HiLook vision showing as offline?

[Dlane]

Hi,

I’m looking for some help with our new HiLook vision CCTV cameras which were installed today. Unfortunately the guys setting up the system ran into the issue when trying to connect our phones to the app, that the connection status is showing as offline. I have searched for hours on how to fix this, changing the I.P addresses and DNS servers etc, however to no avail and I’m not actually sure what I’m doing.

I’ve tried downloading the SAPD tool which doesn’t locate devices.

I’ve attached some screenshots of the settings both with the automated filled in sections and then also I changed it to match the I.P address on our BT Hub Router. I’ve also attached pictures of the settings on the BT Hub. The CCTV is connected via Ethernet cable however this also isn’t showing on the router settings?
Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks

 

[JB1970]

Hi,

I’m looking for some help with our new HiLook vision CCTV cameras which were installed today. Unfortunately the guys setting up the system ran into the issue when trying to connect our phones to the app, that the connection status is showing as offline. I have searched for hours on how to fix this, changing the I.P addresses and DNS servers etc, however to no avail and I’m not actually sure what I’m doing.

I’ve tried downloading the SAPD tool which doesn’t locate devices.

I’ve attached some screenshots of the settings both with the automated filled in sections and then also I changed it to match the I.P address on our BT Hub Router. I’ve also attached pictures of the settings on the BT Hub. The CCTV is connected via Ethernet cable however this also isn’t showing on the router settings?
Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks

Oh dear. Another installer thats left a customer without a working system....

The IP settings are incorrect.

1. You have the IP address of the recorder set to the address of your BT hub (192.168.1.254). It is conflicting. Set it to 192.168.1.250 (where it's unlikely to conflict with anything else)
2. The default gateway is set to 1.0.0.0? The default gateway and IP address need to be in the same network or the recorder cannot reach the internet. The 'gateway' is your BT Hub so it should be set to the address of the BT hub - which is usually 192.168.1.254
3. DNS Servers are fine as is.

Set DHCP switch to off and use the settings above and then you should be able to get the recorder online.

 

[Dlane]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply.

Have tried the above and then rebooted but still no luck? Have attached another photo where I have followed your instructions so you can see what I input. Not sure what’s going wrong

 

[JB1970]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply.

Have tried the above and then rebooted but still no luck? Have attached another photo where I have followed your instructions so you can see what I input. Not sure what’s going wrong

Click the DHCP switch on and apply. That will attempt to get an address automatically from the BT Hub. Report back what address it gets. It should be 192.168.1.???

- If you get 192.168.1.??? switch DHCP back off and set the IP address to 192.168.1.250 again
- If you get 169.254.???.??? then the recorder is not getting an IP address from the BT Hub (which is the DHCP server) and there's something amiss with the physical connection.

How is the recorder connected to the router. Is it directly by a cable, or is is some other means? (WiFi adapter, Powerline adapters)

Do you have any web filtering on the BT Hub? That will block access to the DNS servers used.

 

[Dlane]

This is what it automatically populates with when clicking DHCP and applying. I.P address 192.168.1.64

 

[JB1970]

This is what it automatically populates with when clicking DHCP and applying. I.P address 192.168.1.64

Something is not right. Although the recorder is getting an IP address, I'm not convinced it's connected to the BT Hub as 1.0.0.0 is not a valid gateway address (it's the Cloudflare DNS server address) and it could never connect to the internet using anything other than the address of your BT Hub (which should be 192.168.1.254 by default)

How is the recorder physically connected to the BT Hub?

 

[Dlane]

It’s connected via a WIFI booster I believe with an Ethernet cable running from it to the monitor box, so maybe this is causing the issue? I’ll attach a photo so you can get a better idea! The wifi booster also has 3 lights on it but the bottom isn’t lit up if that could be the cause?

 

[JB1970]

It’s connected via a WIFI booster I believe with an Ethernet cable running from it to the monitor box, so maybe this is causing the issue? I’ll attach a photo so you can get a better idea! The wifi booster also has 3 lights on it but the bottom isn’t lit up if that could be the cause?

Ok last thing to try. Switch off DHCP on the recorder but leave the IP address as 192.168.1.64, gateway as 192.168.1.254, DNS as 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

If it still doesn't work it's likely that the WiFi adaptors aren't connecting the recorder to the router. The fact that the recorder cannot be seen in the routers connected devices seems to indicate that. Do you have any Web Filter/Child Safe filter on the BT Hub?

 

[JB1970]

The wifi booster also has 3 lights on it but the bottom isn’t lit up if that could be the cause?

Quite possibly, I'd expect it to indicate that a device is connected to it with that bottom light. We're assuming the cable is good and is seated correctly.

To prove the extender is linked you would need a laptop. You'd turn off the wifi on it and then connect it to that extender with the cable that currently goes to the recorder to see whether you can access the BT Hub and internet (proving a connection)

 

[Dlane]

I think the issue is definitely that the wifi booster and DVR aren’t connecting up with the Ethernet cable. The light won’t come on at all. I connected the Ethernet cable to the monitor of the TV just to see if it would pick anything up and it did and the light came on. However as soon as it gets plugged into the back of the DVR, it doesn’t work again.

 

[JB1970]

I think the issue is definitely that the wifi booster and DVR aren’t connecting up with the Ethernet cable. The light won’t come on at all. I connected the Ethernet cable to the monitor of the TV just to see if it would pick anything up and it did and the light came on. However as soon as it gets plugged into the back of the DVR, it doesn’t work again.

At this point I'd throw it back to your installer. You shouldn't have to be messing around like this. The only sure fire way to prove the link between the extender and the BT hub is to connect a laptop to it as I described. However if you're connecting another device to the extender with the exact same ethernet cable and you get a link light on the extender, I'd be starting to think that there's an issue with the network port on the recorder. That too could be proven working or faulty by using a laptop. With the IP address of the recorder set to 192.168.1.250 with gateway 192.168.1.254, you would set the laptop with a static IP in the same range (192.168.1.249 for example) and plug it straight into the back of the recorder. You should be able to bring up the recorders login page in a web browser at http://192.168.1.250. Though it would probably be easier to temporarily run a long network cable to the router or just take the recorder to the router and plug it in directly.

 

[Dlane]

Thank you. I will message them tomorrow and hopefully they’ll come back out. It is strange as they tried 3 different Ethernet cables, 2 different DVRs and 2 different WiFi boosters, and got the same outcome each time. It’s mind boggling to say the least!

 

[JB1970]

Thank you. I will message them tomorrow and hopefully they’ll come back out. It is strange as they tried 3 different Ethernet cables, 2 different DVRs and 2 different WiFi boosters, and got the same outcome each time. It’s mind boggling to say the least!

It could be more than one issue - the connection to the router being the first. If I was installing that and had an issue I wouldn't bother trying anything without connecting the recorder directly to the router to prove it. But regardless the IP settings and that incorrect gateway address would prevent a connection to the internet.

Regardless of all of that (I've mentioned it twice above already) Make sure that you do not have a web content filter switched on in the router settings. If you have, the recorder may not connect to the online server as it needs to use the Google DNS servers (8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4). If the filter is on, the BT router will block the connection as it will be seen as an attempt to circumnavigate that filter by using a DNS server other than BT's nominated server.

 

[Dlane]

Thanks, yeah I can confirm that the BT web filter is switched off! Thought I would have another look at this today. I’ve brought the DVR down to the router and connected via Ethernet cable directly from router to the DVR, this is fine and picks up the connection and says online.

Then plugged the booster in and connected via Ethernet, and says offline again. So it appears the wifi booster isn’t connecting with the DVR. It does connect to everything else as I’ve also done the step you said about connecting the wifi booster directly to a laptop via Ethernet then turning the laptop wifi off. This worked fine as well so the booster is definitely connecting to other things.

Have contacted the installation guys and hopefully they will come back out, but they didn’t seem to have a clue what was wrong with it when it wouldn’t connect in the first place so I’m not confident they’ll be able to fix! so frustrating!

 

[Dlane]

Just an update! Ive just went out and bought a new WIFI booster just to check and see if it was the booster causing all of the issues. It was apparently, as everything is now working!!! I’ve no idea why the previous one didn’t work with the DVR, but I’m over the moon it’s working now. Thanks for all your help!!

 

[JB1970]

Just an update! Ive just went out and bought a new WIFI booster just to check and see if it was the booster causing all of the issues. It was apparently, as everything is now working!!! I’ve no idea why the previous one didn’t work with the DVR, but I’m over the moon it’s working now. Thanks for all your help!!

Glad it's all sorted for you. A bit of a shame you were left to resolve it yourself. I was going to suggest that an alternative to the WiFi boosters is to use Powerline adaptors. Those create a network connection through your houses mains wiring and you just plug one in to the wall at the recorder with another at the router. I usually use the TP Link PA4010-PKIT which you can get on Amazon for just over £30. I prefer them as they need no configuration at all whereas if you change your WiFi details or provider you need to re pair the extenders. But anyway you've got it sorted which is the main thing....