New Church Project - Need help with Hikvision NVRs

[HMC8403]

My church was happy with the work i did setting up a streaming camera that they now asked my for help with their security cameras.

Several years ago when the church was under different leadership, they had security cameras installed. Don't know what company installed them and no one knows how to access the system. They have two NVRs, DS-7604NI-E1/4P and DS-7716NI-SP/16; both are running and I can see the camera feeds via monitors plugged into each NVR. The password is unknown so can't perform any playbacks or searches. Even though the NVRs are plugged into the LAN, i can't seem to reach the UI via the ip address in a browser.

All my limited experience with IPCs are with Dahua. Question: are these NVRs decent, how hard is it to reset the passwords, and how do I reach the UI if typing the IP address doesn't work?

Thanks

 

[fenderman]

My church was happy with the work i did setting up a streaming camera that they now asked my for help with their security cameras.

Several years ago when the church was under different leadership, they had security cameras installed. Don't know what company installed them and no one knows how to access the system. They have two NVRs, DS-7604NI-E1/4P and DS-7716NI-SP/16; both are running and I can see the camera feeds via monitors plugged into each NVR. The password is unknown so can't perform any playbacks or searches. Even though the NVRs are plugged into the LAN, i can't seem to reach the UI via the ip address in a browser.

All my limited experience with IPCs are with Dahua. Question: are these NVRs decent, how hard is it to reset the passwords, and how do I reach the UI if typing the IP address doesn't work?

Thanks

depending on age, this may work

Hikvision camera admin password reset tool

If you have ever locked yourself out of a Hikvision camera or NVR by forgetting the admin password, and had to beg Hikvision or anyone else for an unlock code, you will appreciate this. I present a small tool that lets you generate your own unlock codes which can be entered into SADP to reset...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[alastairstevenson]

Even though the NVRs are plugged into the LAN, i can't seem to reach the UI via the ip address in a browser.

Suggestion :
Use SADP on the PC to inventory the Hikvision devices and confirm their IP addresses.

SADP Tool

Locate Hikvision brand cameras within the same network, including their IP address and port.

ipcamtalk.com

Then check if the PC IP address is in the same range so that browser access can work.

A possibility to recover the NVR admin password :
Connect the PC to an unused PoE port on the NVRs, and see what SADP shows for the models and firmware versions of the cameras.
Screenshot the result and post here.
The idea is to check if there is any camera firmware that's 5.4.0 or older, which might allow password extraction using a vulnerability.

 

[HMC8403]

I spent some time digging through some old paperwork and found the ADT invoice for the camera install. Cant believe the church paid $12,000 for the system, cameras look cheap and the video stream even cheaper. Also found out that ADT has been charging $280 every quarter for a maintenance plan that hasn't been used since the 2016 install. The only positive is that I was able to schedule a service call for them to come out next week to reset the passwords. Hopefully when I get access to the NVR I can find something wrong with it and maybe ADT will replace it.

 

[wittaj]

Hopefully you can get access to it and cancel their service (ADT not the church LOL).

Or better yet for $12k they should offer replacement of these cams LOL.

 

[HMC8403]

Coming back to an old post. If I decided to dump the Hikvision NVRs but keep the cameras; could I use the Hikvision cameras on a Dahua NVR since I am familiar with that firmware. Also, how costly and time-consuming would it be going with a BlueIris system? I am not in town for very long and since I am donating the hardware, I need to be realistic. I have zero experience with BlueIris and don't have a ton of time to search the posts; can someone give me a rough guess how much a PC would cost. Thanks

 

[sebastiantombs]

A fifth generation or higher i5 or i7 processors system would do the trick for a PC. Personally I'd go for a 6th or 7th generation. They can be had for under $300 on the refurb market complete with Win10/Pro. The problem comes with hard drives, but an NVR has the same problem. Blue Iris, depending on how it is set up and what your goals are, can be a steep learning curve. You could, technically, RDP into the system to work on it in the orst case scenario. If your goals are relatively simple I'd say stick with an NVR and I'm a died in the wool BI fan.

Edit - Missed how old this was, duhhhh.

 

[The Automation Guy]

Coming back to an old post. If I decided to dump the Hikvision NVRs but keep the cameras; could I use the Hikvision cameras on a Dahua NVR since I am familiar with that firmware. Also, how costly and time-consuming would it be going with a BlueIris system? I am not in town for very long and since I am donating the hardware, I need to be realistic. I have zero experience with BlueIris and don't have a ton of time to search the posts; can someone give me a rough guess how much a PC would cost. Thanks

A small form factor i7-6700 computer with 8/16gb RAM and a Windows 10 license can easily be sourced on EBay for $300 or less and you can add a second drive for recording (internal or external) for $150 or less (probably less). Add $60 for a BI license and total cost is around $500. Of course sourcing all of this equipment might not work into your schedule unfortunately.

Using a dedicated NVR isn't wrong either. Especially in these scenarios where the system will likely be set up initially and then never touched again unless there is an event that need to have footage reviewed. I don't have much experience with dedicated NVRs so I am hesitant to give a firm answer on your question about using HIK cameras on a Dahua NVR, but from my understanding is that this will usually work just fine.

 

[alastairstevenson]

It would be worth finding and quoting the model numbers of the cameras to get some helpful feedback on how fit for purpose they still are. The technology has progressed a long way since your install.
After all - they are the key element of the system.
All the NVR or PC does is to store the footage and let you review it.

 

[HMC8403]

I emailed Andy and confirmed that the Hikvision cameras can be added to the Dahua NVR via ONVIF protocol.
Another cost factor for going BlueIris is the POE adapter. As this will be an install and forget, unless payback is needed, it seems that the NVR option would be the most logical solution. In regards to the older cameras, since no AI is currently used, quality and function should be the same; at least there is room to upgrade cameras down the road if needed.