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Excessive Network Traffic
Excessive Network Traffic
I have 10 cameras on my network, all isolated from internet access. However, I’ve been monitoring their attempts to connect to config.amcrestcloud.com. In just 24 hours, my cameras attempted to connect 161,462 times! This is a shocking and unacceptable amount of unnecessary network traffic. Yes all the cameras are running the latest firmware. Any fixes coming?
Re: Excessive Network Traffic
Which cameras are these and how are they connected to the network?
Re: Excessive Network Traffic
When an IP camera's P2P (Peer-to-Peer) connection to its server is blocked by a firewall, the camera repeatedly attempts to reestablish the connection. This happens because most IP cameras are designed to maintain persistent communication with a remote server for functions like remote access, firmware updates, or monitoring.
Here’s why the camera might try to "phone home" frequently:
Continuous Handshake Attempts: Many cameras are programmed to initiate a handshake or keepalive connection with the P2P server at regular intervals. When this communication is blocked, the camera doesn’t receive an acknowledgment (ACK) from the server, so it retries.
Reconnection Protocols: Cameras often have automatic reconnection logic. If they detect a loss of communication with their P2P server, they initiate a retry loop that can be quite frequent, depending on the camera's firmware.
P2P Functionality: The P2P feature allows for easy remote access, typically via AVP, AVP2 or ASP, without needing port forwarding. Once blocked, the camera attempts to restore this connection to maintain functionality, causing the repeated "phone home" attempts.
No Backoff Mechanism: Some devices lack an exponential backoff mechanism, meaning instead of slowing down the retry attempts over time, they continue trying at the same rate, leading to a high number of connection attempts.
Cloud Service Dependency: Cameras using P2P cloud services may rely heavily on this connection for various features, and without access, they treat the server block as a critical error, prompting frequent retries. Seeing I don't know what cameras you are working with might be some that are Cloud based.
If the P2P function isn't needed, you can typically disable it in the camera's settings to stop the repeated connection attempts. It may take a few hours after being disabled for the attempts to cease. You can usually find the P2P option in the camera's WebUI under Setup, then Network. In some models, it’s located on the left under the Network section, while in others it might be under the TCP/IP tab in the top center.
If you have many cameras on your home network, this can cause network congestion. To avoid managing multiple devices, it’s recommended to use a PoE NVR. By connecting the cameras to the NVR's ports, only the NVR will appear on your local network, making it easier to control and reducing network load.
Here’s why the camera might try to "phone home" frequently:
Continuous Handshake Attempts: Many cameras are programmed to initiate a handshake or keepalive connection with the P2P server at regular intervals. When this communication is blocked, the camera doesn’t receive an acknowledgment (ACK) from the server, so it retries.
Reconnection Protocols: Cameras often have automatic reconnection logic. If they detect a loss of communication with their P2P server, they initiate a retry loop that can be quite frequent, depending on the camera's firmware.
P2P Functionality: The P2P feature allows for easy remote access, typically via AVP, AVP2 or ASP, without needing port forwarding. Once blocked, the camera attempts to restore this connection to maintain functionality, causing the repeated "phone home" attempts.
No Backoff Mechanism: Some devices lack an exponential backoff mechanism, meaning instead of slowing down the retry attempts over time, they continue trying at the same rate, leading to a high number of connection attempts.
Cloud Service Dependency: Cameras using P2P cloud services may rely heavily on this connection for various features, and without access, they treat the server block as a critical error, prompting frequent retries. Seeing I don't know what cameras you are working with might be some that are Cloud based.
If the P2P function isn't needed, you can typically disable it in the camera's settings to stop the repeated connection attempts. It may take a few hours after being disabled for the attempts to cease. You can usually find the P2P option in the camera's WebUI under Setup, then Network. In some models, it’s located on the left under the Network section, while in others it might be under the TCP/IP tab in the top center.
If you have many cameras on your home network, this can cause network congestion. To avoid managing multiple devices, it’s recommended to use a PoE NVR. By connecting the cameras to the NVR's ports, only the NVR will appear on your local network, making it easier to control and reducing network load.
Be Safe.
Re: Excessive Network Traffic
??????
Wouldn't disabling any such function and saving the configuration change (and rebooting for good measure) disable the function? Why would it take any camera a few hours to implement a simple configuration change? And what is it doing in the meantime?
The server end trying to get into the network after successful communication with the cameras somewhere along the line? Maybe.
The cameras continuously attempting to contact the server after such communication has been disabled in the cameras? Not in any reputable IP camera that I'm aware of.
Please enlighten me!
Re: Excessive Network Traffic
Because the camera and the Server is in a Ping Pong for the lack of better term right now.. So when you ask the camera to stop it will infact stop sending pings.. But the Echo or Pong from a server will need a Offline time. It wants to make sure that the server isn't reaching the camera in a Reboot state or a I needed to change something in the camera state so the Server is going to keep trying to access the camera for a set time.. I don't make the rules, it is just how things happen to work..
Be Safe.
Re: Excessive Network Traffic
So it does stop outbound connections as it should..., which is contrary to the statement that it may take a few hours for the attempts to stop. They should stop when they're told to stop.
Reciprocal reconnect attempts by a corresponding server is understandable as you explained and as I also indicated.
Just trying to keep it real as the post was about outbound connections.
The simple answer would be to kill any p2p and/or cloud dependent settings in the cameras to see if that clears up the rogue activity..., provided all other ports are appropriately accounted for as well.
We obviously need more information to provide any useful advice..., like which cameras and what type of network topology are we even talking about.