Section 2: Port Forwarding Video Recorders

Table of Contents
Section 1: P2P / EZCloud Skip to Section 1
Section 2: Port Forwarding Video Recorders Skip to Section 2
Section 3: Managing a Network IP Camera System Skip to Section 3
Section 4: Bandwidth and Throughput Limitations Skip to Section 4
 
Section 2 - Port Forwarding
 
Port forwarding a recorder through a router will allow a recorder to be accessible from anywhere in the world with an internet connection! The process is a bit more labor-intensive than P2P but a system that is port forwarded has more accessibility than a P2P system.

To explain port forwarding briefly, you make the external IP of your network route to an internal IP on your network. When you type in the external IP of your network (and the appropriate port) while off the network, you would be able to connect directly to the recorder if port forwarding was done correctly.

Single Router Port Forwarding

1.

Get a basic understanding of how the network is laid out. If the video recorder is behind multiple routers, ports must forwarded through all routers.

2.

Find the gateway IP address of the routing device that the video recorder is attached to. If there is a Windows PC connected to the same network tier (router) as the video recorder, running a CMD from the start menu and typing the command “ipconfig” at the prompt will display the gateway information. On a Apple Mac computer, pull down the apple menu in the top left corner and click on System Preferences. Next click on Network under Internet and Network. The address will appear next to the Router heading. Also note the subnet mask.

3.

Take note of the video recorder's IP address found in main menu >Network settings> TCP/IP (for HD Analog). For Uniview you can find the IP address under the main menu > system > network >TCP/IP. If the video recorder is set to DHCP, disable DHCP to allow the video recorder to keep a static (non-changing) IP address. By default most video recorders are set statically at 192.168.1.108. If the gateway noted in the previous step is different (i.e. 10.1.10.1), change the gateway IP address in the video recorder to match the current network gateway and also change the IP address to match the gateway (i.e. 10.1.10.108). When changing the IP address of the video recorder, make sure that IP address is available by using the ping command in a CMD prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac). Also in more uncommon situations, the subnet mask may also be different and may need to be changed to match the network.

4.

• Take note of the video recorder's HTTP, TCP(HD Analog) and RTSP(Uniview) ports. In a HD Analog recorder you can find it under the main menu > network settings > connection. In a Uniview recorder it can be found under main menu > system > network > ports. The HTTP port is the web port used to view the video recorder (or camera) on web browsers and the TCP port is the port used for mobile devices (DMSS) and VMS software (PSS). Uniview uses the RTSP port for mobile devices (EZView) and VMS software (EZStation). By default the HTTP port is 80, the TCP port is 37777 and the RTSP port is 554.
• If there is more than one video recorder to be forwarded through the same network, the IP address, HTTP, TCP and RTSP ports must be different on each unit to differentiate them (i.e. 192.168.1.108 – 81 - 40001, 192.168.1.109 – 82 - 40002, etc.). Some ISPs do not allow for port 80 to be forwarded; in this case, the HTTP port should be changed on the video recorder and forwarded instead.

5.

Access the router by inputting the gateway IP address noted in step 2, into a web browser. The router will usually ask for a username and password; if the log in information was changed from default, find out the credentials from the network administrator or internet service provider. Some of the more common default router log in combos are admin:admin and admin:password. Default router log in information can also be found on http://www.routerpasswords.com.

6.

Once logged into the router, navigate to the Internet or Status section and find the IP address of the router. If the WAN IP address appears to look like a LAN IP (i.e. 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x), then another router is assigning this router an IP and the ports will need to be forwarded through both (see Multiple Router Port Forwarding section below for more details). Navigate to the Advanced section of the router and look for a Gaming/Applications, Port Forwarding, Pinholes or Virtual Servers menu. Sometimes the Port Forwarding menu can be located in the Firewall section of the router as well. Every router brand and model is different, however there are two basic setups:

A.

The router allows for a set number of rules; in this case, select Custom Ports (rather than a preset port) if the option is available. For each rule, the router will usually ask for a private (internal) and public (external) port range. Use the same port for all entries. The rule will also have a protocol setting; set it to TCP. Enter in the local (LAN) IP address of the video recorder that corresponds to the port being forwarded. Make sure to save the port forwarding rules before navigating away from the menu

B.

The router allows for port groups; in this case, a port group will have to be created and then assigned to an IP. When creating the group, name it something like “DVR_http” or “DVR_tcp”. On some routers, multiple port ranges can be added to the same group. After creating (and saving) the group, assign the group to the IP address of the video recorder. Save the port forwarding rules before navigating away from the menu.

7.

After setting up the port forwarding rules, go to a website such as www.canyouseeme.org or www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/ to check and make sure that the ports are open. If the TCP port is open, but not the HTTP port, try changing the HTTP port to a number other than 80 or 8080 (i.e. 2000). If both HTTP and TCP are not open, try the following steps:

A.

Check the router for any firewall settings that could be blocking remote access. Every router make and model is different when it comes to firewall settings.

B.

Try setting up a DMZ host. To do so, navigate to the Advanced (or Firewall) section of the router and look for a DMZ submenu. From here, enter in the local (LAN) IP address of the video recorder and save the settings. Sometimes the router will report that there are duplicate port forwarding rules, but this can be ignored. Test to see if the ports are open again. NOTE: The DMZ host only works for one device. The DMZ essentially opens all ports for that one device. Opening a DMZ presents a security vulnerability and the user may opt not to utilize this feature.

C.

If a DMZ host does not open up the ports, then double check to make sure that the router is not behind another router(s). If it is, check the Multiple Router Port Forwarding section below.

D.

If the previous step does not apply, the ISP may be blocking all port forwarding. Call the ISP to find out more information on why port forwarding is not working properly on the routing device. If the client is using a satellite internet service, port forwarding may not work unless additional static IP addresses are purchased.

8.

Once the correct ports are confirmed open, take note of the external IP address. The external IP address of the network can be found on www.ipcow.com (or on any of the port checking sites linked previously). The external IP address can be used to view the device remotely or a DDNS can be setup (more information on remote viewing provided below).

Multiple Router Port Forwarding

After reviewing the previous section, and it is discovered that there are multiple routing devices, take the following steps:

A.

Note the routing device that the video recorder is currently attached to. Make sure that the computer used for network configuration is getting it's network connection (IP address) from the same router. As in the previous section (Steps 2-5), access to the router should be done by inputting the router's gateway IP address into a web browser.

B.

Log in to the router using the proper log-in credentials (see previous section step 5) and go to the Status or Internet menu of the router. Note the Internet IP address and Default gateway of the router. The IP address will be the dynamic IP address being issued by the router located above the current router in the network structure. The gateway address will be used to access the higher tier router.

C.

Forward the HTTP and TCP ports for the video recorder(s) IP address as described in the previous section.

D.

Log in to the higher tier router using the Internet gateway address previously noted from Step B.

E.

Navigate to the Status or Internet menu of the higher tier router and inspect the Internet IP address and default gateway. Ensure that it has an address that is being assigned by the ISP either dynamically or statically. If it is another local IP address (i.e. 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x), then there may be a third router; this process will have to be repeated for each additional router.

F.

Repeat the port forwarding steps F and G from the previous section, however the ports must be forwarded for the Internet IP of the lower tier router (rather than the local IP address of the video recorder).

G.

Repeat step G from the previous section to check to see if the ports are open.

H.

Repeat all steps from this section if there is any additional routers that the ports need to be forwarded through.