Issue Resetting a Dahua Camera's Network Setting

[Cocktail]

Hello all, I am in need of a bit of assistance with a Dahua system of mine. My system currently consists of 6, 2MP Starlight cameras (HDW5231R-ZE) and a Dahua NVR5216 POE. The system has worked pretty well but I've recently made the decision to jump to the Blue Iris camp. Right out of the gate I'm having a networking issue and I can't find a resolution from searching.

My current network setup is as follows: I've got a slew of Unifi equipment: APs, POE switch, etc. Cameras are hooked up to the NVR. I have the NVR isolated on its own VLAN where it is firewalled off from the rest of the world. The Dahua NVR is handling the ip assignment of the cameras. My plan was to hook the cameras up to the POE switch (isolated to the previously configured VLAN), point Blue Iris to their new address, and bob's your uncle. The problem I am encountering is that the cameras are not releasing their IP address grabbed from the Dahua NVR (10.1.1.xx).

I'm assuming the fix is to access the camera directly and adjust the network settings. (See attached image). I'm a bit hesitant as I'm afraid of nuking my system and I really don't want to climb up on a ladder to reset these cameras. Per the attached image the camera is set to static IP (I assume this happened when the camera was initialized to the NVR?). If I were to click the DHCP button, clear out the IP/gateway/subnet, and save would this put camera in a state where it is ready to connect to my Unifi equipment?

I hope that was clear, if there are any questions let me know and I'll do my best to clarify. Thanks for the help.

 

[Mike A.]

Yes, it should assuming that it's on the same subnet, VLAN, and all to have access to the DHCP server.

But better to have static IPs for the cams. In that case set the static IP to the address range for the Unifi side.

Also, I usually set the gateway to a nonsense address (can use the cam's own IP usually) and DNS entries to invalid numbers (e.g., 0.0.0.0) just to further complicate any unintended communication from the cam on its own. Some will attempt things regardless of settings. You'll likely have it blocked in some way otherwise with your router anyway. Get it moved over first before doing any of that.

 

[bigredfish]

I just did the opposite thing today.

Had 3 cameras plugged into a switch with 192.168.1.x addresses. Logged into each and set to DHCP, Save, and didn’t touch another thing.

Plugged all 3 into a PoE NVR and outside of editing the password the NVR was using to communicate with them (pencil icon on Registration page) all were recognized, assigned 10.1.1.x addresses and walla!

So I think you can probably do it either way, assign them DHCP or assign them static addresses on your network before you disconnect them from the NVR.