Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
offline app 3.3.6 new FW NC
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Well another hard factory reset did the trick and I'm back online...... this is B.S.
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Down in NC (2nd outage, first remedied by a hard reset), latest firmware.
Possibly related, I noticed after last outage that the camera was showing one hour later than actual, even though time zone was set correctly and we were in DST. I had to turn off DST to get the time correct.
Possibly related, I noticed after last outage that the camera was showing one hour later than actual, even though time zone was set correctly and we were in DST. I had to turn off DST to get the time correct.
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Yes, I agree, but somehow it ignored that event. It captured events before and after though. I'm at a loss.
I'm in NJ btw, if that helps.
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
@amcrest168
Amcrest View Pro (ASF)
I can add ASH21 using P2P, then LiveView, Replay SD card motion files, and receive Push Notifications. I enabled Push Notifications in ASF. I can see most ASH21 camera settings but haven't tried changing them.
Dahua DMSS
App UI is similar to Amcrest Smart Home app. Similar capabilities as ASF above, except Amcrest P2P not supported. Camera IP address, port forwarding, or VPN would be required.
I would assume that AD110 doorbell push or motion around the doorbell would initiate a motion event. Then the remote app would receive push notification and display liveview if specified. Camera mic and speaker could be used if enabled. That's what happens with my ASH21.
If needed, here's what I would try as an Amcrest Home app alternative. I don't have an AD110, but have done some testing with an Amcrest Home ASH21 camera. The AD110 would have to be tested.amcrest168 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 25, 2020 2:24 pm hi @jack7 , do you know if the huawei dmss app can answer the ad110 doorbell remotely? i'm wondering if the dmss app would be a good alternative to the amcrest smart home app.
Amcrest View Pro (ASF)
I can add ASH21 using P2P, then LiveView, Replay SD card motion files, and receive Push Notifications. I enabled Push Notifications in ASF. I can see most ASH21 camera settings but haven't tried changing them.
Dahua DMSS
App UI is similar to Amcrest Smart Home app. Similar capabilities as ASF above, except Amcrest P2P not supported. Camera IP address, port forwarding, or VPN would be required.
I would assume that AD110 doorbell push or motion around the doorbell would initiate a motion event. Then the remote app would receive push notification and display liveview if specified. Camera mic and speaker could be used if enabled. That's what happens with my ASH21.
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Lets also remember that as of now the Ash21 isn't Server based and the AD110 is.. Thought I would make sure people know there are things built into the AD110 that relies on the Servers that keep going down.. I don't know why or what the problem is.. I did notice that while the AD110 was online it shows that it was on Zen Cloud server and I wonder if that might be the issue. From my understanding while it is slight the AD110 isn't on the Zen Cloud servers or shouldn't be and wonder if that is why it keep choking out... Anyone on the old FW that is offline not sure if that matters however I don't know for sure but was told by another forum member that this Zen Cloud Server is new to this FW?
Interesting
Anyone on the West Coast that didn't get kicked off with new FW and new app loaded? or even old to be honest...
Interesting
Anyone on the West Coast that didn't get kicked off with new FW and new app loaded? or even old to be honest...
Be Safe.
-
amcrest168
- Posts: 474
- Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:02 pm
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
@jack7, i think we should only use the smart home app when changing any setting but live viewing should be fine with other apps like the amcrest view pro or the dahua dmss. motion detection zones would need to be set first using the smart home app before enabling the motion alert and push notifications in dmss or amcrest view pro. well it's not a total loss since the nvr recording is still working. for now i'm just going to sit tight until amcrest works out the kinks but i ain't holding my breath. performing a weekly or biweekly hard reset is just not acceptable. 
i'm in tango time zone.
i'm in tango time zone.
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Seriously, why is the TZ of the camera's location of any importance? Who are you getting these requests from and why don't they jump on to this forum and give us some direct explanation of the issue that is being worked?
I too am holding off going through all the trouble of a reset/reconfigure until we get some kind of official acknowledgement and announcement from Amcrest about this connectivity outage and if another reset will be required or not.
Oh FWIW, CDT - in Oklahoma.
I too am holding off going through all the trouble of a reset/reconfigure until we get some kind of official acknowledgement and announcement from Amcrest about this connectivity outage and if another reset will be required or not.
Oh FWIW, CDT - in Oklahoma.
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
@GaryOkie Sorry you don't like my Questions as I am trying to work with Amcrest to fill in the Blanks... While my Source at Amcrest is within another app outside of the forum for some direct access during business hours...
I was asked to try and find out TZ because there is I guess a few different servers for different zones and while we might not be able to see this inside a Config back up within the software of the camera it can help them pinpoint the server or servers that are having an issue... (As I was told there was more then one Server for different zones)
Sadly trying to do a Trace to the server from my Server I have 3 hoops to get outside my network, then 6 to get outside my ISP's Backbone and on the 10 leads me to Amazons network and then from there the next 20 hoops are blocked with no access to the Server... This is most likely done by their Servers having the ability to block traffic in a since to keep the system running smoothly.. So For me anyway I am 10 away from Amazon server and that is within the group of servers that the Amcrest Doorbell is running from however it is still 20 or more past that server because from 11 to 30 failed to get a trace to the end address.. While the end address might be the same IP for everyone there is going to be different routes to the address and it could be a failed link between the end address and ours where maybe someone on the west coast is going though a different server to the end cloud server...
I was asked to try and find out TZ because there is I guess a few different servers for different zones and while we might not be able to see this inside a Config back up within the software of the camera it can help them pinpoint the server or servers that are having an issue... (As I was told there was more then one Server for different zones)
Sadly trying to do a Trace to the server from my Server I have 3 hoops to get outside my network, then 6 to get outside my ISP's Backbone and on the 10 leads me to Amazons network and then from there the next 20 hoops are blocked with no access to the Server... This is most likely done by their Servers having the ability to block traffic in a since to keep the system running smoothly.. So For me anyway I am 10 away from Amazon server and that is within the group of servers that the Amcrest Doorbell is running from however it is still 20 or more past that server because from 11 to 30 failed to get a trace to the end address.. While the end address might be the same IP for everyone there is going to be different routes to the address and it could be a failed link between the end address and ours where maybe someone on the west coast is going though a different server to the end cloud server...
Be Safe.
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Sounds like their software engineers are lacking in debugging experience. Here are a few free recommendations from a 20+ year infrastructure software engineer.....
Before going down a rabbit hole by evaluating network issues... I would first look at the triggers that cause the app to state that the camera is offline. Gather all possible variable states and log them down. Having this information I would then look at the firmware and how it relays it's online status to the app.
We know that the app is still communicating with the device because the firmware, serial # are still being reported by the app even though it states it's offline.
At this point we know it's also a persistent bug so it's offline state is stored in the devices configuration file or database. They should have enough information now to track/reverse engineer until to find the root cause and should be able to emulate this error on their own hardware because they have the information needed for the app to report that the device is offline.
Lastly, if they still can't find the root cause then as a last resort to satisfy their customers, they need to relax their handling of the offline scenario and ignore the cameras online state and force the communications with the device.
Oh and one more freebie, since you guys obviously have the source code for both the app and hardware.... disable https and use http instead for your local testing, make sure your access point is connected to a managed switch where you have port mirroring enabled and capture your packets with wireshark to get a feel for the data being shared between the the endpoints.
Before going down a rabbit hole by evaluating network issues... I would first look at the triggers that cause the app to state that the camera is offline. Gather all possible variable states and log them down. Having this information I would then look at the firmware and how it relays it's online status to the app.
We know that the app is still communicating with the device because the firmware, serial # are still being reported by the app even though it states it's offline.
At this point we know it's also a persistent bug so it's offline state is stored in the devices configuration file or database. They should have enough information now to track/reverse engineer until to find the root cause and should be able to emulate this error on their own hardware because they have the information needed for the app to report that the device is offline.
Lastly, if they still can't find the root cause then as a last resort to satisfy their customers, they need to relax their handling of the offline scenario and ignore the cameras online state and force the communications with the device.
Oh and one more freebie, since you guys obviously have the source code for both the app and hardware.... disable https and use http instead for your local testing, make sure your access point is connected to a managed switch where you have port mirroring enabled and capture your packets with wireshark to get a feel for the data being shared between the the endpoints.