Ways To Troubleshoot IP Camera Setup
Welcome friends, You are using an IP camera set up, if yes then you may have facing problems sometimes and there is a need to troubleshoot your IP camera. Then what points we have to check for troubleshoot the camera, means what I have to do.
The most common situation that people find themselves on a new installation is where they have got IP camera, after the installation of the whole set up you may see that “can not find the IP host” and you know the camera is running through the cables into the switch then into a network video recorder.
There is such type of connector and power supply is also used in IP camera set up, so likely anything could be a fault in these things.
If you are unable to troubleshoot an IP camera then some basic steps help you to troubleshoot an IP camera. Follow these steps one by one.
1. Check The Power Connection
It is quite obvious but sometimes we miss a small thing so consider this point. Check the all power connection at least once. If the camera is non-POE, check the power supply or adaptor. Some IP camera has a LED light that indicates the power of camera but in some cases, we do not have an indicator so careful about the camera is powered up or not.
When you buy an IP cctv camera you will find that there is two types of port RJ 45 network connection and 12 volts DC plug but unusually you will find 12 volts adapter with the camera, some camera is self-powered with network cables with the aid a power injector and splitter, some power with POE switch, some using with NVR.
SO what all that means, it means what is the best for you, this is up to you which can be better performance in your situation or environment. In my opinion, is used to a POE switch the simple and easy to use and quite small and normally you can plug it into UPS which is uninterruptable.
2. Check Cabling
If the camera is powered up and still not responding then you should check the cable of the camera. Sometimes cable goes damaged and we do not recognise it, so check the cable of the camera. You can use a multimeter to check the cable continuity of the cable.
We know all the data is transferred through the wire to the DVR and also the electricity to the camera with these cables. And we don’t understand is that problem with wire or anything else because there is more than wire connected to the camera, DVR and POE switch.
If you don’t have a multimeter to check the wire then no problem I will tell you how to check the wire without it. First, you have to buy a continuity tester is a very little in cost, you can buy it at the shop of spare part of TV or REFRIGERATOR means at electronics shops.
Then cut the cables from both ends separately and touch both points of the continuity tester to both ends of the wire, if the light is blown in the tester means the wire is working if the light is not blowing then the wire is out of order means damaged.
3. Check LAN Connectors
If both previous steps are fine then you should check the LAN connectors of the cable. You can use the IP tool to check the connectors if you have one. If you do not have a tool then you could check it manually too. Check the colour of the cable and punching too. Check both side LAN connectors.
You can use the network cable connector tester for checking the LAN connectors, in the tester you will find one master device and one remote device, now what you have to do, turn on the master device of the tester here a fast blinking of light is shown in the tester.
Then take the wire here you will see at both ends of the wire there is one LAN connector that is joint now you have to do plug both the connector one(LAN) in remote device and one(LAN) in the master device.
If the connector is working then all the lights of the tester will blink fastly one by one otherwise anyone of them 8 lights will not blink.
4. Get The Ping Reply
If everything is fine then you should have to check the ping reply is coming from the camera or not. To get the reply from the camera, you should know the IP of the camera, to do this use the ‘IP search tool’. After knowing the IP of the camera, go to cmd(type CMD in windows search and hit enter) and type “Ping” followed by IP of the camera.
If the reply is coming from the camera’s IP then the connection has been made. If the reply is not coming then go to the next step.
If you are doing your work in the world of the internet then you must listen to the “PING” sometimes you may have a problem with internet use and connection in such a type of problem we often use the “PING” test.
The PING test is used for examining the connectivity of any type of connections like communication between two PC or MOBILE/CAMERAS etc, When you send the data to the server and the server acknowledge the data is received and return to the sender this is called “PING”.
5. Confirm No IP Conflict
If the reply is coming from the IP of the camera but the camera still not coming at the screen then make sure IP is not conflicting with other devices on the network. When you see on the screen there is more than one screen is showing the same footage means duplicate footage then this is the problem of IP ADDRESS CONFLICT because these cameras show duplicate images.
To resolve the IP address conflict use any scanner software or software that can find the camera on your network and install it on your PC, then give the IP address at starting of the programme and you will find all the cameras on that and go to the firewall system.
6. Reboot The Setup
If you think, everything is up to the mark but still, the camera is not showing on the screen then you could restart the whole setup at least once. Sometimes settings, made by you, do not save properly and need a restart. So go to this step and restart the setup.
7. Check The Firewall Of The System
A firewall is a thing that prevents unauthorised access to resources. Sometimes we used routers and the router’s firewall blocked the IP of the camera. In such a case, you have to be sure that no firewall is preventing the camera’s IP.
A firewall is just like a protection film, Suppose where there is a fire and you have put a wall near it, if the fire is outside the wall, then it will not be able to come inside or fire is inside the wall then it is unable to come outside. All of it means the firewall protects you from the outside attack of hackers.
8. Confirm No MAC Conflict
If two devices of the same MAC address are installed on the same network, the network is unable to recognise the device and cause of this both devices have a fluctuating connection. So check the MAC of devices on the network.
As we tell you about the IP address conflict above download the software here you will also need of same software.
9. Reset The Camera
Now, it is time for a final step. Just find a reset button on the IP camera and press it for some time (read the manual for resetting). After resetting, check all previous steps once. It is a very common way to troubleshoot IP cameras.
10. Call To Customer Care.
Do not frustrate just make a call to customer care to the manufacturer. If customer care of manufacturer is not available then you should contact to your dealer or distributor and ask him for your problem and also tell him what steps have you already taken.
THANK YOU.
