directly over the internet with a ddns name, once i have finalized this site, there will be a VPN tunnel between home and office http should work fine with the VPN tunnel. this is not a huge issue, but something i did notice. if i leave the https port blank and click apply, it populates with the last value. answered yes, to disable https simply enable http authentication (check the http authentication box). 3. when logging into the web client, it seems that i have to login two times. it seems that the first login is to the web client and the second login is for the site i want to connect to. i suppose this makes sense if you have 1 gateway box and 5 sites under that gateway and each site has a different login, but i only have one so it seems redundant. 4. using the mobile app, it was very east to connect to my site (i was not on the LAN when setting up the mobile app)...just make sure the proper ports are open. the app is very user friendly, the only question i have is swiping left/right to go to the next camera. it seems the only way to get to another camera is to double tap to get to the view and double tap on the next camera you want to view. with most mobile apps i have used, you can swipe to cycle through cameras. not a huge issue, there might be an update that offers that, i just want to make sure i am not missing something. 5. when searching for video, can you mark your start/stop points and then quickly export the video clip? are those the bookmarks? i did not mess with the bookmark feature, yet. answered you can create bookmarks, bookmarks are not overwritten (protect them) you can export boookmarks. 6. is it possible to type a specific date/time and go right to that? i don't have enough hard drive space to store footage for more than a couple days (installed on a test box, right now) but the computer this will end up getting installed on will have plenty of storage. if i want to go back, let's say 3 weeks, the only way i see to do that is to click the back arrow which takes me back 1 day at a time. it isn't many clicks to get me there, but i am curious if there is a way to enter a specific date/time. answered you can click on the date/time box and more options appear. 7. users for the mobile software. when logged into the gateway, it appears that there are only two accounts, administrator and operator. i created a user in the client software, but i wasn't able to login to to the mobile software with the user i added in the client. i have no problem logging into the mobile software with the administrator/operator, but how do you provide mobile login access to a user that should only have access to one/limited cameras? i also don't want this user to be able to look at playback/stop recording/make any other changes, simply viewing. answered create the user on the server, i used the client software, on the mobile app, i logged in as operator on the first screen and when i connected to the server i logged in as the user, this works fine. the next thing i want to find out is how powerful is the operator account? it seems that i will have to give that password out to anyone that needs the mobile app. thanks

thewireguys, can you give me a quote for 16 licenses? or at least tell me the cost and i can find a local dealer if the price is right. i have not had a chance to re-test the software, but i plan on doing that this weekend. a few questions i have that will probably help me out, big time, with my test - is there server and client software, meaning, the site with the cameras runs dedicated software to capture video footage and at the remote site (owners home, etc...) they would run client software to login and view remotely? i am spoiled with exacq....server runs as a service and all you need is the client. - when running the remote client, assuming there is one, can it be setup to pull a lower res image from the main site? i want 1080p/best recording on the on-site server, but the remote user just needs to see the image, 1080p isn't needed (or wanted due to bandwidth limitations) when viewing remotely). - what happens when i want to A- upgrade the software in 2-3 years (assuming there are improvements) and B- i want to add more cameras, how does licensing work, at that point? free upgrades? pay to upgrade? if i want 2 more IP cameras (adding 2, not swapping 2 out) do i simply pay for 2 additional licenses? - does avigilon support iscsi recording? i might purchase a synology NAS, setup an iscsi connector, and point it to the w7 machine that will be running avigilon and have it show up as a D or E drive, will avigilon see that drive and record to it? thanks in advance. edit- i would have to use the standard version of the software, the core is missing some features i am looking for.

For the main local pc are you using the pcnvr version or the 4200 with storage server? Regardless of which version your using on the remote pc try going into system configuration under image tab unselect auto change stream type. Then by main view select each camera and select sub stream. yes, main site is using PCNVR software (which is 4200 series), i didn't see an option for storage server with that software, only with the CMS, which i am running at the remote site. i am recording to an external USB drive (testing) until i decide to get a larger drive for the PC (will be a sata drive, inside the PC case). at the remote site, i am running the client version of 4200 software and when i set it to what you mentioned (tried that before you replied back) it says something along the lines of "reconnect stream to take effect" i tried closing the stream and reconnecting and i tried closing the program...still seems to grab the 1080p version when i double click the thumbnail frame.

i read this entire thread and i am still confused. i have used a handful of VMS software packages and hikvision is by far the most confusing one of all. then again, this is also the only free package i have used. i am not trying to hijack the thread, but maybe someone can point me in the right direction with all of the testing/troubleshooting that you all have been through. my one and only site has 13 IP cameras configured inside the PCNVR ivms4200 software, running on w7 pro. i didn't have any issues adding the cameras, saving the view, etc... i don't have any problems with the ivms4500 iphone app (off site, over the internet, connects just fine)....this also tells me my ports are forwarded properly. my problem is with the CMS software i am trying to run on a computer, off site from where the cameras are located, for remote viewing. on the remote PC, i installed the CMS software, which contains the client, storage server and streaming server, i only checked the box to install the client. when i launch the client, i put in the hostname/IP of the main site, it finds it, authenticates and shows me all the cameras. so far so good. my issue is that i can't seem to figure out how to view a reduced image/resolution of the cameras at the remote site. locally i am viewing/recording at 1080p and best (5) image. i have an option to set a main image resolution and a sub image resolution. is it possible to somehow configure the CMS software to use the sub image instead of the main image?

interesting, i would have figured that others on here have used/still use this software.

i am not sure if i am missing an obvious setting, but i can't seem to figure out how to get the cameras to automatically start recording on program start. the cameras are part of the template that records all day, but i have to manually click the record button on all the cameras to start recording. i am using ivms 4200 pcnvr.

i have to assume this is a common issue. i have a site with 6 1080p IP cameras. it looks great when you are on site looking at the exacq client, which makes sense since i am on the same network. the upload speed at this site is very low, probably 1.5mbps (possibly lower) and when viewing the cameras from another location, it is very choppy if it does come through. i am aware that this is 100% a bandwidth upload issue. if i change (lower the resolution) of the cameras, i can get a good picture and it isn't choppy, but it is no longer an HD picture at this point. i have no problem with the remote user not seeing an HD image, but i want the camera to display and record at the best possibly settings, on site. is there a way to select the video quality for certain users? when i called exacq, about a year ago, there wasn't. they told me i could limit the bandwidth the system uses for the stream, but that would apply to all users. my guess is that this still isn't possible with the latest software upgrades, but figured i would still ask. maybe i am overlooking this and there is another way to do what i want? thanks.

It was resolved. I posted the resolution in edit 2 of my last reply.

i am getting ready to upgrade a business that is using an analog system and replace with IP cameras. the current system is geovision running on xp. the computer hardware is not strong enough to act as the NVR, which is why i will be buying or building a new PC. here are the facts - initially there will be 11 IP cameras, but i want to make sure i have the hardware to easily handle 16 cameras. - i will be using 3MP 1080p hikvision cameras, i am not worried about storage, i can add drives to the PC or possibly record to a NAS device (in the future) - cameras will be powered by a PoE switch. cameras are 10/100, but the switch is gigabit, which will help to send the camera feeds to the NVR (PC) for viewing and recording. i want to go with an intel i7 CPU and at least 8GB of RAM, but not sure on what type of video card would be ideal for this setup. the cameras are 1080p, but there is a chance that i might lower the res to 720p. i want the system to be designed/purchased assuming that 1080p will be used that way i am safe if i decide to stay at 1080p. questions/comments? thanks.

Instead of trying to explain to you it is better to just show you. If you want full HD on your client all the time click on the cog in the top right of the client software: then client settings> display At the bottom change Display Quality to MAX. This will give you the HD stream no matter what but if you have a lot of cameras you will start pushing your client computer because he will have to decode many HD streams at once. As for the recording you have to see it. Let the cameras record for a couple of hours and then click on the recorded tab. You can then click anywhere on the timeline and see recorded video instantly. You can also left client and hold and then scrub though all your recorded video and fast or as slow as you would like. ok, i will give it another shot (with the cog wheel setting and the recording playback), however, exacq playback is not bad at all, at least, not in my experience. usually i have the date and time. when i put in the parameters i see the green content bar and the blue sections where there is motion. most of the time, that is all i need. i can also left click and hold with exacq. can you PM me pricing for 16 licenses on 1 server, i'd like to compare that initial price with exacq's initial price. i haven't even looked at the client/remote client software for avigilon, i do like that exacq runs as a service and that the exacq software is very easy to install and manage.