Zohan 1 Posted February 16, 2012 When connecting ip cams to the nano , or actually to a switch first and then to the nano, do the cams have to be "programmed" like they would if they were a standalone ip cam....or once they are connected to the nano is it like connecting an analog cam to a regular analog dvr? About to do first ip system, just want to cover all the bases, thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SEANHAWG 1 Posted February 16, 2012 Define programmed? Do you mean like picture settings and stuff? If so, yeah you will probably want to do that, but you will probably need to adjust the pic settings on IE to do that. Another thing is you may want to change your IP cameras out of DHCP mode once they conform to the network, that is if they come in DHCP mode already. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zohan 1 Posted February 16, 2012 Define programmed? Do you mean like picture settings and stuff? If so, yeah you will probably want to do that, but you will probably need to adjust the pic settings on IE to do that. Another thing is you may want to change your IP cameras out of DHCP mode once they conform to the network, that is if they come in DHCP mode already. No what I mean is all the network settings, ip address, etc...basically will the cameras feed their video to the dvr without doing any of the internal network settings within the camera? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SEANHAWG 1 Posted February 16, 2012 It will depend on the camera and what mode its in. Normally, if you have all of the same IP cameras and they are not in DHCP, they will likely all come with the same IP address, in which you will need to adjust the IP settings. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zohan 1 Posted February 16, 2012 i understand....hoping not too much else....and hoping they come with good directions....my networking skills are mediocre.... using 5 acti tcm-1231 cams Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MaxIcon 0 Posted February 16, 2012 I don't know the Nano or Acti, but there are 2 steps for connecting IP cams to most recorders: - Find out the IP address of the camera after connecting it to the network. As Seanhawg says, some use DHCP and get an IP address automatically from your router, while others come with a fixed IP address and need to be changed to a unique address that fits your network, usually with a utility program from the vendor. If they use DHCP, you'll need to find out what IP address the system automatically assigned them. The vendor program may search them out and show it to you, your router may show it to you, or Windows 7 is fairly good at spotting some IP cams. This can be a tricky area, and it totally depends on the camera's programming. People with more Acti experience can tell you how it will work. - Once you know the IP address for each camera, you generally need to tell the recorder what it is, and assign it to a channel. Some NVRs will auto-detect cameras, but that can be unreliable, depending on the NVR and camera. You could have 20 IP cams on a network and only want to record 5 of them on the Nano, so you'd have to tell it which 5. Once the DVR/NVR has connected to the cams, you set it up much like any DVR for frame rate, recording parameters, and whatever else it supports. Once you've done it a few times, it'll be much clearer, but it's good to start learning basic networking if you'll be working with IP cams in the future. They're a good bit more complicated than analog cams that way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zohan 1 Posted February 16, 2012 That's exactly what I needed to know, thank you. Sounds like what I was expecting, I can get through that, I just wasn't sure of any other surprises... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MaxIcon 0 Posted February 20, 2012 It occurred to me I left out one other important step - setting up the cameras themselves, from the IP address. Some cameras have an app for it, others use the web address, and some require you to use IE while others work OK with Chrome or Firefox. If there's not a vendor utility for setup, once you have the camera IP address, plug it into your browser, and it will usually come up with a web page with the camera view and settings. Every camera's different, though, and some are better than others. Finally, some software gives better quality video if you match the frame rate settings on both the camera and the recorder. Others override the camera setting, but some give jerky video if the camera's set for 10 fps and the recorder's set for 7.5 fps (as an example). Definitely more troublesome than analog, but once you get the quirks out of the way, it should be stable. I keep plenty of notes! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zohan 1 Posted February 20, 2012 It occurred to me I left out one other important step - setting up the cameras themselves, from the IP address. Some cameras have an app for it, others use the web address, and some require you to use IE while others work OK with Chrome or Firefox. If there's not a vendor utility for setup, once you have the camera IP address, plug it into your browser, and it will usually come up with a web page with the camera view and settings. Every camera's different, though, and some are better than others. Finally, some software gives better quality video if you match the frame rate settings on both the camera and the recorder. Others override the camera setting, but some give jerky video if the camera's set for 10 fps and the recorder's set for 7.5 fps (as an example). Definitely more troublesome than analog, but once you get the quirks out of the way, it should be stable. I keep plenty of notes! That is great info....maybe saving some hassles for me...Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
