Troubleshooting network connection problems for Compro IP cameras

Transcription

1 Release No. Revision Description Applied Products TNN004 v Troubleshooting network connection problems for Compro IP cameras All Compro IP camera products Troubleshooting network connection problems for Compro IP cameras It is of crucial importance that the IP camera is installed in a high-quality network environment. Since all data from IP camera will be transmitted over the network, you may encounter some problems with your camera if the network is not functioning properly. If you still have problems after reading this document, please mail your question with detailed description, camera settings and firmware version to our support account at [email protected]. Our support technician will be glad to be of service to you. Page 1 / 12

2 Table of Contents Troubleshooting Tree Problem accessing to IP camera: The connection between IP camera and router can not be established. The IP camera's IP address is repeatedly displayed as "DHCP mode" in iwizard. Problem viewing the streaming: Continuously seeing gray image. A warning message saying Your video quality is too high for your internet bandwidth. popped up. Stream is lost over a short span. Having ghost image. The image is very blocky. The video is not real-time. Problem using the IP camera: Take a long time to scan wireless AP and connect to it. Page 2 / 12

3 Troubleshooting Tree Start Can connect to the camera NO YES Can get IP address NO YES Image quality is good Gray image Ghost image YES Streaming is fine Blocky image NO Have error message YES YES NO Video is real time NO YES Done Page 3 / 12

4 Before starting diagnose on your problem, there are two things you may want to check it first. 1. The firmware version of IP camera: Please check your firmware version first and ensure it is the latest one on our website. The current firmware version of your IP camera can be found on maintenance information page as shown below. The page is in [setup] [maintenance] [information]. You can check the latest firmware version on our website, please upgrade the firmware corresponded to your model if yours is not the latest one. The following is an example to check the firmware version on IP The configuration of your network environment To avoid some bandwidth or connection issues, we highly recommend that you should connect all devices (computer, NVR, IP camera) to one router, whether it's connected by wired or wireless. And all devices share the same class of private IP. For example, all devices' IP address is x. Page 4 / 12

5 Listed below are some network connection related problems and their possible solution. Symptom Problem accessing to IP camera Possible Case/Solution The connection between IP camera and router can not be established. Wired: a. Check if the Ethernet cable is connected to the Ethernet port of the camera and to network router. When camera established connection successfully, the LED status indicator appears blue. b. Check if the IP address you entered matches the IP address of your camera. You can run iwizard to search for the camera on your network. You shall then see the IP address of your camera within your LAN. Wireless: a. Check if the wireless adapter is firmly plugged into the USB socket on camera. When camera has established wireless connection successfully, the LED status indicator of the wireless dongle will appear green and blue. b. Check if the wireless settings are configured correctly. Go to the camera s Wireless Settings page and make sure you've inputted the right IP address, SSID and Keyphrase. Page 5 / 12

6 The IP camera s IP address is repeatedly displayed as DHCP mode in iwizard. This means the camera cannot get a IP address from DHCP Server or the IP address on camera is not in the same subnet with LAN. Please try to set the IP address to a static IP address. Please note that you have to setup DNS server for camera if you use a static IP address (setup network advanced DNS server). Page 6 / 12

7 Note that you have to set the DNS server for your camera (in the advanced network settings) if your camera uses a static IP address. Consult with your ISP (Internet Service Provider) for the most appropriate DNS server setting; or simply set DNS server as or , which is the address of a free DNS server powered by Google. Page 7 / 12

8 Problem viewing the streaming Continuously seeing gray image. Seeing lots of gray images in live view mode indicates that many data packets which carry video data are dropped during the transmission. This might be caused by network congestion, wireless congestion, or the limited upload/download bandwidth of your network. To measure your network capacity, you can use either the Network Bandwidth testing tool in the network settings page, or visit speedtest.net ( When using wired connection: Please test your bandwidth in the way we mentioned above to determine whether this has been the result of poor network quality. Or try connecting your camera to your viewing computer directly to see if there are any faulty devices on your network. When using wireless connection: Besides the possible network bandwidth issue, the wireless signal strength could also come into play. Low wireless signal Page 8 / 12

9 strength may also lead to the same problem. You can check the wireless signal strength in the camera s network settings page. The wireless signal level seen in the network settings is measured in dbm. To gain the optimal wireless connection quality, a signal level greater than -60 dbm is recommended. When the signal level gets too low, you may have to place your wireless Access Point in a different location, use a wireless repeater, or remove obstacles between the camera and the wireless AP. A warning message saying Your video quality is too high for your internet bandwidth popped up. This means the camera s browser interface, WebVUer, could not receive a steady stream of video data from your camera. The loss of video data might also be caused by network congestion or insufficient bandwidth. So please refer to the related troubleshooting tips. Additionally, if the CPU usage on your viewing computer is too high, the same warning message will be showed. You can monitor the CPU usage by right clicking on your Windows taskbar and choose task manager, and then click the Performance tab. Page 9 / 12

10 Video stream is lost over a short span. This could be caused either by the unstable connection between the camera and the WebVuer or by the insufficient network bandwidth. Please try to set the bit rate of the camera to a lower one and try again. Having ghost image. This is also a common phenomenon that occurs when the quality of network is not good or the video setting is too high. Please refer to the aforementioned issues. The image is very blocky. This is usually caused by non-correspondence of video resolution and bit rate. Simply put, the video bit rate is too low. Please try to set the bit rate to a higher one or set the video resolution to a lower one. The video is not real-time. First, check if the network latency is too long. If the network is too congested, this may happen. Second, check the video buffer setting in the video setup page (setup video video buffer). Please set it as standard. Please note that video buffer option is only available in firmware 2.03 or above. Page 10 / 12

11 Problem using the IP camera Scanning and connecting to wireless AP takes an unusually long time. The amount of time taken to scan wireless AP depends on the number of wireless APs near the camera. If there are too many wireless APs (30 or more), it may take 3 minutes to complete the scanning process. A possible workaround is to turn down the video setting a notch temporary, and then turn it up again after you have completed configuring wireless connection. For example, you can first set your video setting to QVGA, MPEG-4, 5fps, 512Kbps. Then go to network page for wireless connection setup, and set the video setting back to original state. This might be helpful for reducing the scanning time. Page 11 / 12

12 History words corrections - add note about the DNS server - update the snapshot of firmware checking modify the logic in troubleshooting tree - words corrections add troubleshooting tree add table of contents - minor format changes - minor content modify first edition Page 12 / 12