Email alerts sending tiny images

[camman1]

equipment
DS-2CD2342WD-I
firm V5.5.53 build 180730

DS-2CD2385G1-I
V5.5.83 build 190221

DS-7604NI-E1 / 4P
V3.4.103 build 181226

I have managed to set up email alerts sent from the NVR to a gmail address. However the images are only attached to maybe one every 20 emails and the image size of the attached images are tiny. 32kb with 352 x 240 pixel resolution.
If I understand correctly this is a basic limitation of the NVR ? Also am I correct that a solution to this would be to send the email event images directly from the cameras and not the NVR. If the solution is to use the cameras to send the emails then I am struggling to set the network parameters correctly as I cant get the send email test to succeed.

Any advice please....I have attached images of the network settings I currently have. The nvr settings sends emails....the cam ones do not.
Thanks

 

[Amertat]

please give image from your alert setting on your camera and NVR,
for example if you setting line-cross event check your setting related to arming alarm about this event, and make sure you checkbox the send email in your camera too,
btw about your networking:
i assuming you connect this two camera to your 4 port POE switch of your NVR and stand alone network link of NVR to router which has a access to internet. according to your ip config your routers probably NAT packets with source ip of 192.168.1.x (which should be do so any device with ip of 192.168.1.x or better explanation 192.168.1.0/24 have access to internet) but because your camera connect to NVR first then router so they have ip range of 192.168.254.X and should NAT to 192.168.1.99 first and then goes to your router, however i think NVR do this by default, follow these step for test your internet access from devices which is connected to NVR switch:
1.connect your PC or laptop to one of 4 port of your NVR (which already two camera should be connected to this).
2.set the ip of PC/laptop in range of NVR and camera ip.s which in your scenario could be something like 192.168.254.99 or 192.168.254.100 , ........
3.in windows OS in search bar type CMD and open Command prompt then type ping 192.168.254.1 (if u do these step correctly you should see reply from 192.168.254.1 with time=x
4.then ping 192.168.1.99 (which is stand alone interface of your NVR according to your images) see this has reply or not.if its ok follow step 5 if not send image probably your NVR could not NAT packet trough switch to router
5.ping 192.168.1.1 which again according to you image it would be your router IP. if you see reply go step 6 otherwise send image
6.ping 8.8.8.8 or 4.2.2.2. again if you see reply this means your cameras have internet access and this issue its not related to your network addressing otherwise send image.
note: please consider i assume these scenario according to your current config in your image attachment it found that :
a.your network camera ip range should be 192.168.254.0/24 (192.168.254.X)
b.your router IP range should be 192.168.1.0/24 (192.168.1.1)
c.the single network interface of your NVR has ip with 192.168.1.99
i tried to explain as simple hope this help you

 

[camman1]

thanks...i shall test this out connecting laptop to poe interface.

quote..
"but because your camera connect to NVR first then router so they have ip range of 192.168.254.X and should NAT to 192.168.1.99 first and then goes to your router, however i think NVR do this by default"

im not sure the NVR is doing this and a "static route" needs to be defined in the router? in which case my ISP router/modem is not up to the task.

 

[StuartW]

To allow the cameras to send email directly:

• Turn on the virtual host feature on the NVR
• Add a static route on your router/firewall for the network 192.168.254.0/24 pointing to 192.168.1.99.

The rest of your settings are ok.

The NVR doesn't NAT the camera's addresses, so the firewall needs to know where to return the packets to - hence the static route.

One issue that I've found with this method is that firmware upgrades quite often fail and have to be completed by putting a laptop on the camera side of the NVR.

 

[camman1]

thanks stuart, makes sense.
My virginmedia superhub2 or 3 has no such settings.
So Im gonna have to look at adding a proper router.
thanks again

 

[StuartW]

You are correct - I have the SuperHub too.

Once you have a decent router - I can recommend PFSense - set the superhub into modem mode.

 

[camman1]

thanks....PFSense is software right?
i used to use an old buffalo router flashed with dd-wrt but its too old now.
which router are you using, thanks

 

[StuartW]

One of these:

LinITX APU2 E4/5 Network 4GB pfSense Pre-Configured Kit - (3NIC+USB+RTC)

LinITX APU2 E4/5 pfSense Configured Kit. Small form factor pfSense firewall. 1 GHz quad Jaguar core. 4 GB DDR3. Storage Boot from SD.

linitx.com

An added benefit is that pfsense can run an OpenVPN server. Matched with OpenVPN client on iPhone/iPad I can use the app to view NVR remotely without having to do port forwards or anything.

 

[Amertat]

i have solution for you without need to use static route!:
1.you need to disconnect and change ip of your NVR standalone network interface to another range like 192.168.2.99
2.in camera management setting of your nvr change connection type form plug and play to manual (do this on all 4 port)
3.set 2 static ip in range of 192.168.1.0/24 (your router range) on your cameras: i.e cam1: 192.168.1.10 and cam2: 192.168.1.11 with subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and remember set their gateway your router ip which i think would be 192.168.1.1 (you could SADP tools for doing this)
4. add cameras to NVR by manual! default port for hikvision camera is 8000)
5.now connect a cable from your router to NVR 4-port Switch.
*be advice with this config your camera can access to internet and no static route needed because they are in range of your router and their default gateway is your router how ever remember in this situation you nvr can't access through internet because unfortunately in this model i think only stand alone interface of NVR can be access to gateway and not its POE switch.
*you could test this network by connecting a PC or laptop to 4Port NVR switch and test the internet connection.
btw: i'm really impressed about your router, i thought static route option is a basic feature which could be found in any routers.

 

[Amertat]

btw if you looking for a good and professional device for network routing,firewall,vpn,...... i recommend you to use mikrotik device they are so much cheaper than cisco but with many pro features. check MikroTik .
i think "hex lite" it's suitable for you in home environment or "hAP" for having wireless AP too. (these " " name are two model from mikrotik device)

 

[camman1]

Thanks for the help just a couple of questions...
1.you need to disconnect and change ip of your NVR standalone network interface to another range like 192.168.2.99

So my router wont see the NVR network interface, but you are saying to connect the router to the POE interface instead. Is that correct?


2.in camera management setting of your nvr change connection type form plug and play to manual (do this on all 4 port)
3.set 2 static ip in range of 192.168.1.0/24 (your router range) on your cameras: i.e cam1: 192.168.1.10 and cam2: 192.168.1.11 with subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and remember set their gateway your router ip which i think would be 192.168.1.1 (you could SADP tools for doing this)
4. add cameras to NVR by manual! default port for hikvision camera is 8000)
5.now connect a cable from your router to NVR 4-port Switch.

Sounds good. I think I understand the concept here.

*be advice with this config your camera can access to internet and no static route needed because they are in range of your router and their default gateway is your router how ever remember in this situation you nvr can't access through internet because unfortunately in this model i think only stand alone interface of NVR can be access to gateway and not its POE switch.
*you could test this network by connecting a PC or laptop to 4Port NVR switch and test the internet connection.

Can you just clarify here what we have done. So the cameras can see the internet(and hence email out) through the poe interface as its set to my router range. But I wont get access to the cameras via any apps(HIK connect) as I cant get back into the cameras via the POE interface. Have I got this correct? So camera and playback access only available directly on the NVR.

Many thanks.

 

[StuartW]

What this is doing is putting the camera side of the NVR onto your local LAN. In theory, there's no technical reason why this wouldn't achieve the objective (that being for the camera's to get to the internet) but the biggest issue I'd have with this (and the one reason alone I wouldn't entertain this configuration) is that all the camera traffic (high bandwidth streaming) is in the same subnet as all your normal LAN traffic. Given that the LAN only has so much bandwidth, I really wouldn't want a significant portion being used up by the camera's traffic.

This could cause (for example) internet radio streaming/Netflix etc. to be "starved" of bandwidth.

IMO, CCTV systems, should (wherever possible) be contained to a completely different subnet/vlan.

 

[fullboogie]

Not to mention possible security issues.

 

[Amertat]

*generally i agree with @StuartW if you get a proper router it would be so much better however for two camera issue about bandwidth and streaming had not a serious impact in your lan network!
i attach two diagram based on your current network i think its clear what u should with these network diagram number 1 is your current config and number 2 is what you should do.
the reason i said that probably your nvr cant access to internet is i think this NVR only allow you to set default gateway on its standalone side (192.168.2.99 based on pic2). if you tell exactly what's your router and how u access through internet i could help more by do some conf. in example if router be a really router not a puny one XD u can also connect stand alone interface of your nvr to another port of router and set two ip like set 192.168.2.1 on your router and 192.168.2.99 on your NVR by this your nvr have internet access too however i do not know about your routing and how you access internet?! (idk how you have a router which could not set a simple static route on it!!!)
about hik-connect: according to your explanation i think you connect NVR to hik connect cloud and you connect to your account and see your video right? by do this changes you could also connect to camera via hik-connect but this time you should contact them directly not by nvr which means you should enable hik-connect service on your camera.
if you could describe your internet access environment i could help more like: do you have static public ip address? or what router exactly you are using?and do you connect your NVR to hik-connect directly or you are using hik-connect cloud service?

 

[StuartW]

Not to mention possible security issues.

Didn't want to start on that route

 

[Amertat]

*generally i agree with @StuartW if you get a proper router it would be so much better however for two camera issue about bandwidth and streaming had not a serious impact in your lan network!
i attach two diagram based on your current network i think its clear what u should with these network diagram number 1 is your current config and number 2 is what you should do.
the reason i said that probably your nvr cant access to internet is i think this NVR only allow you to set default gateway on its standalone side (192.168.2.99 based on pic2). if you tell exactly what's your router and how u access through internet i could help more by do some conf. in example if router be a really router not a puny one XD u can also connect stand alone interface of your nvr to another port of router and set two ip like set 192.168.2.1 on your router and 192.168.2.99 on your NVR by this your nvr have internet access too however i do not know about your routing and how you access internet?! (idk how you have a router which could not set a simple static route on it!!!)
about hik-connect: according to your explanation i think you connect NVR to hik connect cloud and you connect to your account and see your video right? by do this changes you could also connect to camera via hik-connect but this time you should contact them directly not by nvr which means you should enable hik-connect service on your camera.
if you could describe your internet access environment i could help more like: do you have static public ip address? or what router exactly you are using?and do you connect your NVR to hik-connect directly or you are using hik-connect cloud service?

Remember the reason i offer this , because you said cant use static route so by doing this you could temporary give your camera internet access for finding the reason of low resolution emailed pictures.

 

[camman1]

I have cable internet with Virgin media. Virgin media issue me a "superhub2" although I could also set up a "superhub3". Both these are a modem/router combination unit with very little scope for networking beyond port forwarding. Virging media issue a "static" ip address for internet access.(not strictly true although it very rarely changes). Something like 81:101:etc:etc

This is how I currently access the devices.

web interface connections
http://192.168.1.99:7269 nvr
http://192.168.1.99:65003 cam1
http://192.168.1.99:65002 cam2

hik connect details
192.168.1.99 port 8000 local connection
static wan address port 8000 external connection

I currently do not use the hik cloud service as never saw any point to it. I probably should set the router/modem to "modem mode" and use a proper router and use a "static route"

 

[Amertat]

I have cable internet with Virgin media. Virgin media issue me a "superhub2" although I could also set up a "superhub3". Both these are a modem/router combination unit with very little scope for networking beyond port forwarding. Virging media issue a "static" ip address for internet access.(not strictly true although it very rarely changes). Something like 81:101:etc:etc

This is how I currently access the devices.

web interface connections
http://192.168.1.99:7269 nvr
http://192.168.1.99:65003 cam1
http://192.168.1.99:65002 cam2

hik connect details
192.168.1.99 port 8000 local connection
static wan address port 8000 external connection

I currently do not use the hik cloud service as never saw any point to it. I probably should set the router/modem to "modem mode" and use a proper router and use a "static route"

did you use hik-connect from outside of your network area for connecting to your NVR our just use it at your home (like your when your phone is connect to this router too?
if yes so definitely you should use port forward for forwarding outbound packet to your NVR?
am I correct?
"(not strictly true although it very rarely changes). Something like 81:101:etc:etc"
that means you do not have a static ip public?:S so how you connect from outside to your NVR?!!!!

 

[camman1]

i can connect to the nvr externally using any app... hik connect, ivms etc ....using that static wan ip.....yes i have those ports forwarded
the wan ip hasnt changed in 2 or more years...(i can use hiks ddns service if i need to but not necessary)

 

[Amertat]

i can connect to the nvr externally using any app... hik connect, ivms etc ....using that static wan ip.....yes i have those ports forwarded
the wan ip hasn't changed in 2 or more years...(i can use hiks ddns service if i need to but not necessary)

ok so if you want to test the main issue is about NVR or Camera you need to access your camera internet, you could use my way that i suggest in two block diagram
and with hik-connect or ivms-4500 you could also connect to camera directly just port forward some port of camera.also check images that cameras send via email to see the issue will be fix or not.
for Port forwarding: in past you use some config like this anyip:8000 goes to 192.168.1.99:8000 now in new network :you should config something like that:
anyip:8000 to 192.168.1.10:8000 and anyip:8001 to 192.168.1.11:8000 (which 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.11 refer to your cameras) just remember you should also port forward the web port of camera if you want to remote config them however most ISP in home environment block port 80 from outside for some security reason so frist change the web port to some number like 50000 above and then use port forward for web port.
after port forward in your ivms-4500 or hik-connect this time add cameras instead of NVR and check emailed picture.