amcrestddns troubleshooting

[CHMN]

I read the tech support articles and viewed the YouTube videos and read the forum posts I found. UPnP/Port Forwarding is successful, and I confirmed the port is open with CanYouSeeMe.org. I can access the camera from my browser by entering "http://LAN IP Address:Port. But my attempts to access the camera from inside and outside the local network via the www.name.amcrestddns.com:port, are not working. What do I check or do next? Did I miss some step?

The articles imply I can enter "anything" in the Domain Name but the video mentions in passing it must be unique. What happens if it is not unique, does the web UI check immediately with the server and throw up an error when it is entered, does the save fail, or does it just not work without any indication? Do I not need to register the name? How long can the camera be offline, before the name is released?

Can I assume I cannot ping the camera through ddns (eg "ping www.name.amcrestddns.com")?

By the way, why is it necessary to change the HTTP internal port from 80? It looks like UPnP and Port Forwarding lets you configure the external and internal ports independently.

The articles and videos only mention changing the HTTP connection port and explicitly shows disabling the HTTPS port mapping in the UPnP configuration. If I want to use HTTPS, do I need to map that port, or is it somehow handled differently when it is enabled?

[Revo2Maxx]

Hello and Welcome to the Forum...

Sorry I don't have the Answers. I am wondering why you want to go that route? P2P is as easy as turning it on and setting up your phone or computer at remote location to use P2P.. There is no Registering or Port Forwarding and it is just as secure as it should be.... No worry about having to remember your IP address from your ISP or if they even let you port forward outside of your network there is no need for all that...

Have a Friend in Holland that I gave access to a User name and a Password they were able to connect to my camera over P2P with nothing fancy for them to do..

Just wondering...

[jack7]

I agree with Revo about P2P, but you need to use an Amcrest camera and Amcrest app .
Port forwarding is more of a security risk, and UPnP is even riskier. But if you just use port forwarding, ddns will help keep your WAN IP address current.
amcrestddns.com works fine in my experience but everything you set up for it in the camera must be exactly the same as what you put in an app like Amcrest Pro View.

[CHMN]

Hello and Welcome to the Forum...

Sorry I don't have the Answers. I am wondering why you want to go that route? P2P is as easy as turning it on and setting up your phone or computer at remote location to use P2P.. There is no Registering or Port Forwarding and it is just as secure as it should be.... No worry about having to remember your IP address from your ISP or if they even let you port forward outside of your network there is no need for all that...

Have a Friend in Holland that I gave access to a User name and a Password they were able to connect to my camera over P2P with nothing fancy for them to do..

Just wondering...

I did read your comments on P2P on another thread. P2P works with the Surveillance Pro desktop software and the View Pro App, and presumably Amcrest Cloud viewer, which I have not used. I did not think it could be used with a browser and Web UI. How does your friend access the camera?

Two (maybe Three) reasons
1. I have found settings missing (or settings that do not apply) in both Surveillance Pro and View Pro. I have the most confidence in the Web UI for configuring cameras. Do I want/need to do that remote? ...To be determined.

2. I am assuming Amcrest will resolve the browser plug-in issues at some point (I know it has been two or three years already). I would like to share the video feed with friends and family without them jumping through hoops (installing app, program, or plug-in, or creating an account with a 3rd Party). Just enter a URL into their browser and use a guest account login. No Pan or Zoom, download, or playback is required, just viewing the live video stream. I do not anticipate more than one connection at a given time, and do not think connections or bandwidth will be an issue. I do not want to host a web site and pay for services that will not be used much.

3. (Maybe). At this point I have not gotten a mobile browser working, but I see some lag, stuttering and jumps in the View Pro app (both Android and iOS), that I have not seen in my browser. I would like to compare the remote performance of the app to http.

I was actually confused by the term "P2P". How does it work exactly? I usually think of a direct connection between two devices on the LAN, which is clearly not the case here. I am assuming the cameras establish an outgoing connection to an Amcrest server, related to but not the same as the "Amcrest Cloud" service, which the programs and apps also then connect to in order to bypass the NAT and firewall limitations and difficulties, but none of this is documented or explained, it just happens "automagically". If (and I am not saying I do) want to disable it and only make it available on my LAN, can I? I do not see how.

[Revo2Maxx]

Yes you can Disable P2P and P2P is most likely already turned on in your camera.. .However if you Log in your WebUI and go to Setup then network then you will see in there it could be under TCP/IP or on the left it might have its own tab al depends on what Camera and FW being used... In that tab you can enable and disable it....

They used the WebUI on Windows 10 and we tested it on the WebUI of Win8 and 8.1 because I just like to Test things lol All worked without a hitch...

P2P is a system from OLD long ago networking.. Really fast and dirty... There are servers around the world that your camera will send a Hello with your SN.... These servers listen to the network of Computers on the Internet for a Ping with Matching SN and if it find a PING it will hand off a Connection to the camera and end user... Then you put in your password and your connected there is no IP address to put in because that can change everytime there is then a Tunnel connection between you and your Camera or DVR/NVR... THere is no special Vodoo going on you can not make a Connection to this port without knowing the Password you have for your system... I can't speak for all systems but I am sure that Amcrest don't have a Back door to your system...

However if you want to you can turn it on or off with a Click of a Mouse in the setup of the device...

[Revo2Maxx]

Also to confirm P2P is all my connections were made... I use tablet and iOS and Android.. .Some old some new all have good connections on most Camera and system besides I found that there is lag in network at times... However that is at High traffic times on my Network... 3 or 4 Movies streaming,, a game or 2 playing over the internet... Also found out that a couple of times lag was with all that stated above and my Son also Streaming netflix and a High Bandwidth Game... While Others don't get the whole system Network and bandwidth issues that can happen... I am really surprised that my cable modem hasn't died before now.... Knocking on Wood... I have asked my friend in email how to setup connections in Computers. I am sure he will get back to me after he returns home from Holiday as they like to call it lol...

[CHMN]

My DDNS configuration seems to be working now... I gave it several hours to start working, but I guess it takes quite a bit of time to for a new DNS entry to propagate.

It only seems to work from an external network, which makes sense, but not sure why. I was able to ping it, so icmp works without any specific configuration.

Still wondering if anyone knows why the internal http port needs to changed, how long it can be idle before the name is released, or if anything needs to change to use DDNS with HTTPS.