Adding my existing Hikvision cameras to a new NVR?

[theendisnye]

I have had circa 6 Hikvision cameras, of various models bought at different times, attached to my network providing HD video via IP to a PC running blueiris for around 10 years. some of the cameras have been downgraded to provide 1080p. The key use has been to pass the feed back to blueiris which then took care of defining the motion detect area, motion detection, emailing warnings, storage with remote access via a local IP address to show current feed and retrieve recordings. The PC run headless and the cameras have never had a firmware update, I just updated windows os or blueiris.

Recently my PC that was running blue iris deceased and I want to find an equivalent system. So I am looking for an NVR and since all of the cameras are hikvision it made sense to look there. At the moment I have configured software on my Mac to take the feed, short term using the logon details.

Since I am new to NVRs is what I am looking for standard functionality as they all seem to have a number of PoE ports and HDMI outs which would mean some major rewiring or can they just be connected to my LAN and interrogated like previous. Will the lack of firmware updates cause an issue. My next door neighbour said he had some significant issues configuring his old hikvision system so when he moved he went a different route I have always been very pleased with my cameras and they were super easy to setup on blueiris and also on my mac feed. So how easy is it to setup a hikvision NVR or would I be better with a different manufacture?

steve

 

[Kyle]

Hi @theendisnye

You can keep your cameras connected to your LAN and add them via their IP addresses to the NVR, so there is no need to rewire anywhere.
This guide covers how to do this (see "remote connection via IP"):

How-to: - Part 4: How do I add a Hikvision device to my NVR?

There are a couple of methods for getting your IP camera connected and recording to your NVR: Plug and Play - This is the most popular and simplest method for smaller setups, as all you need to do is plug your camera straight into the PoE ports in a Hikvision NVR. The NVR will then do the rest...

www.use-ip.co.uk

I would definitely recommend updating the firmware on all of your cameras, both to keep them secure and to fix any bugs you may see on them when connected to an NVE - we've seen compatibility issues with cameras on old firmware and new NVRs.

It's best to use a Hikvision NVR, we always recommend using the same brand NVR and cameras for compatibility - you could use an ONVIF conformant 3rd-party NVR, but you often lose access to the more advanced features on the camera if you do this. Using an NVR will also allow you to connect the system to Hik-Connect, which is their free mobile app.

One thing that I should warn you about is macOS compatibility - accessing Hikvision NVRs from macOS browsers can be problematic as certain menus will be missing. You can use iVMS-4200 on a Mac as well, which works fine, but the interface is quite clunky and feels old.

We advise using the new M-Series NVRs, especially if you think you may add newer cameras at some point, so this 8-channel model is what we'd recommend:

Hikvision DS-7608NI-M2/8P 8-channel 8K M-Series NVR

Key Features: - HDMI Video Output, at up to 8K Resolution - Dual-Stream Recording - H.265+ / H.265 / H.264+ / H.264 Video Formats - Up to 8-channels (IP Camera Inputs) - Up to 8MP Decoding Capacity - Up to 128Mbps Incoming Bandwith - Support for a range of VCA (video content analysis) Events - 8...

www.use-ip.co.uk