Can cameras access internet when using NVR PoE ports/virtual host?

[codlord]

Can cameras be setup to access the internet when using NVR PoE ports and the NVR with "virtual host" enabled?

I usually use NVR with a separate PoE switch or switches, so my ANPR cameras are setup to FTP images to a remote server and all works well - they can access the internet.

But now I setup another site and I thought I would simplify things by using the NVR PoE ports. But the ANPR camera at that site does not seem to be FTP'ing it's plate captures.
I assume it needs setting up in some way to allow this? Please someone tell me this is possible...

There does not seem to be any FTP settings if you look at the NVR web interface - you only see FTP settings on the actual ANPR camera web interface.

 

[JB1970]

Can cameras be setup to access the internet when using NVR PoE ports and the NVR with "virtual host" enabled?

I usually use NVR with a separate PoE switch or switches, so my ANPR cameras are setup to FTP images to a remote server and all works well - they can access the internet.

But now I setup another site and I thought I would simplify things by using the NVR PoE ports. But the ANPR camera at that site does not seem to be FTP'ing it's plate captures.
I assume it needs setting up in some way to allow this? Please someone tell me this is possible...

There does not seem to be any FTP settings if you look at the NVR web interface - you only see FTP settings on the actual ANPR camera web interface.

I don't think it is possible TBH. You can gain access to the cameras via virtual host remotely by port forwarding the virtual host ports (65001 - 6500x) to the NVR's local address, but that just forwards http via the NVR. The NVR PoE ports are kept separate to stop camera access to/from the internet directly. As the PoE ports use the 192.168.254.xxx range, the gateway address (not used/needed usually when on PoE) for the camera would also need to be in the 192.168.254.xxx range to communicate. The NVRs local PoE network address (192.168.254.1) will not act as a gateway and forward traffic from that range to the LAN subnet.

The NVR PoE subnet 192.168.254.xxx can be changed but it won't allow you to set it in the same range as the LAN subnet - it just brings up an IP conflict error. If it were possible that would effectively put everything in the same range and allow the path to the internet. It's not something I've ever tried but the only other thing I can think of would be (depending on router) whether you could link a spare PoE port to the router and set up a route between the two networks. A decent router like a Draytek might do it.

 

[codlord]

@JB1970 thanks very much for your reply. That's pretty frustrating, but at least I know now for current and future installs maybe to not bother with the NVR PoE ports at all.

I'll look into the port mapping/routing as you suggested...

I guess the other option I have if I don't want to add a whole new PoE switch to the mix for all cameras is to have the (single) ANPR camera IP connected to my router/swtich and use a PoE injector. Then all the other cameras stay connected to the NVR. That's assuming you can have a mixture, which I think (hope!) I can.

 

[JB1970]

@JB1970 thanks very much for your reply. That's pretty frustrating, but at least I know now for current and future installs maybe to not bother with the NVR PoE ports at all.

I'll look into the port mapping/routing as you suggested...

I guess the other option I have if I don't want to add a whole new PoE switch to the mix for all cameras is to have the (single) ANPR camera IP connected to my router/swtich and use a PoE injector. Then all the other cameras stay connected to the NVR. That's assuming you can have a mixture, which I think (hope!) I can.

Yes it can be a great or terrible feature depending on your setup. It's good that it keeps all of the traffic from the cameras segregated off the LAN but for what you need it's a problem. I used to use a lot of Draytek routers where you can run multiple LAN subnets and they have static routing tables so maybe that would be a possibility.

Your second idea will definitely work and will be easiest. Just put it straight on the LAN via PoE injector as you describe. It'll then have access to the gateway and be able to communicate with your ftp server. Best of all you can still manually added it to the NVR via the camera menu and record it there as normal (I'm not sure why I never thought of that before responding!)