Hik-Connect Hikvision Stops working When in USA?

[It Will Work]

Good morning

I am sorry for the rather vague heading, but CCT is not my best subject.

My Hikvision system has worked exactly as I wanted it to do until the beginning of the month.

I had to go to USA for a few days, prior to departing I checked on my Samsung mobile that all was well at home. Live view on screen, intrusion alarms being set (the postman) and playback of any recorded triggers. No problem so far.

In America I noticed there had been no triggers from my system at home, further investigation highlighted that I had been logged out from the mobile app. I tried to log back in, only to be told I was an unauthorised user or words to that effect. Does USA have something against Hikvision?

Back home I logged into the NVR directly, everything looked OK. Camera was showing live view, playback was available, intrusion triggers were showing in the log file(s).

Logging on via the browser using Windows Edge indicated all was well.

I have now re-installed the mobile app, logged back in and all is as expected, however I have no intrusion/line crossing triggers being sent to my mobile app.

I have checked the NVR directly and the” notify surveillance centre” is ticked.

The intrusion/line crossing options are ticked.

I have checked the camera settings by logging in to them and again the ”notify surveillance centre” is ticked.

The intrusion/line crossing options are ticked.

Can anybody please suggest anything else to look at?

Many thanks

Out of desperation I updated the firmware of the NVR. I now have far more options with the system than before, but still no triggers are being sent to the mobile app.

DETAILS

NVR DS-7604NI-K1/4P (B) with old firmware V3.4 100 Build 180310

is now V4.3.096 Build 221220

Camera DS-2CD2H85FWD-IZS with firmware V5.5.61 Build180626

 

[Dan]

Hi @It Will Work

The reason you probably encountered problems with accessing Hikvision products in the USA is to do with their NDAA ban that has banned the sale and use of certain Chinese manufactured CCTV products including Hikvision products.

We don't know the full details of how far the ban/restrictions stretch, but based on your experience it sounds like accessing the Hik-Connect app (which connects to Hikvision Cloud Hik-Connect servers to access devices remotely) has also been banned/restricted.

In regards to your notifications issue, have you checked the NVR logs to confirm if there are any intrusion/line crossing triggers?

 

[It Will Work]

Hi @It Will Work


In regards to your notifications issue, have you checked the NVR logs to confirm if there are any intrusion/line crossing triggers?

Hi @Dan

I have checked the logs and there are numerous triggers being set across the camera/NVR, but nothing is being sent to the mobile.

 

[Dan]

Thanks @It Will Work

After re-installing the app, have you checked the app settings to make sure you have 'Device Notifications' enabled?

 

[It Will Work]

Thanks @It Will Work

After re-installing the app, have you checked the app settings to make sure you have 'Device Notifications' enabled?

Hi @Dan

Can you point me in the right direction for "device notifications enabled" Is this on the phone itself or wholly in the app?

 

[Dan]

It's in the app.

If you go to the 'Me' menu in the app you should then see the Settings menu, tap Settings > Notification Settings and you should then see the option to enable or disable Device Notifications.

 

[It Will Work]

It's in the app.

If you go to the 'Me' menu in the app you should then see the Settings menu, tap Settings > Notification Settings and you should then see the option to enable or disable Device Notifications.

@Dan

I have the following:-
Device Notifications is ON
Device Notification Settings has an arrow......when clicked on brings up a new screen with an image of a guy and an empty box saying "No Device"

Alarm Audio Notifications are ON

Call Notifications are ON
Call Notification settings has an arrow......when clicked on brings up a new screen with an image of a guy and an empty box saying "No Device"

 

[Dan]

Okay,

It's strange that you are seeing 'no device', if there is a camera or NVR added to Hik-Connect that supports notifications it should appear here.

Maybe try deleting the NVR from your Hik-Connect account and then try re-adding the device.

 

[It Will Work]

Okay,

It's strange that you are seeing 'no device', if there is a camera or NVR added to Hik-Connect that supports notifications it should appear here.

Maybe try deleting the NVR from your Hik-Connect account and then try re-adding the device.

@Dan

What actually sends the notification to the app is it the camera or the NVR?

I have had the browser window open and the mobile app open watching the front path. The postman has just visited, I saw him on both screens, but no trigger sent/received. The log file indicates a trigger at just after 1:00pm....that being the time he called.

 

[Kyle]

If the camera is connected to the NVR, then it should be the recorder sending the notifications, as this is where any event footage / info is saved.
So, the events should be set on the NVR, and "notify surveillance centre" should be ticked in the Linkage Method page for that event, as this is what tells the NVR to send.

Also, the NVR will need to be added via serial number or QR code for the event notifications to work - they won't work if added via the "IP/Domain" option.
If it has been added correctly, it should show up when you log into the Hik-Connect online portal with the account you're using on the app, as shown here.

Also, make sure that you have both DNS servers and a the gateway address properly set on the NVR, as this might cause issues with the notifications.

 

[It Will Work]

@Kyle, @Dan

Many thanks for your support, all is working again. I will not go back to the USA if this is what a trip there does to your Hikvision system.

In conclusion:-

1. I deleted everything from my phone and tablet.
2. Reset the NVR and reloaded the latest firmware.
3. Worked through your instructions line by line, made a few errors with sequencing, but got there in the end.
4. Reloaded to App to my phone and got that working, way too many triggers due to not setting the sensitivity to my desired values.
5. Shared the settings onto my tablet, that is working as expected.

One last question, should I update the firmware on the camera. Will there be any improvements or am I just risking turning it into a brick?

Camera details:-
DS-2CD2H85FWD-IZS with firmware V5.5.61 Build180626

 

[Dan]

Hi @It Will Work

Good to hear you've got it working again.

In regards to firmware, we definitely would recommend updating as you are quite a few versions out of date.

To avoid any issues after updating, we would recommend that you update to the latest firmware version in several steps. See below the versions we recommend updating to one at a time to get you to the latest firmware:

V5.5.83 190221
V5.6.1 190604
V5.6.5 200316
V5.6.820 220519

 

[It Will Work]

Hi @It Will Work

Good to hear you've got it working again.

In regards to firmware, we definitely would recommend updating as you are quite a few versions out of date.

To avoid any issues after updating, we would recommend that you update to the latest firmware version in several steps. See below the versions we recommend updating to one at a time to get you to the latest firmware:

V5.5.83 190221
V5.6.1 190604
V5.6.5 200316
V5.6.820 220519

@Dan
Do you have a link to the process of updating the cameras. I am confident in upgrading the NVR now but don't want to get caught out with the camera if the process is not the same. Can the camera be updated via the browser or must it be via the NVR?

Cheers

 

[Dan]

Hi @It Will Work

Is the camera directly connected to the PoE ports on the NVR or is it plugged into a separate PoE Injector/Switch?

 

[It Will Work]

@Dan

Directly into the NVR.

 

[Dan]

Okay,

You'll need to use Virtual Host to access directly connected cameras, once logged in (the login password for directly connected cameras should be the same as your NVR login) the firmware upgrade steps are the same as upgrading the NVR in a browser.

 

[It Will Work]

@Dan

Camera fully updated. I had no issues using your instructions, concise and descriptive. Have you ever thought of becoming a planning Engineer in the aerospace industry, they could really use your talents.

One last question if you don't mind......are there any tweaks that I should do to my now fully updated system to get the best from it?

Once again, many thanks for your time and support.

 

[Dan]

Hi @It Will Work

Thanks for the feedback, I've got lots of experience explaining these things

In regards to your last question, there isn't really anything general we can recommend to improve your camera's performance, we would need more specific detail (including images/screenshots) of what you are using the cameras for and what the current image/scene is for us to be able to recommend any specific setting changes.