Improve remote playback when NVR attached to ADSL internet with poor upload speed?

[Carphone]

Hi All,

I have a question I have been meaning to post for some time.

I have a few Hikvision POE cameras linked up to my i Series NVR (V4.40.016 build20200803). Unfortunately I don’t have access to fibre so my NVR is connected to the internet via ADSL , just means I have poor upload speeds (approx. 1Mbps upload). This obviously causes me some issues when playing back video remotely (4g connection) on my iphone using Hik-Connect app.

Interestingly, I can watch live footage without problems as I can drop the quality to ‘Basic’ in the app. However, when playing back events (or video from timeline) from the app , I don’t have the option to change the video quality within the app.

My Question:
Is there anything that I can try that will help me drop the quality of playback within the app to help me have smooth playback like in live view (whilst still recording at normal resolution within the NVR)?

I have never managed to understand how the NVR does all this quality change.. e.g does it record one master high quality and converts this on the fly to lower quality when needed or does it actually record multiple streams in different resolutions…?

As always any advice / line of enquiries would be great.

Thanks Dan

 

[JB1970]

Hi All,

I have a question I have been meaning to post for some time.

I have a few Hikvision POE cameras linked up to my i Series NVR (V4.40.016 build20200803). Unfortunately I don’t have access to fibre so my NVR is connected to the internet via ADSL , just means I have poor upload speeds (approx. 1Mbps upload). This obviously causes me some issues when playing back video remotely (4g connection) on my iphone using Hik-Connect app.

Interestingly, I can watch live footage without problems as I can drop the quality to ‘Basic’ in the app. However, when playing back events (or video from timeline) from the app , I don’t have the option to change the video quality within the app.

My Question:
Is there anything that I can try that will help me drop the quality of playback within the app to help me have smooth playback like in live view (whilst still recording at normal resolution within the NVR)?

I have never managed to understand how the NVR does all this quality change.. e.g does it record one master high quality and converts this on the fly to lower quality when needed or does it actually record multiple streams in different resolutions…?

As always any advice / line of enquiries would be great.

Thanks Dan

The cameras can produce two streams - the main stream and the sub stream (some models can do 5 or more). The main stream is the one that's recorded (by default) and so is set to the higher resolution for the best quality. The sub stream is of much lower resolution (it can only be set to around 640 x 480 depending on camera model) and this is the one that you get when you select basic (or fluent) as it's more than sufficient for a smartphone screen.

 

[JB1970]

Actually it may be possible......Someone will confirm if this works as I've never needed it (385meg download/37 upload!)
In Hik Connect while playing back if you scroll along to the icons beneath the image to the "HD" icon, select custom and then set a lower resolution, frame rate and bit rate then confirm and it looks though that should transcode the main stream for you for playback.

Edit: Just tried on mine and that does work. If you just leave the resolution set to Auto, the maybe drop the FPS down and cap the bit rate to maybe 512 or 768 for your connection.

 

[Carphone]

Thanks for the quick reply

my quality button is greyed out and stuck on HD. Is this a port forwarding issue maybe?

 

[Dan]

Hi @Carphone

@JB1970 has explained the reason you can't usually reduce the playback resolution and I think he is right that you can enable that HD/Custom option in Hik-Connect playback but from our testing this icon is often greyed out.

What we have found when looking at the recording schedule settings for our demo 7716NI-I4 NVR is that under the advanced settings you can select the stream type which the camera uses to record and this can either be Mainstream, Substream, or an option we were not aware of is Double Stream which when you set it can allow you to switch between mainstream and substream when viewing playback of that camera in the browser or Direct monitor.

But even after activating this setting in the NVR storage menu, the HD/Custom resolution icon was still greyed out in Hik-Connect, I think you may be right that this resolution adjust falls under the remote configuration settings and to use those settings you need to enable DDNS/Port forwarding.

 

[JB1970]

Quite probably. I have the same NVR model and firmware as you and I tried on two different models of camera while playing back - an ultra series (5A46G0) and an AcuSense (2386G2) and it works on both. I won't use UPnP and have port forwarded along with setting up the details in the "Configure DDNS" section of the site settings in Hik Connect (mapping manual, ports entered, admin username and password entered). This is needed to allow remote configuration of the NVR from Hik Connect. I guess that's needed in order for the app to get the NVR to transcode the stream.

 

[JB1970]

Hi @Carphone

@JB1970 has explained the reason you can't usually reduce the playback resolution and I think he is right that you can enable that HD/Custom option in Hik-Connect playback but from our testing this icon is often greyed out.

What we have found when looking at the recording schedule settings for our demo 7716NI-I4 NVR is that under the advanced settings you can select the stream type which the camera uses to record and this can either be Mainstream, Substream, or an option we were not aware of is Double Stream which when you set it can allow you to switch between mainstream and substream when viewing playback of that camera in the browser or Direct monitor.

View attachment 4647

View attachment 4648

But even after activating this setting in the NVR storage menu, the HD/Custom resolution icon was still greyed out in Hik-Connect, I think you may be right that this resolution adjust falls under the remote configuration settings and to use those settings you need to enable DDNS/Port forwarding.

@Dan I've never noticed that Dual Stream option before and thought maybe it was only on the higher spec 7716 but just checked and it is on my 7616 as well. I guess it must record both so will impact storage and incoming bandwidth but a good idea nonetheless

 

[Carphone]

Thanks all,

I will have a play with the 'duel stream' option and also see if opening some ports helps. Will report back soon.

Thanks again

Dan

 

[Carphone]

quick update - just checked and my 7608NI NVR does not have the 'double stream' option. Maybe only 16 port NVR's have this (more processing power maybe)..

I will have a crack at setting up DDNS access on Hik-Connect (been on the to do list for a while). Do you still get event notifications in the app if you connect to the NVR in this way (able to scroll through list of video events in the app)?

Thanks again Dan

 

[JB1970]

Strange as it's the same firmware - though I think my build is a little newer as there's a fixed version that sorts out an audio problem on the AcuSense cameras.

First you need to switch off UPnP in the NVR, then forward the ports on your router (TCP 80, 554 and 8000 by default) Once you've done that go to the configure DDNS section as I mentioned earlier and enter the required settings along with your admin password.

Yes you still get notifications, you're able to remotely configure several options from Hik Connect and you should find the connection a whole lot better than using P2P.

Edit: It's a good idea to change the NVR ports in the network settings as the default ones are well known and you may get some illegal login attempts. You can just use 3 consecutive high numbered ports that don't clash with anything else, then forward those.

 

[Carphone]

Strange as it's the same firmware - though I think my build is a little newer as there's a fixed version that sorts out an audio problem on the AcuSense cameras.

First you need to switch off UPnP in the NVR, then forward the ports on your router (TCP 80, 554 and 8000 by default) Once you've done that go to the configure DDNS section as I mentioned earlier and enter the required settings along with your admin password.

Yes you still get notifications, you're able to remotely configure several options from Hik Connect and you should find the connection a whole lot better than using P2P.

Edit: It's a good idea to change the NVR ports in the network settings as the default ones are well known and you may get some illegal login attempts. You can just use 3 consecutive high numbered ports that don't clash with anything else, then forward those.

Awesome - my project for tonight lol

 

[JB1970]

Awesome - my project for tonight lol

Just remember if you change your ports and you happen to do it using a web browser connection to the NVR - you'll temporarily lose connection after clicking save/apply. The NVR may reboot and going forward you'll need to append the IP address with :http_port_number

 

[Carphone]

Quick update - I successfully configured the DDNS section and Hik-connect app (and port forwarding) and it now gives me the option to change the image resolution in the playback timeline (clear or custom) - which is great! It also lets me have access to the remote configuration of the NVR (never been able to get to this).

Unfortunately no way to change the playback quality within the videos/ events listed under notifications part of the app (seems fixed to a HD quality).

What I have noticed is that the DDNS only works within the app when I am on my 4G connection. The app can't connect to the DDNS when I am on WiFi - is this a setting issue or the way it is? Odd as i have more configuration ability on 4G than when connected to my LAN by wifi.

Finally - I tried to change the NVR default ports in the browser but keep getting an error 'parameter error' when i click save. need to figure this out - maybe choosing an invalid port number...

I will keep tinkering but any insight very much welcome.

Thanks

Dan

 

[JB1970]

Quick update - I successfully configured the DDNS section and Hik-connect app (and port forwarding) and it now gives me the option to change the image resolution in the playback timeline (clear or custom) - which is great! It also lets me have access to the remote configuration of the NVR (never been able to get to this).

Unfortunately no way to change the playback quality within the videos/ events listed under notifications part of the app (seems fixed to a HD quality).

What I have noticed is that the DDNS only works within the app when I am on my 4G connection. The app can't connect to the DDNS when I am on WiFi - is this a setting issue or the way it is? Odd as i have more configuration ability on 4G than when connected to my LAN by wifi.

Finally - I tried to change the NVR default ports in the browser but keep getting an error 'parameter error' when i click save. need to figure this out - maybe choosing an invalid port number...

I will keep tinkering but any insight very much welcome.

Thanks

Dan

With regard to the DDNS issue on WiFi - this can sometimes happen with some ISP's routers that don't support "loopback". I see it more often when using third party DNS services or just connecting via the IP address. The router blocks you trying to connect to a device on your internal network using its external domain or address. Did you remember to untick the Enable box for NAT in the Network > TCP/IP settings? - as having that enabled AND using port forwarding will cause a conflict. Also it might be worth toggling Hik Connect on/off on the NVR - in case any existing connection that was initiated with UPnP has remained (just a thought)

With regard to port numbers they need to be outside the commonly used range so they won’t clash with any known applications - I use 3 consecutive ports - 40000 up over (up to 65000) Change them on the NVR menu if you’re having bother with the browser.

If you already did that the easiest fix is just to add a second system called "Home-WiFi" (or whatever you like)

- Click + then Manual Adding
- Select IP/Domain as adding type
- Enter the internal IP address of your NVR (192.168.xxx.xxx)
- Enter the port (the server port NOT the http port you use when connecting via browser)
- Enter your admin username/password

You'll then use the new "Home-WiFi" site when on your home connection and the original Hik Connect registered site at all other times.

 

[Carphone]

Thanks again! As you suggested, I have added a 2nd local connection instance as a great short term solution (to get the best of both worlds).

Been meaning to replace my ISP router for a while so will bite the bullet and make sure it supports Loopback.

Thanks again for the great expert advice!

 

[Carphone]

@JB1970 - I finally managed to change my default http, RTSP and server ports using the NVR interface directly (browser did not want to do it for some reason). I have another question if thats OK.

What do i now need to change in my port forward / router settings now that I have changed the default ports in the NVR? eg should I change both the internal and external ports to the new port number of just one of them (for each port)?

Also should I change the ports in the server and HTTP port numbers in the Hik-connect DDNS settings to match my new numbers?

Thanks again - really appreciate the support!

Dan

 

[JB1970]

@JB1970 - I finally managed to change my default http, RTSP and server ports using the NVR interface directly (browser did not want to do it for some reason). I have another question if thats OK.

What do i now need to change in my port forward / router settings now that I have changed the default ports in the NVR? eg should I change both the internal and external ports to the new port number of just one of them (for each port)?

Also should I change the ports in the server and HTTP port numbers in the Hik-connect DDNS settings to match my new numbers?

Thanks again - really appreciate the support!

Dan

No problem. Yes to both.

Make sure first that the NAT is disabled on the NVR as my previous post mentioned - you don't want the NVR trying to map ports while your router is doing the same. Amend the port forward settings in your router to match the revised numbers. As an example I use 50000 (http), 50001 (server) and 50002 (rtsp) so my rule is to forward TCP ports 50000 - 50002 to 192.168.0.250 (my NVR). I use consecutive port numbers so that I don't have to create three separate rules - one for each port. Usually you just set the external port numbers in the rule and can leave the internal ones blank if they're the same (which they are) but it depends on your router.

Once you've done that you can check to see that they're open here Open Port Check Tool - Test Port Forwarding on Your Router

Then change the DDNS settings in the app to match your new server port and http port. Also remember to change the server port from 8000 to your new port in the entry for you local connection "Home - WiFi" or whatever you called it.

Once you've completed everything, it might be wise using the NVR menu > Network > Platform Access to switch off the Hik Connect service for a moment, then switch it back on again. I've no basis to say that but my thought is that if you've changed ports - a disconnect and reconnect will force a fresh connection to the service.

One thing I forgot to mention regarding using the second local connection to view your cameras while on your own WiFi. Any alarm notifications should still work as they come from Hik Connect to your device but you may find that if you click "live view" or "play back" on the received event that you get an error as it'll try to connect via the Hik Connect service.

 

[Carphone]

Fantastic! Thanks again - will finish off tinkering tonight and update

 

[Carphone]

@JB1970 - Update is a happy ending! Port forwarding and app all updated and working spot on with new ports. Massive thanks again!

 

[JB1970]

@JB1970 - Update is a happy ending! Port forwarding and app all updated and working spot on with new ports. Massive thanks again!

No problem - glad you got it sorted