Testing Milestone - internet access issues

[buellwinkle 0]

Actually Synology worked best with h.264 for me. I switched my ACTi e32 to mjpeg because that was the default and I didn't catch it but when I switched to h.264 it the recordings were mo better. I'm sure it works better with some cameras than others.

 

Had someone ask me about Hikvision so I tried it and it works well as ONVIF but the specific models people are getting from Costco are not supported but if enough people put the request in, I'm sure they will support as they already support many Hikvision cameras.

 

Absolutely, I can't imagine because of the nature of how it works that Avigilon wouldn't be many times faster. For one, Synology NAS devices use Atom processor, I'm sure not many are running Avigilon on Atom processors. Next it has to communicate from web browser to NAS, so there's an inherent delay. I just thought it was interesting that it had a comprehensive search feature which I thought was cool and unique. Never worked with any NVR software with search before so new to me.

[buellwinkle 0]

Still think you should test this VMS. If you download and activate it in by the end of the week you will have 4 free licenses. Once 1.6 is released the freebe is going away.

 

http://networkoptix.com/products/hdwitness/

 

Tried it, found all my cameras, amazing, no other app finds all my cameras. It does have major flaws, maybe because it's not fully baked. For example, it won't connect to my cameras that use a non-standard http port (80) and no place to enter in a port number. Even when it is port 80, my Dahua's just flash UNAUTHORIZED. It did that to all my cameras but when I set the password it worked fine but not on Dahua but worked with ACTi and Hikvision, both 3MP. Would also not connect to older ACTi cameras, like an acm-1231, says it did, but nothing.

 

It has the cleanest interface I've ever seen though but a little tough to figure out.

 

It's claim to fame on it's website seems to be exceptionally low CPU, but yet took my quad core PC to a place it didn't like. It was using 50% CPU with only two cameras setup for motion detect recording (was actually at 63%, ended the program and went 13% cpu, so 1 full core per camera, ouch).

[voip-ninja 0]

Actually Synology worked best with h.264 for me. I switched my ACTi e32 to mjpeg because that was the default and I didn't catch it but when I switched to h.264 it the recordings were mo better. I'm sure it works better with some cameras than others.

 

Had someone ask me about Hikvision so I tried it and it works well as ONVIF but the specific models people are getting from Costco are not supported but if enough people put the request in, I'm sure they will support as they already support many Hikvision cameras.

 

Absolutely, I can't imagine because of the nature of how it works that Avigilon wouldn't be many times faster. For one, Synology NAS devices use Atom processor, I'm sure not many are running Avigilon on Atom processors. Next it has to communicate from web browser to NAS, so there's an inherent delay. I just thought it was interesting that it had a comprehensive search feature which I thought was cool and unique. Never worked with any NVR software with search before so new to me.

 

I can only surmise that you don't use the mobile apps much or at all. They don't work well when Synology is using MPEG4/H264. At least that has been my experience with Vivotek/Panasonic/Axis/Samsung cameras.

[buellwinkle 0]

I tested their Android app, and in the review I show my driveway cam which is an ACTi E32 in h.264 mode. It could be the version I'm using is newer, it could be other brands of cameras have issues.

 

Have you tried the software the HD Witness software?

[voip-ninja 0]

I tested their Android app, and in the review I show my driveway cam which is an ACTi E32 in h.264 mode. It could be the version I'm using is newer, it could be other brands of cameras have issues.

 

Have you tried the software the HD Witness software?

 

I have not tried it but I guess I'm willing to give it a spin.

 

My needs are different than that of most here. My #1 use case for any surveillance software is the quality of access when away from home. Whether this be from mobile browser, full browser or with a dedicated app. I not only like the ability to view my cams (which pretty much anyone does these days) but it is really important to me to easily find events and view the recorded footage. I have personally found that Synology for example is pretty good in this area, but many others aren't (finding recorded footage on the ExacQ mobile app is flat out PAINFUL).

 

With Synology, there are a couple of problems. They send full size images/events to the mobile device which consumes a ton of bandwidth and also means that playback of events recorded at decent frame-rates is really really slow. Another problem that I have (but which won't affect most users) is that I want to keep a mobile device up and connected to the camera feeds indefinitely. Synology used to do this fairly well, but I could only view multiple cameras when I was using MJPEG and with newer versions of their software I have found that mobile clients time out. Avigilon has problems here too, as they simpliy let the screen go to sleep after a few minutes with no option to keep the device awake and connected. ExacQ has a nice live view, but it also doesn't stay up and connected and finding/viewing recorded footage is a pain.

 

All of them have their plusses and minuses but right now out of all the stuff I've tried the one that seems to fit with my needs the best is xprotect.

[thewireguys 3]

Still think you should test this VMS. If you download and activate it in by the end of the week you will have 4 free licenses. Once 1.6 is released the freebe is going away.

 

http://networkoptix.com/products/hdwitness/

 

Tried it, found all my cameras, amazing, no other app finds all my cameras. It does have major flaws, maybe because it's not fully baked. For example, it won't connect to my cameras that use a non-standard http port (80) and no place to enter in a port number. Even when it is port 80, my Dahua's just flash UNAUTHORIZED. It did that to all my cameras but when I set the password it worked fine but not on Dahua but worked with ACTi and Hikvision, both 3MP. Would also not connect to older ACTi cameras, like an acm-1231, says it did, but nothing.

 

It has the cleanest interface I've ever seen though but a little tough to figure out.

 

It's claim to fame on it's website seems to be exceptionally low CPU, but yet took my quad core PC to a place it didn't like. It was using 50% CPU with only two cameras setup for motion detect recording (was actually at 63%, ended the program and went 13% cpu, so 1 full core per camera, ouch).

 

It worked with my Dahua and Hik cameras. They also got it software to work with Avigilon's cameras.

 

I interface is very clean and easy to use once you figure out where everything is. The nice part is everything is on the same page you don't have to click on a record video tab or search page.

 

Not sure why your CPU usage is so high as I did not have a issue. Also one nice thing is you only need a license to record the cameras so you can connect to as many cameras as you like for live viewing only

[buellwinkle 0]

I think the problem with Dahua is my port numbers. One is a Q-See so port 85 and the other I set a different port for remote access. It actually recognizes both Dahua cameras (IPC-HFW3200C and the Q-See version of the IPC-HFW2100). It even displays the video from one (the Q-See), but says UNAUTHORIZED and I figured it was the port conflict but I can't find a place to put the port numbers.

 

With the ACTI E32 & Hik bullet, both set at 3MP the CPU is consistently over 50%, before and after starting the app it showed 1% busy and nothing else is running. It's an older quad core, about the performance equivalent of the first i7 and Windows 7 64 bit if that makes a difference.

[thewireguys 3]

When you enter the ip address try to put the port number after it x.x.x.x:8080

 

They do both server and camera side motion detection so you try setup the camera side motion detection and see if that helps.

[buellwinkle 0]

It doesn't let you put in the IP, it just shows you what it auto-discovered. If I enter the camera manually I can put the port in, but doesn't find it. I tried changing the port on the Q-See to 80 but it doesn't let me, it changes it back to 85, weird.

 

So I installed Milestone and I have the opposite problem. Found only the Dahua cameras and they work great. Did not find the Hikvision or any ACTi. I added the ACTi in manually and takes the old ones, but not the new one, the E32 that HD Witness found. The E32 is on their support list. It even displayed the image from the camera briefly, changed my frame rate from 15 to 5 but says connection failed. Time for Milestone support. Not sure if I should install the device packs and if so which one as there's two.

[voip-ninja 0]

With Milestone I had to manually add all of my cams to get them to come up. However, once I input the camera IP address, port #, login and password, it was able to automatically figure out what kind of camera it was when I clicked the auto-discover/configure button. It was actually fairly painless.

 

I downloaded HD Witness, but really not impressed. Seems slow on my server hardware, and just generally seems unpolished compared to other packages out there that charge money.

[buellwinkle 0]

I did enter it manually, detected it as an ACTi camera, but doesn't connect. This camera uses all standard port numbers, nothing special.

 

The Hikvision it took so only one camera it struggles with.

[voip-ninja 0]

I did enter it manually, detected it as an ACTi camera, but doesn't connect. This camera uses all standard port numbers, nothing special.

 

The Hikvision it took so only one camera it struggles with.

 

Yeah, it could be a model they don't yet fully support. When I tried to evaluate Milestone last year they did not support my Samsung SNV-5080R cams, and nothing I could do would get them to work. This time around they installed and work with very little effort.

[buellwinkle 0]

That specific model, the E32 shows as fully supported on their website. I emailed support, see what they say. One thing that bugged me about Milestone is you can't just pick a protocol to try, for example, even though it's an ACTi and it auto-detects as an ACTi, I should be able to pick ONVIF. It gives you a drop down to select it but unless you go through auto-detect, it won't verify.

[voip-ninja 0]

That specific model, the E32 shows as fully supported on their website. I emailed support, see what they say. One thing that bugged me about Milestone is you can't just pick a protocol to try, for example, even though it's an ACTi and it auto-detects as an ACTi, I should be able to pick ONVIF. It gives you a drop down to select it but unless you go through auto-detect, it won't verify.

 

Yes, when I tried the "Auto detect" it saw my cams but even after putting in the credentials it would not connect to them. I added them manually and it quickly added them. It would be an annoyance if you had a lot of cams and it behaved that way.

[buellwinkle 0]

What do you mean by adding it manually? I go into their management app, click on 1. Add Hardware Devices, then Manual, enter in IP address, user, password and click the auto discover button and it finds it, but does not connect. If I select ACTi or ONVIF, I click the next button and says no cameras verified and won't let me continue. Is there a different way?

[voip-ninja 0]

What do you mean by adding it manually? I go into their management app, click on 1. Add Hardware Devices, then Manual, enter in IP address, user, password and click the auto discover button and it finds it, but does not connect. If I select ACTi or ONVIF, I click the next button and says no cameras verified and won't let me continue. Is there a different way?

 

Nope that's what I did. After populating those fields mine connected. Sounds like you might need a device pack or some tech support help for sure.

[buellwinkle 0]

I changed my h.264 to mjpeg on the camera and that worked for a while and then lost the connection. Doesn't seem to like h.264 or give you anyplace to change it.

[voip-ninja 0]

I changed my h.264 to mjpeg on the camera and that worked for a while and then lost the connection. Doesn't seem to like h.264 or give you anyplace to change it.

 

Milestone? You go to the camera settings and you can choose the video format and resolution you are after. If using MJPEG you can set the frame-rate and set a separate frame-rate for burst video for recording motion events.

[buellwinkle 0]

I did but, it tells you it's mjpeg but no option to change it. I removed all the cameras from it so I can use them with another NVR solution until they can make the E32 work. I did like that CPU use was very low with 5 cameras working on it. Took the Dahua and Hikvision without a problem via ONVIF.

 

SUCESS - I found out the device pack that came with the install was very old, like 4 generations old. I installed the latest device pack and cameras are working. Now unto the next fun, figuring out how to get the web server piece working. I clicked on the icon it put on my desktop but doesn't work.

[voip-ninja 0]

I did but, it tells you it's mjpeg but no option to change it. I removed all the cameras from it so I can use them with another NVR solution until they can make the E32 work. I did like that CPU use was very low with 5 cameras working on it. Took the Dahua and Hikvision without a problem via ONVIF.

 

SUCESS - I found out the device pack that came with the install was very old, like 4 generations old. I installed the latest device pack and cameras are working. Now unto the next fun, figuring out how to get the web server piece working. I clicked on the icon it put on my desktop but doesn't work.

 

To get the web server working you first need to do a few things;

 

1. Go to the overall system view, go to the "servers" section (near the bottom) and add a new mobile server. Populate the fields. I can't recall if it will ask you at this point what port # you want to use.

 

2. Now that you've added the mobile server - you will have a green mobile server icon in the system tray. Right click it and if necessary re-enter the primary server credentials to get the mobile server talking to the recording server.

 

3. Right click again and choose "edit port numbers" put in something you want here.

 

4. Re-start the server

 

5. Right click the server icon again and choose to launch the web interface. You will observe that it uses a funky url path to access Milestone. Fortunately this is resolved in the next mobile server package so you won't have to deal with this after you update it.

 

Once you have the built in one running you should download the mobile server 2.5a package and install that, the 2.5a mobile server is newer (and better) than the one that ships bundled with the xprotect packages.

[HD_Undercontrol 0]

With Milestone I had to manually add all of my cams to get them to come up. However, once I input the camera IP address, port #, login and password, it was able to automatically figure out what kind of camera it was when I clicked the auto-discover/configure button. It was actually fairly painless.

 

I downloaded HD Witness, but really not impressed. Seems slow on my server hardware, and just generally seems unpolished compared to other packages out there that charge money.

 

I downloaded HD Witness too, wasn't impressed until I watched their demo videos and start to have some fun time with the flexibility to customize the layouts and interface. Then I picked up how to do the motion search and couple few tricks in less than one hour. I have to say it's very intuitive experience and very soon I tune into business mode on this VMS. I started by bringing to my server specialist buddy who's a HardCore Exacq dealer. He did tons of jobs with Exacq and always brag about it.

 

I head to my friend's office and he's got Vivotek, Acti, Brickcom, Dahua, Hikvision, Axis, Arecont cameras there, I give him props to have 20+ cameras at his little 12x16 show room but it's neat and functional. And the best part is when I open my laptop and the HD Witness inside his office, all his cameras are found connected and he's eye balls was just wide open. "How did you?! what did you do to get these cameras on your laptop"That was he's first word out his shocking moment and that makes me feel REALLY GOOD!! Before I answer he's list of questions I show off few more tricks and I didn't even get another challenge or any more question, he's curious to findout more on this new VMS. My Exacq Friend went off and trying this VMS out withouto i even ask him to try it out. We now team up and selling this solution to our previous and future customers. The fun is just starting

[SergeyNoptix 0]

With Milestone I had to manually add all of my cams to get them to come up. However, once I input the camera IP address, port #, login and password, it was able to automatically figure out what kind of camera it was when I clicked the auto-discover/configure button. It was actually fairly painless.

 

I downloaded HD Witness, but really not impressed. Seems slow on my server hardware, and just generally seems unpolished compared to other packages out there that charge money.

 

voip-ninja, I'm a developer of HD Witness.

I will gladly help you to resolve performance issue.

Please, just contact with us trough ours support portal.

If we have issue - we are interested in resolving...

 

Thank you.

[voip-ninja 0]

Sergy,

 

I'm not sure I want to spend a lot of time with it.... especially if the mobile apps are limited in scope.

 

What I can say is that I run cctv recording software on a headless micro-server that has no video card. When I was using remote desktop to try to set things up, the HD Witness software complained about my machine not having optimized video drivers. The camera manager was very choppy and the video it displayed (from only one camera) was badly formatted and not working very well.

 

I appreciate you guys offering to help, but I don't have a lot of interest in playing beta tester for the HD Witness application.... since it's free I would imagine that a lot of people who are less fussy than myself would be more than happy to jump through those hoops.

[buellwinkle 0]

For me it had a nice interface and found all my cameras, but only 2 out of 8 worked, the biggest problem was it had trouble with cameras not using port 80 and older ACTi cameras that were on port 80. Also, with the 2 cameras it did work with, it used up 50% CPU which to me is high and concerned that with 6 cameras it would be 150% CPU.

[voip-ninja 0]

Did you get the xprotect mobile server working?