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ACTi Knowledge Base

Category: Troubleshooting Note

Sub-category: Network

Model: All

Firmware: All

Software: NVR Author: Jane.Chen

Published: 2009/12/21 Reviewed: 2010/10/11

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Network setup and troubleshooting

Contents

Introduction

Server-client concept

Network protocol, IP address, and port number

Port forwarding

Additional HTTP ports of ACTi Video Servers

Port forwarding troubleshooting

How to make an NVR Server on-line

NVR troubleshooting of WAN setup

NVR Connection Type setting

Introduction

It is very convenient to users that ACTi NVR Server and IP devices provide remote access

from a web client either over LAN or WAN. In this document, we would like to discuss about

how to setup and configure your IP devices, NVR Servers, as well as network equipments

(switches or routers) and PCs (web clients) for video streaming and remote control.

Server-client concept

In the world of networking, the server-client architecture is one of the basic networking

concepts that it requires a content provider and a receiver. A content provider may be an IP

camera, video server, or NVR Server. Regarding these content providers, a client may be a

streaming player software, video decoder, or browser.

Having this concept in mind, if we consider an IP device as a content provider, an NVR Server

could be a “Client”, since it receives multimedia content from its “Server” (a camera) and then

make use of these data, in terms of video streaming forwarding, video footage recording, or

video playback uploading.

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Network protocol, IP address, and port number

When a network node would like to communicate with another network node, what will they

need? In networking terms, there are network protocols, IP addresses, and port numbers

combining into URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). A legal URL is always unique, complying

with the networking standards.

Is this idea of networking too abstract? Let’s think this way. Standard network protocols are like

airway, railway, subway, and highway. To travel on these systems, carriers must follow the

regulations as protocols. IP addresses are like international airports, train stations, and

turnpike interchanges. Each international airport has a unique ID as well as train stations and

turnpike interchanges within their own systems do. In this way, carriers can easily identify

where they come from and where they are heading to. Port numbers are like airport terminals,

train station exits, and interchange exits. So if you tell me that you are air traveling to NYC, I will

probably pick you up at JFK, Terminal 3.

All ACTi devices support Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The default IP address and port

are 192.168.0.100 and 80. So the default URL of each ACTi device is http://192.168.0.100:80.

Please keep in mind that default ports of each standard protocol are often omitted, therefore if

users connect to http://192.168.0.100, the connection will be made to the destination’s port 80

automatically.

Port forwarding

Each Network Internet Card (NIC) has 65536 ports, range from 0 through 65535. Some of

these ports have been assigned to standardized protocols, for example, HTTP (80), FTP (21),

and RTSP (554). If one PC is running two HTTP services at the same time, one of the services

must change its HTTP port to a non-standardized port number, for example, port 8080.

Otherwise, port conflicts would occur. For example, a PC may run an IIS Server for ACTi NVR

Server on a Windows system while running an Apache web server for PHP database access. If

IIS Server obtains and binds to port 80 earlier then Apache Server which doesn’t bind itself to

another port for HTTP services (and probably doesn’t prompt error messages to warn users),

then when a connection is made for Apache Server’s home directory via 80 port, Apache

Server will not receive anything at all. This kind of problems happens quite frequently when

users work on their routers to carry out port forwarding.

The concept of port forwarding (also called port mapping) is to open a port in a router or

firewall residing in a private network in order to let a party from the outside world contact a

network node or access to its services inside, and to make two-way communications easier.

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For example, opening ports for ACTi NVR services, in terms of control signals, video streaming,

and standard HTTP connections; and opening ports for each ACTi devices, users may interact

with their NVR Server and IP devices over the Internet as well as in the a private network.

The default ports (for basic functions) of control, streaming, and HTTP of ACTi products are

6001, 6002, and 80. As we mentioned in Server-client concept, each device or NVR Server is

a “Server” while providing contents, therefore, “Server” should publish its ports for “Clients” to

connect. That is the reason why users MUST configure each and every one of these “Servers”

and their ports in their routers. Here is a sample of routing table:

Routing Table

LAN Router User IE

192.168.0.1 Port forwarding my.cam.net your.pc.net

Cam A

192.168.0.101

HTTP 10080

10080

Connect to Cam A my.cam.net:10080

HTTPS 10443 10443

Control 16001 16001

Streaming 16002 16002

Multicast 15000 15000

RTSP 17070 17070

Cam B

192.168.0.102

HTTP 20080

20080

Connect to Cam B my.cam.net:20080

HTTPS 20443 20443

Control 26001 26001

Streaming 26002 26002

Multicast 25000 25000

RTSP 27070 27070

NVR Server A

192.168.0.254

HTTP 30080

30080

Connect to NVR

Server A my.cam.net:30080

Control 36001 36001

Streaming 36002 36002

Multicast 35000 35000

RTSP 37070 37070

Notice

1. If a router’s default HTTP port is 80, and users would like to use HTTP port 80 in NVR

Server, assign router’s port to another number.

a. When you use IE to connect to my.cam.net:80, it is redirected to NVR Server PC.

b. When you connect to my.cam.net:8080, it is redirected to your router.

2. For each node, they must have a unique set of ports.

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a. In the router, you need to configure all sets of ports for port forwarding.

b. In NVR, ”Media Source Information” of each channel should be in accordance with

the device you set via Web Configurator. To synchronize NVR with devices, please

always click on "Get Device Setting" or refresh NVR programs.

3. Ports highlighted in yellow MUST be mapped in your router.

4. No blocking on all these ports at both “Server” and “Client” site,

Here is a quick check list for troubleshooting in users’ router:

Port Forwarding Check list

Ports MUST be set in… Check

Cam

Web Configure-> Setting-> Host setting-> HTTP Port

Web Configure-> Setting-> Video Setting-> Video Control Port

Web Configure-> Setting-> Video Setting-> Video Streaming port

NVR

ActiveSetup-> Camera Setup-> HTTP port

ActiveSetup-> Camera Setup-> NVR Control Port

ActiveSetup-> Camera Setup-> NVR Streaming Port

Router

For cam HTTP

For cam control

For cam streaming

For NVR HTTP

For NVR control

For NVR streaming

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Additional HTTP ports of ACTi Video Servers

Like other IP cameras, Video Servers have user interface--Web Configurator-- and it provides

a login page and system setup for web client access via default HTTP port 80. However, for

multiple-channel Video Servers, users may switch channels in Web Configurator for live view

and channel setting; and under each channel, the user interface has its own HTTP port for

channel-based browsing. Users who intend to feed Video Server live streams over WAN MUST

configure channel-based HTTP ports as well. Please be acknowledged that channel HTTP

ports are NOT configurable, and the port number ranges from 800.

Take ACD-2200 for example, the default system HTTP port (Web Configurator which users

may log in) is 80, and channel ports are 800/ch-1, 801/ch-2, 803/ch-3, and 804/ch-4.

ACD2200

system HTTP port 80

channel port channel 01 channel 02 channel 03 channel 04

channel HTTP port 800 801 802 803

control port 6010 6011 6012 6013

streaming port 6050 6051 6052 6053

Users may check channel HTTP ports from Channel-> System Info-> Server Report as in the

following figure.

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Port forwarding troubleshooting

Case 1: I can log in Web Configurator over WAN, but I cannot view video.

1. Suppose Cam1-- 192.168.1.100 has http port: 10080, Video Control port: 16001, Video

Stream port: 16002. And connection type is TCP.

2. In your router, you’ve done port forwarding for 10080, which is working, since you can

connect to Web Configurator.

3. In your router, you’ll need to do port forwarding for 16001, which may be mapped to

router’s port say 16001.

4. In your router, you’ll need to do 16002 port forwarding as well, say mapped to router’s port

16002.

5. Please repeat step 2 thru 4, to map cam ports to router ports in the same way. Please

notice that, for each pair of port forwarding, they must be unique (both on router and IP

devices). See the table below:

So since cam 1 uses 16001 and 16002, then cam 2 must set the Control and Stream port

to some values other then 16001 and 16002.

Routing Table

LAN Router User IE

192.168.0.1 Port forwarding my.cam.net your.pc.net

Cam 1

192.168.0.100

HTTP 10080

10080

Connect to Cam 1 my.cam.net:100

HTTPS 443 443

Control 16001 16001

Streaming 16002 16002

Multicast 15000 15000

RTSP 17070 17070

Cam 2

192.168.0.101

HTTP 20080

20080

Connect to Cam 2 my.cam.net:101

HTTPS 20443 20443

Control 26001 26001

Streaming 26002 26002

Multicast 25000 25000

RTSP 27070 27070

NVR Server A

192.168.0.254

HTTP 30080

30080

Connect to NVR Server

A my.cam.net:30080

Control 36001 36001

Streaming 36002 36002

Multicast 35000 35000

RTSP 37070 37070

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6. Suggestion of verification of whether your setup works, please run command prompt, and

use command: netstat –n 10

The command is showing connections from your PC. In the first figure, I started to run the

command, and was trying to connect to an IP device:

http://59.124.232.170:1011

In the second fig, I succeeded in establishing connection with cam’s control and stream port

(2011 and 3011).

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So please remember that for one IP device, you will need to map at least 3 ports: http,

control, and stream.

How to make an NVR Server on-line

Suppose users have done port forwarding successfully as in the previous chapters on IP

devices, then to make an NVR Server accessible on the Internet is the same thing. Let’s

continue with the routing table:

Routing Table

LAN Router User IE

192.168.0.1 Port forwarding my.cam.net your.pc.net

NVR Server A

192.168.0.254

HTTP 30080

30080

Connect to NVR Server

A my.cam.net:30080

Control 36001 36001

Streaming 36002 36002

Multicast 35000 35000

RTSP 37070 37070

1. Please go to the IIS setup window, and set HTTP port to 30080.

2. Restart the Web Site service of NVR.

3. Please go to ActiveSetup-> Setup System-> System

NVR Streaming Port: 36002

NVR Control Port: 36001

IIS HTTP port: 30080

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4. Please go to Camera page to set Camera IP or NVR IP for WAN access.

If users would like to get video stream directly from an IP device, then please set

Camera IP to a public IP.

If users would like to get video stream from NVR, then please set NVR IP to a public IP.

NVR troubleshooting of WAN setup

Given a channel which can display live view.

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The original setting of the channel with “Connection Type” set to “Get Video from Device”.

So the result of “Get Device Setting” would fail.

We trace connections and would see the connection was not established due to a private IP

address can never be reached outside its LAN.

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The original setting of the channel with “Connection Type” set to “Get Video from NVR”.

The result would be failed as well.

However, if you use an public IP, “Get Device Setting” will bring out the IP device’ setting and

live view. Then the connection between an NVR Server and a remote web client is

successfully established.

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NVR Connection Type setting

In NVR v2.2 SP3, the Connection Type has three types: “Get Video from Device”, “Get Video

from NVR”, and “Get Video from Current NVR”. Users may refer to the NVR user manual

described as the following:

The main idea of Connection Type is to provide three different ways to stream video. The first

type is to get a stream directly from an IP device. The consideration of this type is multiple

streams streamed out from a single IP device will cause the device over loading. The second

type is to get a stream from a remote NVR Server. The remote server may be over LAN or

WAN. The third type is to get stream from the local NVR Server in which default localhost

and related info will be in use without further configuration.

Please keep in mind that Connection Type is only to stream video, there is no any other info

from a remote site will be retrieved. The differences between “Get Video from NVR” and “Get

Video from Current NVR” are:

1. Get Video from NVR: Users need to fill in a remote NVR Server IP info.

2. Get Video from Current NVR: default (localhost) IP info is in use.

If a user would like to make an NVR Server on-line, please make sure localhost will not be in

use, meaning the user must set the NVR Server to public IP.

Users may be confused with NVR Server and Workstation. For an NVR Server, it hosts the

streaming service, so it is the Server that gives out (duplicates) streams to web clients. When a

user logs in an NVR Server, he/she IS a web client to the Server itself. When a user logs in an

NVR Server from a remote PC, you are still a web client. Web clients talk to NVR Server via

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HTTP port (80), and the default Control and Stream port is 6001 and 6002.

Example

Environment setup:

1. My PC was 10.1.1.37 hosting a NVR Server.

2. Another PC was 10.1.1.32 hosting a NVR Server as well.

3. I connected to 10.1.1.32 via IE, and selected “Get Video from NVR”

A. Control port was 6001, and Stream port was 6002.

B. I used Wireshark to trace packets from 10.1.1.32 and port 6001 + 6002.

C. The result was no packet directed to PC 10.1.1.32.

4. I traced packets from 10.1.1.37 (my PC) and port 6001 + 6002.

A. There were traffics on port 6001 and 6002.

B. I captured packets on these two ports.

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5. I connected to 10.1.1.32 via IE, and selected “Get Video from Current NVR”

A. I traced on IP 10.1.1.124 (the camera) and there was no packet.

B. I traced on IP 10.1.1.32, and there were packets over port 6001 and 6002.