Amcrest Forum

I'm looking at buying an Amcrest outdoor bullet-cam system with four 4MP IP4M-1026EW cameras (PoE) and an NV4108E-HS NVR with a 4TB HDD. Might expand it later to six cameras, we'll see.

Do I need to connect the NVR to a computer (maybe by ethernet) to see what the cameras see, get the NVR to play back what they saw yesterday etc.?

The NVR has an HDMI port in the back for a display, and a USB port, for a mouse I gather. If I don't use a computer, but just connect the NVR to a TV by an HDMI cable and plug in a mouse, is that enough that I can see what each of the four cameras can see, rewind and play each of them etc.?

The cameras are not PTZ, they are fixed-lens models, no WiFi.

Thanks all!

Yes it is like a COmputer running Linux and when you use HDMI or DSub to make connection to Tv or Computer Monitor you can see everything you would be able to over a computer. If your NVR has POE then no other device is needed for working your cameras. However if not then you would want a Router or Switch to connect the Cameras to the NVR.

Other then that a TV or Monitor with right input Res is in most cases all that is needed. However at times there might be things that need to be set up on the camera that is best done by a computer connected to same network as the cameras and use webUI of the camera for setup... All that should be in The Manuals if needed.

@lilabner - That is pretty much how my NVR is setup (although it's a different make) and the major downside is that you have no access to it either when you are away from your property or even from other devices inside the property. For me it doesn't matter, I'm hardly ever away from home and the HDMI output from my NVR is connected to my computer monitor (I have to manually switch between inputs) but you always have the option at a later stage easily to make that connection if you want to.

I've got in most of the devices, enough to get started.

I put the 6TB disk into the NV4108E-HS NVR, plugged a VGA cable from the NVR's PC port to a monitor, and plugged one IP4M-1026EW camera into the first PoE port on the NVR. The camera is just sitting on the bench for test purposes.

Turned everything on, went through the looong startup procedure, and soon it was showing the single camera on the monitor's screen. Nice to know all the wiring basically works.

Then I plugged a TP-Link N450 router into the WAN port on the NVR, powered that up.

Loaded the Amcrest Surveillance Pro Windows program on a Windows 10 PC (the one I'm typing on now), booted it up.

The PC sees all the usual WiFi nets in or near my house, but it can't seem to find the TP-link router.

This is my first time with a security system. Did I do something obviously wrong (wouldn't surprise me)?
Time for some dumb newbie questions:
1.) Did I maybe plug the router into the wrong port?
2.) Does such a router need to be programmed somehow?

Thanx all!

So I am going to guess that the Router and the IP of the whole other system is off it la la land....

So when you first hook up a Router there is some set up things that most times needs to be ran...

Connect a Computer or Laptop to the Lan port and have the computer setup for DHCP... That way the Router will give your computer a IP that you can then talk with the Router...

Then type in tplinkwifi.net in the chrome or IE what ever you use... It should then connect you to the Router...

If not. Then you might have to log on at the IP of the router... That would normally be 192.168.x.1 the x could be 1 or 0 depending on how it was setup... user and pass to start out would be admin for the router....

Once you log on it might have you do a setup depending on the age of the router...

So the router would go to the Single port of the NVR to any of the 1-4 of the router. Unless your trying to access the camera on the other side of the NVR then you would plug a Switch into the POE port of the NVR to any port of the Switch and would give you ability to connect the last camera and computer


Guess need more info what your trying to do with TP link router and such....

Great info Revo2Maxx, thank you!

Reason I got a router is so that my desktop Windows 10 PC can eventually display what the camera(s) see using Amcrest Surveillance Pro, hooking up to the security system via WiFi.

After reading your post, what I may do is unhook the router from the NVR and bring it to a Windows 10 laptop nearby. First set up the laptop for DHCP, then run an ethernet cable from the laptop's ethernet port to one of the router's LAN ports. Power up the router, and see if the laptop can talk to the router. (Does this sound right?)

If the router gives the laptop an address, can I then unhook and power down the router, move it back to the security system, power it up, and use that address to log in?

You know, I miss the days when all you had to do was look up a number in the phone book....

Yes that sounds right...

So here is something you might want to know... ASP really is a HOG. Seeing you have a NVR let it do its job... Use IE or Chrome View App you will be much happier.. however if you want to use ASP to view won't really be able to adjust cameras with it.... But once all set up then you can use ASP and Bring in the NVR that will display the cameras on from the NVR...

So are you looking to have the NVR and cameras OFF Grid for lack of better Idea lol.. Meaning not with internet access? Here is why I ask...

One if you have NVR connected and PC's connected right now. Then sounds like you have a Router already running? Or are you tring to set up a Second Router to have you system off your main network?

So to make things complex. If you have a second Router and your computer is on your first router you won't be able to access things on the Second router without having something DMZ or Port forwarded....

However say you have it setup to be connected and use it as your Laptop, NVR, camera router that could work and once the router is setup you will be able to use internet on laptop as long as your connected to the Routers WAN port from one of your first routers Lan Port. Again they would need to be on different IPs or you could use the TP link as a Access Point, turn off its DHCP server then anything that would connect to it would get IP from first router...

However some people setup the camera systems on a Stand alone system... Not internet access and that might be your goal. If that is the case. Then you want to connect computer to router and setup the router, Then once connected and all cameras are setup in the NVR asp can run on your computer... But so could IE and would take less computer resources but again up to you.... your NVR should have 8 Ports that is for the POE cameras.... Then there should be a Lone wolf that would be for the router.... You are able to use NONE Poe cameras with a Splitter What that would do is take your Power from the POE and convert it into a power cord and cat5e or 6 cord to plug in a IP camera... Wifi cameras would have to check because some NVR's let wifi off its Lone Wolf port and some don't ...

My house has had a WiFi system in place for a few years, with several computers on it, we also log our phones in when needed.

Now I'me trying to put a security-cam system in place, but didn't want to dump tons of data onto the existing WiFi. That would slow down my son's game-playing and my wife's Chinese movies, we can't have that.

So, so far I've set up the Amcrest NVR and a few (soon to be five) Amcrest 4MP cameras. I've decided not to use the router at all for the time being. No WiFi involved in the security-cam system at all, the cameras are PoE and the NVR has no built-in WiFi capability (I believe).

The idea is to set up the cameras and NVR as an independent, non-WiFi system. It's that way now, as long as I don't plug in the new router I also got. The only operator I/O it's got, is through the NVR's VGA port to a monitor, and the mouse that came with the NVR.

I'm hoping to use the new router, not to blast all data from all cameras through the house's old WiFi system, but only to take selected outputs from the NVR and put that (only) onto the old WiFi, so we can access it with a Windows PC or an iPhone. Hopefully that will put a lot less data onto the house's old WiFi, except for isolated times when I tell the NVR to display the realtime image from Camera 3, or tell it to show me the video of Camera 1 from yesterday etc.

So, after the frustration with the router yesterday (due mostly to my not knowing what I'm doing), I've now disconnected the router and put it back in its box. It will stay there for a while until I've got everything working, doing everything through the monitor and mouse connected to the NVR, and cameras plugged into the NVR's PoE ports. No WiFi involved with the security-cam system at all, for the next week or two.

But once the independent system is working, I'll get the router out again and try to figure out how to use it. The security-cam system with the router (eventually) connected, will likely become a second WiFi system, not connected to the first. Will probably have to give extra commands to the desktop Windows PC (or iPhone) to log them into the new security-cam router's WiFi each time, view the video, and log back off.

So maybe next week, I may need to plug the new router into a PC just to set it up for the second (security-cam) system, then unplug it from the PC and plug it into the NVR. Hopefully from then on I can access the second (security-cam) system by WiFi from the Windows PC or iPhone, only when I need to, while the house's old WiFi system keeps chugging along as it always has, mostly undisturbed by the new security-cam system.

Well, I hope that wasn't a too-incoherent descrition of what I want to do. I also hope it's possible, and that I don't have the wrong idea about how much data the NVR will eventually put through the new router.

I'm off to run some cable, from camera sites to the NVR. Maybe I won't fall off the roof.

But thanks so much for your help so far! I know a lot more than I did yesterday, almost enough to be dangerous.

BTW, one more question. Once I get around to plugging in the new router to the security-cam system, from which port to which port?

The router has one WAN port and four LAN ports. The NVR has eight (PoE) LAN ports where cameras plug in and one WAN port. I'll probably be plugging in five cameras, leaving three LAN ports unused on the NVR.

Should I eventually run an ethernet cable:
1.) from the NVR's WAN port to the router's WAN port, or
2.) from the NVR's WAN port to one of the router's LAN ports, or
3.) from one of the NVR's unused LAN ports to the router's WAN port, or
4.) from one of the NVR's unused LAN ports to one of the router's LAN ports?

Time for me to stop running my mouth, and run some cables instead.

Well if your going to connect the Router to the Internet. WAN goes to Modem/Router you have in place form your ISP...

WAN on the Back of the NVR gets plugged into one of the Lan ports of your TP-Link Router or current Router if your not going to use new TP-Link Router...



So WAN on TP-Link Router goes to ISP Modem/Router
Wan Port on NVR goes to your Tp-Link Lan Port. Then for ease of use. Computer goes into another Lan port on Tp-Link router now you can access the NVR over ASP...