Camera offline - Network abnormal error

[craig242]

Hi Guys,

I've had my CCTV system installed for years now but this week 1 of my cameras lost connection and I can't seem to figure out why. I have 3 cams connected via POE to the NVR which are working fine, the issue cam is connected on the LAN via powerline adapters and a POE injector at the camera end.

If I webview the IP of the issue cam I can see live view working OK, the issue is that the NVR no longer sees this camera.

I've updated the firmware from 5.5.5 but still cannot view it on the NVR. Also tried changing the IP address on SADP tool as well as the NVR web gui but still it shows Offline(Network Abnormal) as the status.

NVR - DS-7604NI-K1/4P
FW v3.4.98 build 171121

Issue Cam - DS-2CD2042WD-1
FW v5.5.82 build 190909

Any ideas on what I can check next?

Thanks,
Craig

 

[Phil]

I think Step 1 will be to remove the Powerline kit from the equation and see if you still have a problem e.g. temporarily move the camera close to the NVR and use a short, bought, network patch lead to test.

 

[craig242]

I think Step 1 will be to remove the Powerline kit from the equation and see if you still have a problem e.g. temporarily move the camera close to the NVR and use a short, bought, network patch lead to test.

Hi Phil, thanks for your reply. I can try but surely if I can see live view when logging into the camera directly proves that the powerline adapters on the camera and router are working OK. I guess it doesn't rule out the powerline on the NVR though...

 

[Phil]

Sorry, scanned a lot of new Posts this morning.

Perhaps try a power-down and restart of the NVR?

 

[craig242]

Sorry, scanned a lot of new Posts this morning.

Perhaps try a power-down and restart of the NVR?

No such luck with the power down and restart. Nvr is reporting network unreachable for that camera.

 

[craig242]

Any other suggestions Phil?

 

[Phil]

It kind of seems as if the browser access is more tolerant than the NVR's access.

I can't fathom anything logical, so I think back to #2 and see whether the other devices e.g. powerline and separate POE injector are a factor.

Have you tried cycling the power to those devices?
Maybe re-pairing the Powerline devices?
Are there home-made cables in the route?
Home-made cables are often a weak-point in a system. If so, maybe try throwing-in a temporary shop-bought/manufactured patch lead to temporarily replace and test.

 

[craig242]

Hi Phil, I managed to get to the root cause over the weekend.

First I brought the camera inside and connected directly to the router with the POE injector and a pre-made ethernet cable, worked fine.
Then went back to the garage and tested with the powerlines in play as well as the pre-made ethernet, also worked fine.

Therefore it can only be the ethernet cable I terminated myself (over a year ago) that is the weak link. However I'm still not sure why I was able to webview the IP address of the camera and see LiveView without issues. I would expect this to also fail if the ethernet cable was no good.

Anyway, I'll make another cable this weekend and re-attach the camera, hopefully without issues.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[dozi]

craig, did the new cable fix this issue? cheers

 

[craig242]

craig, did the new cable fix this issue? cheers

It did indeed. Put a new connector on the end and all is working

 

[dozi]

thanks for this. Will give it a go as a friend has exactly the same issue you had.

 

[craig242]

thanks for this. Will give it a go as a friend has exactly the same issue you had.

Hope it helps. Not sure why it failed though as it had been fine for over a year.

 

[dozi]

its very curious that you can stream live view to your laptop, but it won't stream the very same data to the nvr without it complaining.

 

[umeshlk]

its very curious that you can stream live view to your laptop, but it won't stream the very same data to the nvr without it complaining.

Indeed, it is very odd technically.
The same issue occured on my IP camera (DS-2CD1221-I5) connected to DVR (DS-7208HQHI-F1) worked like a charm about a year. Suddenly Offline(Network Abnormal) popped up on DVR and camera was not available for live view. But I was able to connect to camera directly via web-browser. A power cycle of the DVR and removing and adding the camera on the DVR did NOT fix the problem, BUT power cycling the camera fixed it - as of now.

 

[mozso]

I have four Hikvision DS-2CD2086G2-I cameras attached to a HikVision PoE switch. Exact same camera after 10-12 days operation switched offline. Three times so far since I have installed them, all other cameras are ok. I have tired to switch ports on HikVision PoE switch, but no luck. I was suspecting my outdoor ethernet cable might be a problem. Hope not.....

Then I have did a firmware update on the camera and it seems it solved my issue. No network disconnects since.