Come on AMCREST - it shouldn't be this (blanking) hard!
Plug and Play my ***
Plug and Play my ***
So frustrated. If I have connected a ethernet cable to the camera I can get it to work. If I leave the power connected and disconnect the ethernet cable "sometimes" the wifi connection will work, but often I will get "Network connection problem" or "Unable to connect". If I disconnect the power and then re-connect the power (after disconnecting the ethernet cable)- I get a network/connect fail every single time. ROUTER SHOWS THE CAMERA IS CONNECTED TO WIFI (and yes I am testing this with about 10 feet of the router). Amcrest IP config tool basically shows the same as described above...once the power is disconnected-reconnected the camera disappears. This problem is the same when using my Mac or my iPhone. I should also note that I never once was able to initially connect to the camera using WIFI through the Device Manager in the app - again, the only way I could get it to occasionally work via WIFI is to connect to ethernet then disconnect ethernet (leaving the power on) - but even then I had spotty results.
Come on AMCREST - it shouldn't be this (blanking) hard!
Come on AMCREST - it shouldn't be this (blanking) hard!
Re: Plug and Play my ***
Hello Camscam,
After the power reboot the camera will be on a different IP address. So you need to refresh the config tool to get the new ip address and then use it. However this should not be a problem if you added the camera on the phone via the P2p set up method (Using the serial number not the IP/Domain). Are you still facing issues? We would be glad to look in to this if you can contact our technical support.
After the power reboot the camera will be on a different IP address. So you need to refresh the config tool to get the new ip address and then use it. However this should not be a problem if you added the camera on the phone via the P2p set up method (Using the serial number not the IP/Domain). Are you still facing issues? We would be glad to look in to this if you can contact our technical support.
Re: Plug and Play my ***
I feel your frustration Camscan. It wasn't as simple as plug-n-play as advertised. I've installed the software to my iPhone so that I can configure the device but it could never connect to configure it. I've end up using the ethernet cable instead.
With the ethernet, I was able to access the web interface and setup Wi-fi and other audio/video configuration. After I remove the ethernet cable, the cam works nicely through its wifi.
I'm now able to access the cams with my iPhone anywhere even at work and video quality is great. I'm also able to communicate two-way through the cam with its built-in speaker and micro.
The only thing I'm trying to figure now is why an alert from my Garage cam comes up as alert from my Living Room cam when I view the alert.
Once you get through the configuration/connectivity part, the rest becomes easier. Good luck.
jav
With the ethernet, I was able to access the web interface and setup Wi-fi and other audio/video configuration. After I remove the ethernet cable, the cam works nicely through its wifi.
I'm now able to access the cams with my iPhone anywhere even at work and video quality is great. I'm also able to communicate two-way through the cam with its built-in speaker and micro.
The only thing I'm trying to figure now is why an alert from my Garage cam comes up as alert from my Living Room cam when I view the alert.
Once you get through the configuration/connectivity part, the rest becomes easier. Good luck.
jav
Re: Plug and Play my ***
Camscam are you using the P2P functionality? That is about the only way I would say this is a PnP device, but I also know from post the past few days/week there seems to be some issues with the P2P servers. Any other piece will require more setup as Melvin is eluding to.
While I have my frustrations with the product for the most part they have not done a bad job overall. Unfortunately it is hard to develop something that has quite of features that are customizable and user friendly. While not totally an oxymoron people have to understand the "Project management triangle" or pick any two. Basically the options here seem to be features/resolution, cost, ease of use.
That all being said, from reading post and comments I think the preferred method(read that one that seems to work best) is to download the phone app, take the camera out of the box and plug it in. Run the phone app and add a P2P device, scan the 2d barcode, enter Wifi credentials when prompted, setup admin password. This should get you working over wifi with the camera. After that it will take some knowledge of the camera IP to be able to use the PC tools, etc...
How did you do your initial setup, like the last paragraph? Also how familiar/comfortable are you with your wireless router and advanced settings?
While I have my frustrations with the product for the most part they have not done a bad job overall. Unfortunately it is hard to develop something that has quite of features that are customizable and user friendly. While not totally an oxymoron people have to understand the "Project management triangle" or pick any two. Basically the options here seem to be features/resolution, cost, ease of use.
That all being said, from reading post and comments I think the preferred method(read that one that seems to work best) is to download the phone app, take the camera out of the box and plug it in. Run the phone app and add a P2P device, scan the 2d barcode, enter Wifi credentials when prompted, setup admin password. This should get you working over wifi with the camera. After that it will take some knowledge of the camera IP to be able to use the PC tools, etc...
How did you do your initial setup, like the last paragraph? Also how familiar/comfortable are you with your wireless router and advanced settings?
Re: Plug and Play my ***
Check to make sure the substream is enabled (via web browser interface). This was a major fix for my connectivity issues. This worked for me via P2P and DDNS setups. On the Amcrest View Pro app its called the Extra stream.
Somehow most of my cameras had this disabled and I was getting exactly the same errors as you.
It was super frustrating but I have had much better luck now.
Somehow most of my cameras had this disabled and I was getting exactly the same errors as you.
It was super frustrating but I have had much better luck now.
Re: Plug and Play my ***
Also, are you using Amcrest Cloud? It will overwrite your settings and cause major headaches.
Once I removed my cameras from the Amcrest Cloud I have had NO more settings issues....
Once I removed my cameras from the Amcrest Cloud I have had NO more settings issues....
Re: Plug and Play my ***
We have been experiencing very similar problems with our cameras.
We have 2 1080P PTZ WiFi cameras and two 1080P Bullet WiFi cameras.
The installation is in a 2 story Stucco house with the garage on the ground floor. The 2nd floor is the main floor for the house. Then there is an office built into the attic area of the house.
The router is in the attic office (it's a Comcast default wireless router - can't remember the brand).
The 2 Bullet cameras have been installed on the outside of each side of the front of the house, actually on the same horizontal plane as the router, but about 25 and 35 feet away from it.
The 2 PTZ cameras, One has been installed on the main floor inside the entry staircase the other above the garage door on the first level (both are in deep alcoves so they are protected from the weather).
The cameras were setup and tested next to the router then moved to their current locations.
All cameras have been assigned Static IP addresses to eliminate possible DNS assignment problems.
The two cameras (one PTZ and one Bullet) the furthest from the router would not connect at all.
To solve the problem I installed a wireless access point in a closet about 5 feet from the two cameras.
The other Bullet camera on the front of the house and the PTZ on the Garage door have constant connection problems. Surprisingly, the PTZ camera furthest away from the router seems to pick up on the wireless access point in the closet and connects most of the time. The bullet camera is showing off-line 50% of the time!
This has been very frustrating to say the least not to mention hours of trouble shooting with no solutions.
We all have Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones, so the mobile apps are the same.
We also have an 8 camera NVR connected to the router by Cat6 cable like the wireless access point.
The drops in signals are pretty much consistent between the NVR and the Android apps.
There are plans to install two more bullet cameras in the back of the house, but another wireless access point will also be installed to cover their connections.
We have cut the video stream back to 720P from 1080P and that seems to have helped a little bit. It at least solved the latency problems in the video streams and allowed the PTZ cameras to respond almost instantly.
I am almost out of suggestions other than running a cat6 cable to the bullet cam that is having the most problems.
The only other thing I can think of is to replace the antenna on the bullet camera with another one with higher gain - if that will work.
Does anyone have any other ideas I haven't thought of so far?
I have installed other brand IP cameras at another business with much worse performance and support.
Amcrest seems to be the best company for non-professional security - They are at least in the US not in China.
Thank you.
We have 2 1080P PTZ WiFi cameras and two 1080P Bullet WiFi cameras.
The installation is in a 2 story Stucco house with the garage on the ground floor. The 2nd floor is the main floor for the house. Then there is an office built into the attic area of the house.
The router is in the attic office (it's a Comcast default wireless router - can't remember the brand).
The 2 Bullet cameras have been installed on the outside of each side of the front of the house, actually on the same horizontal plane as the router, but about 25 and 35 feet away from it.
The 2 PTZ cameras, One has been installed on the main floor inside the entry staircase the other above the garage door on the first level (both are in deep alcoves so they are protected from the weather).
The cameras were setup and tested next to the router then moved to their current locations.
All cameras have been assigned Static IP addresses to eliminate possible DNS assignment problems.
The two cameras (one PTZ and one Bullet) the furthest from the router would not connect at all.
To solve the problem I installed a wireless access point in a closet about 5 feet from the two cameras.
The other Bullet camera on the front of the house and the PTZ on the Garage door have constant connection problems. Surprisingly, the PTZ camera furthest away from the router seems to pick up on the wireless access point in the closet and connects most of the time. The bullet camera is showing off-line 50% of the time!
This has been very frustrating to say the least not to mention hours of trouble shooting with no solutions.
We all have Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones, so the mobile apps are the same.
We also have an 8 camera NVR connected to the router by Cat6 cable like the wireless access point.
The drops in signals are pretty much consistent between the NVR and the Android apps.
There are plans to install two more bullet cameras in the back of the house, but another wireless access point will also be installed to cover their connections.
We have cut the video stream back to 720P from 1080P and that seems to have helped a little bit. It at least solved the latency problems in the video streams and allowed the PTZ cameras to respond almost instantly.
I am almost out of suggestions other than running a cat6 cable to the bullet cam that is having the most problems.
The only other thing I can think of is to replace the antenna on the bullet camera with another one with higher gain - if that will work.
Does anyone have any other ideas I haven't thought of so far?
I have installed other brand IP cameras at another business with much worse performance and support.
Amcrest seems to be the best company for non-professional security - They are at least in the US not in China.
Thank you.
Re: Plug and Play my ***
Hello Digitech,
From what you have mentioned it appears that the cameras are not receiving adequate wifi signals. And stucco walls have more resistance for wifi signals which could be the major reason for the issue. Having multiple access points closer to the camera is one option but the best solution would be hard wiring the cameras to the router.
For the outdoor cameras you could also try extended antennas. The indoor ones has an internal antenna so no extension is possible.
From what you have mentioned it appears that the cameras are not receiving adequate wifi signals. And stucco walls have more resistance for wifi signals which could be the major reason for the issue. Having multiple access points closer to the camera is one option but the best solution would be hard wiring the cameras to the router.
For the outdoor cameras you could also try extended antennas. The indoor ones has an internal antenna so no extension is possible.