First timer seeking advice.

[richard stevely]

Apologies in advance if some of my questions don't make much sense, but this is my first adventure into security cameras.

I intend to set up four cameras around my house and today I bought three new HIK Vision DS-2CD2722FWD-IZS on eBay. I'll be buying one more camera (probably again from eBay) in the next week or so - camera will be HIK but maybe a different model.

I intend using PoE to supply power to the cameras.

I have a HIK Vision 8 port PoE Switch - DS-3E0109P-E (also new and bought today on eBay)

I haven't decided if I want to use a NVR or just 128Gb disks in each camera - must admit I have no knowledge in this area.

Cabling will be on external walls.

Q1

I will have a problem routing four cables from inside the property to the outside. So, is it feasible to run just one network cable from the router inside the house to a PoE switch (or NVR if I go down that route) which will be located in the garage, and then run the four network cables from the PoE switch (or NVR) to each camera. The distance from the router to the garage is about 15m. The maximum distance from the garage to any of the four cameras would be around 25m.

Q2

Can DS-2CD2722FWD-IZS cameras be mounted on a wall.

Q3

I intend to use junction boxes but are these really necessary and what is the benefit of them.

Q4

Does the network cable with RJ45 plug directly into the camera and is this the only connection required.

Q5

I know the "S" in "IZS" is something to do with sound/alarm but what exactly does this mean and what can the camera do in terms of audio.

Q6

Whats the benefit of using camera brackets and if I used them would I need to buy the ones with the back boxes as cables will be externally surface mounted.

Any other advice or suggestions most welcome.

Richard.

 

[macman]

Welcome. You're brave buying from eBay where a lot of the offerings seem to be end-of-life old stock or imports of dubious provenance which may be difficult/impossible to update, hence the prices can look attractive. But hopefully yours came from a reliable UK supplier, even though your model was apparently discontinued a couple of years ago.

AFAIK, your answers are:

1. Yes. Be sure to use the correct grade of outdoor cable.
2. Yes.
3. They will make your cameras look tidier and prevent water ingress.
4. Yes.
5. You have interfaces for attaching a microphone and speaker if you want them.
6. Brackets can be good for improving view/orientation but can make cameras more susceptible to the shakes in high winds. They're also expensive. But if you want them, be sure to get the right ones to fit your camera, together with a back box if you want to hide the pigtail connectors.

I have 8 Hikvision cameras all recording only to their internal SD cards, with no NVR. Others can tell you what features/functions you may only get from an NVR but for event recording only, I find that the SD cards are all that I need, in tandem with the free iVMS-4200 and Hik-Connect software. Obviously, if you wanted to record continuously 24/7, SD cards won't take you far so you would need to look at NVRs and hard disks.

An NVR does give you double indemnity: if someone steals a camera you would still have your recordings.

 

[richard stevely]

Thanks for the advice and very informative answers. I might be back with more.

 

[richard stevely]

The DS-2CD2722FWD-IZS cameras I bought come with a what is described in the Quick Start Guide as a 'Mounting Base'. This is about 10mm thick. As I am going to be installing junction boxes (DS-1280ZJ-DM21) do I also need to install the Mounting Base between the camera and junction box, or does the camera install directly onto the junction box.

 

[Kyle]

Where are you seeing mention of this mounting base? I'm struggling to find it in any of the guides/datasheets I'm looking at!

My inclination is to say you don't need it, Hikvision cams generally come ready to mount straight to a junction box, without any other accessories needed.

 

[richard stevely]

Hello Kyle.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

The cameras I'm going to install are a mixture of DS-2CD2722FWD-IZS, DS-2CD2742FWD-IZS and DS-2CD2H43G0-IZS.

This is the one of the 2722's:

The boxes containing the 2722 and 2742 cameras also include a mounting plate shown below:

I will be using the following junction boxes for the 2722 and 2742 cameras:

So, do I install the camera directly to the junction box, or do I first need to fix the camera to the mounting plate and then fix it to the junction box.

From a purely installation perspective both options can work.

 

[Kyle]

Hi Richard,

The 27x5 Domes that replaced this model have a similar mounting place which isn't required if mounting to a junction box, so the case is probably the same here. They are only needed if mounting directly to the wall without a junction box or onto certain brackets.

If the camera mounting screw holes line up with those on the junction box then there should be no issue, the rubber seal on the box should give the sufficient weatherproofing.

 

[richard stevely]

Cameras installed, everything switched on and IVMS-4200 for mac downloaded.

Problem 1.

When I connected the system to the router and turned the HIK POE switch on I noticed that the lights (green and orange) on the switch came on for only 3 out of the 4 cameras. Am i right in presuming there must be a hardware problem for the camera where the lights didn't come on. Tomorrow I'll check the connections at the camera and switch, as well as testing the patch cable itself, but is there anything else I should look out for?

Problem 2

On the Device Management tab on the IVMS-4200 software only 3 of the four cameras can be found (I presume this relates to Problem 1)

Problem 3

Before trying to "ADD" the three cameras I noticed they all show the same IP address - (192.168.1.64) - is this correct?

Problem 4

Because all three have the same IP I can only manage to add one of them. When I try a different camera, with the same IP, an error message comes up with error code 108 and says "device already installed"

Problem 5

All cameras are shown as inactive and I can't seem to activate them.

Problem 6

An error code 7 comes up every time IVMS-4200 refreshes and says "Connecting to device failed. The device is offline or the network timed out.

This is my screen:

Wife keeps saying "I told you none of them will work" so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Or is there any comprehensive youtube videos on trouble shooting problems like mine or how to get the software up and running.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[macman]

#1 sounds like a faulty cable/connection
#2 would be the expected consequence
#3/#4/#5/#6 are because 192.168.1.64 is the default temporary IP address for all Hikvision cameras out of the box. When you select one of them and click the Add to Client button you will be presented with an interrogation screen wherein you should enter a new and unique IP for each camera [together with your preferred name for each camera and your admin name and password for each camera, all of which you can invent on the fly and keep a note of]

Once you get all the cameras activated you should update their firmware.

 

[richard stevely]

Morning macman,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to reply.

Problem 1 and 2

Solved - it was a faulty cable connection. All 4 cameras can now be found on IVMS-4200.

Problem 3, 4, 5 and 6.

I tried "Add to Client" using a new and unique IP but the result is just the same. When doing so I receive the message:

Error code libHCNetSDK.dylib[7]. (Connecting to device failed. The device is offline or the network timed out.)

After trying this is my screen.

 

[macman]

Select each camera in the lower Online Devices section and click on the Modify NetInfo button. Therein you can enter a unique IP for each, along with the MAC address [probably 255.255.255.0] and the Gateway [Router] IP which will be something like 192.168.1.1. They should be good to add then.

If that fails, download Hikvision's SADP Tool for Mac and do the network setup there [you may need to quit iVMS-4200 to allow this utility to mine your IP addresses].

And in case you aren't aware, iVMS-4200 for Mac is a half-baked, feature-starved, rogue beta of an app which makes it difficult/impossible to configure camera settings there. Configuring them in your web browser would be an option - except that no Mac browser will give you full config access to all cameras because the web plugin has been banned. A few Hikvision cams have been modified to get around this but most haven't. You may have to find a Windows PC to configure your cameras in iVMS-4200 or via Internet Explorer [not the default Microsoft Edge browser]. Or you can run Windows in emulation: I use the excellent Parallels Desktop which allows me to switch between platforms and software in the blink of an eye. It's more bucks though.

 

[richard stevely]

macman, thanks for all the advice.

Managed to get all four cameras working on IVMS-4200 although one seems a bit temperamental; the same one i can't seem to get working on HIK Connect app.

Is there a quick and easy way to update the camera firmware. A step by step guide would be appreciated.

Regards,

Richard

 

[macman]

Firmware - How do I find the latest firmware for my Hikvision camera?

Firmware - How do I update HikVision Firmware in just nine simple steps? - updated 20th February 2019

 

[RogerJP]

For future reference, it is best for several reasons to only plug one new camera in and configure it, giving it a unique IP address. Once added and running, then do the next etc. Plugging more than 1 unconfigured camera in will at the very least give you IP conflicts.