In desperate need of an android app to remotely view

[Schmecky]

Sorry in advance for the long one from a newby here. Make this your slow Monday night reading?

Maybe 20+ years ago, I bought 2 zmodo DVR's. Yeah I know, but these have been running the entire time 24/7/365. I only had issues with the one at my Fathers house. He never reformatted the HDD when it got to the end and it re-recorded for many years on the same spot on the disc. Man that was a nightmare to get the vids off a couple months ago. Anyway..........zmodo had an app to view remotely on a smartphone. A couple years ago they decided to terminate that app in favor of the new fangled nvr poe stuff. They sent us old folks to the meshares app. Yeah, I know, same company. zsight was for the new stuff and meshare was for the old stuff. meshare shut down with no notice by them or zmodo a week ago. Now I'm searching for a new app after ripping everything apart to find out why I could no longer view my cams. It wasn't my system


I downloaded maybe 6 of the so-called best today, and each one won't connect to my DVR. Most ask to scan the qr code of the device when I have no qr code. If these apps are for DVR's, why ask for the cams name and model? It's not really the cam thats connected, it's the DVR. A couple even said to have my phone on the same lan...how is that possible when the DVR is connected via ethernet? OK, wifi, but that's not really on the same lan, and there's no usb connection to my computer or router/modem to or from the DVR.....it doesn't even have a port.

They claim the apps are for "IP DVR's" but the instructions to setup are geared toward the nvr's. They claim easy setup and use, but I'm finding that they don't acknowledge the parameters these older DVRs work with. I have web port, video port, and mobile port, ddns on or off, upnp on or off, ip addy, subnet mask addy, gateway addy, preferred dns, alternate dns. Then the ip protocol which is either ipv4 or 6, and dhcp on or off. None of these apps have selections for most of this. If the way they setup doesn't need to know these things, then why no connection? The dmss app doesn't list my specific DVR so that was a no go as well.

Anyone know of a real app that is actually easy and works? One that actually has a customer support email or number? Is there even an app that will work with a DVR connected via ethernet? This is extremely frustrating because I severly needs these cams viewed remotely asap.

Did you make it to the end?

 

[TonyR]

CCTV devices that are on your LAN that can be accessed remotely on a smartphone via cellular network, you create an account and scan a QR code or enter a UID number are using p2p (peer-to-peer), known to many as "the cloud". If the device does not incorporate this ability in its firmware then it "ain't gonna happen" using that topology.

If you're dead set on using your 20 year old Zmodos I can think of only this: install BI (Blue Iris) software on a PC, stream the DVR to it and access the live video and recorded clips with either the BI app on your phone or access BI's webserver, called UI3, by opening a browser on the phone.

Unless you use Tailscale or another VPN server on your LAN's router and a VPN client app on your phone, you'd need to forward a port in your LAN's router, which is not recommended but many have done it for years on BI without issue.

I have set up 2 Zmodo's in the past to stream to BI, 1 is a DVR still going since 2016 the other was a NVR that ran about 6 years until 2023.

You can install BI on a maybe a 4th generation PC, run its 15 day evaluation period and see how it works for you. Otherwise I'm thinking it's time to break open the wallet and replace those Zmodos.