Kmart SC10IP Cameras stopped working! All of them at the same time!

[Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 09:56

Hi guys,
About a year ago, I bought 4 SC10ip cameras from Kmart and after much trouble shooting, I got them working on my network reasonably well. I was happy with the system until last night, when two of the cameras shut down. So I rebooted the power of the whole house (they have been installed by a sparky, so I can't reach the power supplies easily), and after the restart (I have done this many times before) they just don't work. My router can see them, they have power, but my NAS won't connect to them, and I can't connect to their stream either (every now and again if I run the app on my phone, one or two cameras show up for a second, then disconnect). I can't connect directly to their UI either by putting their IP into my browser. No changes have been made to my network (other than installing a new router and bridging my modem weeks ago, but it was all working fine with that config). Its so confusing because I can't see why or how they have all shut down at the same time, unless there is some inherent bug in the firmware. It's not even like it could have been a power surge that killed them because everything else is working, and they are connected to different parts of the houses wiring. The cameras are all hard wired in, and the switch and all other devices are working well. Any clues? When I ping the individual cameras, I do get 64byte packets received, so Im assuming that means they are on the network?

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Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 09:59

    Its the strangest thing, I've just looked through archive footage from last night, and its like the cameras are taking it in turns to come on, generally its one camera, but sometimes I get two cameras come on, then they disconnect by themselves. I cannot for the life of me figure out what is happening.

  • RobMel on 28/02/2016 - 10:29

    Suggest to take one down if you can and reset.
    Got one of those.
    They are chinese made with rather questionable network behaviour, could be indication of them being hacked.
    Also worth while turning off UPNP on the router for the moment and block all outgoing traffic from the cameras to internet using firewall rules.

    Could also have something to do with NTP settings (timeserver) worth while checking that if you can.

    • [Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 10:42

      But why would anyone want to hack me?

      • Clear on 28/02/2016 - 10:57

        They target unprotected devices. Not you specifically. If they can access it they will.

        There is a lot of talk about Chinese IP cams having back doors or sending information back to servers on the internet.

        • [Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 18:25

          OK, so I just looked through my modem's log file and I came up with something I thought was interesting:

          192.168.0.15:80, Sunday, Feb 28,2016 16:54:15
          [LAN access from remote] from 122.107.216.xxx:54939

          192.168.0.15 being the IP of one of my cameras. Does this mean someone on the IP address 122.107.216.xxx is accessing my LAN through the camera? Am I being hacked?

        • [Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 18:31

          @thorton82:

          Also saw this?

          [UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C5] from source 192.168.0.15, Sunday, Feb 28,2016 16:19:38

        • Clear on 28/02/2016 - 18:56
          +1

          @thorton82: I'd do a whois on the 122. IP and see what country it belongs to.

        • [Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 19:05

          @Clear:

          Australia.

        • cnut on 29/02/2016 - 21:44
          +2

          @thorton82: A lookup indicates that it's from Victoria on Optus. Are you in Victoria and on Optus? Around McKinnon, Bentleigh and Carnegie.

          Obviously don't answer if it's 'yes'. It's just for your info. :)

        • Hirolol on 01/03/2016 - 01:40

          @cnut:
          Hey thats near me!
          (No im not hacking you, wouldnt have a clue how to do it anyway haha)

        • prinzw on 01/03/2016 - 15:21

          They are "front door" not back door… basically no any hiding to make it back door…. for
          example telnet….

        • SnoozeAndLose on 01/03/2016 - 15:28

          @thorton82: Have you reset the username and password for the camera?

          not admin admin or admin password.

          I found that someone hacked into my camera try to move my camera which i spotted it.
          Then I change the password it never happen again.

          thing is if this is an internal one people would like to see what you have got and if anyone in your home.

  • jason101 on 28/02/2016 - 12:39
    +2

    Try a hard reboot by turning off the power to your whole house.

    • nocure on 28/02/2016 - 13:10

      So I rebooted the power of the whole house…

      Didn't work.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 13:24

        Yeah I've done it 4 or 5 times now. No help. I have no idea why it wont work, its very confusing.

  • [Deactivated] on 28/02/2016 - 18:00

    Just thinking, could it be a setting on my R8000 that my cameras don't like? I don't know much about networking, but I see the acronym DHCP bandied around a lot, could this be an issue? I've set fixed IP addresses for each camera, in 192.168.0 range, and they worked fine with my old CG3000v2 cable modem (which had an IP in the same range). I've now put the modem in bridge mode, and it has given itself an internal IP in the 192.168.1 range, while my R8000 router has taken over all routing duties and is in the 192.168.0 range. Is there potential for a conflict on my network?

    I thought it could be the cameras interfering wiht each other, so I disconnected each camera apart from one, and I am looking at the viewing software now. The sole camera that is plugged in is switching on and off (well the video feed is) constantly.

    The switch I have shows that the instant I plug in the ethernet cable to the cameras I get a solid light, instead of the usual flickering light. So confused.

    • airzone on 29/02/2016 - 18:09

      DHCP is used to give an IP address to a device that doesn't have a pre-programmed (static) IP address.

      Using a mixture of static IP addresses and DHCP requires some planning - you don't want to have the 2 ranges overlapping otherwise you'll have dropouts. i.e. you can have your DHCP server dishing out 192.168.0.100-200 and keep all your static units between .1 and .99.

      Test for network connectivity by pinging each camera. They should reply. Use ping -t 192.168.0.11 (or whatever the IP address for the camera is) and you should see a constant stream of replies. Compare the replies to times when the camera drops out (the camera might be dropping network, or something else could be happening).

      Solid light on a switch usually shows connectivity and blinking shows activity.

  • BobD on 29/02/2016 - 07:24
    -8

    Your comments indicate your lack of understanding networking. You should consider paying for someone to sort it out. It probably wouldn't even take long to do it.

    It is a worry when you make the statement " but I see the acronym DHCP bandied around a lot, could this be an issue "
    and another " I've set fixed IP addresses for each camera "

    How have you fixed the addresses?
    If you don't know what DHCP is then you should learn very quickly before further activity.

    I forgot to add that it all sounds like an IP address conflict. After that is sorted out then you may be able to determine if you also have a hacker.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 11:37
      +9

      What gave away that I don't understand much about networking? Was it when I said 'I don't know much about networking'? I'm asking for help here obviously, I don't know much about networking, I set the camera's IPs through the included set up software. I asked about DHCP so that someone could help me, and maybe explain it, not just write a condescending post about how stupid I am. I've checked the attached devices on the network and none share IP addresses, but I'm wondering if there could be a clash for other reasons.

      • BobD on 29/02/2016 - 12:13
        +1

        It may have sounded condescending but wasn't intended that way. You are not stupid. You just don't know and that is very different. Until you do know a bit more then it is difficult to sort out your problems.

        You may find better advice over on Whirlpool for your problems. They have a specialist forum for this and some of the people used to be very persistent in helping out with problems. Be prepared for harder questions about what and how you are doing things now.

        It is unlikely (but possible) that your cameras have started failing simultaneously with your network changes although others suggest that you may need better cameras. So my assumption is that the network has now got address conflicts.

        Your modem is on a 192.168.0.x address. It is on a different network segment from the rest of your network so you need to change the address ranges of either the modem or the router.

        To ensure no conflict of the rest of the network with the cameras then you need to fix the addresses of the rest of the network differently from the cameras. This still does not totally fix an address conflict problem because you can get a new wireless device come along and if a camera is down at the time, it may grab the camera's address.

        The best way to fix an address is by using the router's DHCP service. However, that may not be possible with those cameras. So how do you fix an address? You find the MACADDRess of each device on the network. They are all supposed to be worldwide unique. Once you have all of the MACADDResses then you code up your DHCP entries of IP addresses against MACADDRs. Then you power off every thing, cycle the modem then the router and then every thing else.

        The above is an high level outline of what to do not how to do it. I may have left out something. It isn't difficult if you know what you are doing and you have hands on but you seem to have some learning ahead.

        I note you are in Melbourne. If you are anywhere in the south east I may be able to assist with hands on for no charge. I'm an oldy with too much time on my hands.

        • tonyjzx on 29/02/2016 - 13:31
          -3

          I agree with Bob. The OP CLEARLY doesnt know what he's doing and trying to type at him is a waste of time like it would be for most people who don't know what they're doing.

          You best grab a local tech and they could sus it out.

        • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 16:54
          +6

          @tonyjzx: Or I could learn?

        • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 16:59

          So my cable modem is in bridge mode to my router, the modem has an IP of 192.168.1.100 and the router has an internal IP of 192.160.0.1, and the cameras have fixed IPs of 192.168.0.11-14. Are you suggesting that the difference in range between the router and the modem could be the source of the problems? The modem is purely in bridged mode serving as an Internet portal and the router does all the routing and assigning. Cheers for the reply.

        • moonphase on 29/02/2016 - 18:34
          +1

          @thorton82: so you have hooked up your cam's with your router or cable modem? have you changed any settings so that your modem become the current IP address? By default, your IP should be 192.168.0.1 for that modem. Also, how did you come up with your router with 192.160.0.1?

          How did you manage to fix the IP addresses?

          If you hook it to your router and you do not have DHCP on there, try fix your cam with 192.160.0.2-192.160.0.253 range and see if it works.

          If you are not sure what I'm saying then you'll definitely need local tech to help you up.

        • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 20:50

          @moonphase: No, so the cable modem has been put in bridge mode. This changes the modem's IP from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.1.100. The bridge mode turns off the modem's router and wifi function, and it merely acts as a conduit to the internet. The router (netgear R8000) then takes the role as the router and uses the IP 192.168.0.1. (sorry just read above that I used the wrong IP for the router, it is 192.168.0.1, not 160.1)

          The cameras came with software that allowed me to set their IP. Originally they had an IP in the 192.168.1.x range, but I changed it to 192.168.0.x range so that they would work on the network.

        • moonphase on 01/03/2016 - 11:46

          @thorton82: Well, modem / router uses wifi connection to bridge it so that's no wonder.

          If you do not have any other device installed than your cams, I would hardly think that is due to IP conflicts assuming that you still have static IP setting in your cams.

          It would be still worth to check in your router's setting page to check if the device has been connected and if it does, what IP that is assigned for that device to troubleshoot.

          Also, turn off DHCP if all devices you are hooking assigned with static IP address without conflict.

        • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2016 - 12:30

          @moonphase: no the modem and router are connected with Cat6. I've checked the attached items page on the routers login page, there are no IPs in conflict.

  • woteva on 29/02/2016 - 07:45

    Get some decent cameras. My 2x sc10IP failed after about 3 or 4 months. They would only work intermittently and then died completely.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 11:38

      Any recommendations for cheap synology compatible 720p cameras?

  • DARK KHAOS on 29/02/2016 - 12:53

    These units attempt to communicate to 2 separate hosts

    An AWS hosted site

    54.207.126.203 Port 8000 UDP
    Location BR BR, Brazil
    City So Paulo, 27
    Organization Amazon.com
    ISP Amazon Technologies

    And a chinese site

    123.59.25.129 Port 7999 UDP
    Location CN CN, China
    City Beijing, 22
    Organization China Unicom Beijing
    ISP CloudVsp

    I would recommend dropping all traffic from these devices at the firewall.
    Or alternatively you could give them a static ip address with no/bogus gateway and dns server.
    But would be safer to just block all outgoing comms.

    Who knows what is lurking in the firmware waiting to be exploited.

    • supnigs super skids on 29/02/2016 - 20:04

      the servers are likely to be part of the DDNS trackers for the camera.

  • backpaqer on 29/02/2016 - 15:15
    +1

    Sounds like DHCP problem. The cameras are trying to get onto the network, end up with same IP address and detect conflict and disconnect. Can you try getting them to connect one at a time?

    • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 16:56

      Yep tried this. Have a single camera plugged in at the moment and it just turns on and off (mostly off), well the stream does anyway.

  • xsacha on 29/02/2016 - 20:04

    In your cable modem UI, can you confirm the cameras are still being assigned the IP addresses you gave to them (eg. .11-.14) or are they being given something dynamic (eg. via DHCP).

    • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 20:47

      Yeah not in the cable modem, but the router, the cameras all have the IP assigned to them. The cable modem is bridge so it is essentially dumb.

  • GameChanger on 29/02/2016 - 20:25

    What are using these cameras for? Security?

    • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 20:53

      Yes, part of the system.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 20:54
    +2

    Really appreciating all the help btw guys.

  • Hiroko on 29/02/2016 - 22:14

    i helped set up cameras at a mates store
    who had the same bridged mode via a nighthawk router.
    spent hours and hours trying to get the cameras to work,
    in the end we ended up eliminating the R8000
    and everything worked perfectly.
    some cameras just seem to have trouble
    working through this bridged mode even with
    port forwarding and/or dmz enabled.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/02/2016 - 22:22

      Its funny because they worked until I reset the house power.

      • Hiroko on 01/03/2016 - 10:27
        +1

        thats the thing, you can spend countless hours on troubleshooting, only for it to happen again on the next reset.
        or you could just do it properly from the start for years of trouble free operation.
        for us, we had time constraints so the later was the logical option.

      • McFly on 01/03/2016 - 13:31

        Yes, it's nothing to do with bridge mode, or the router (in terms of compatibility or configuration) if nothing has changed from when everything was working.
        Having said that, IDK what it may be…

  • OzJD on 29/02/2016 - 23:09
    +1

    DHCP hands out IP addresses automatically. It sounds like you may have set an IP address that's taken by something else.

    Eg. Phone connects to WiFI, DHCP server assigns 192.168.0.1, now your camera was at that IP address, but your phone has the same IP. One will work, the other won't.

    -

    That's if it is even an addressing issue. Your modem will likely describe the issue in the logs, but it's impossible to know until you understand them. Check your LAN stats, and see what IP addresses are assigned to what…
    If you've previously set fixed addresses, make sure your DHCP server isn't capable of giving them out.

    It doesn't sound like your cameras are broken.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2016 - 12:33

      I've had a look at the logs, and the attached devices. The IP cams have their own IPs And are on the network, but they don't appear to be doing anything other than being attached to the network. They aren't sending any information, and you can't even log into the cameras by looking at their own UI by typing in their IPs in a browser

  • WaterMark on 29/02/2016 - 23:41

    I thought technology now days have an inherent "life-time" built into the device - usually just after the warranty period. It seems to me technology tend to tank right after their warranty like a timer. That's just my theory anyway :) I don't know how to help but good luck anyway.

  • BartholemewH on 01/03/2016 - 07:25

    I was going to to ask if the electrician laughed when you asked him to install the kmart cameras? Not sure if it helps the discussion though.

    If it's only 1 or 2 going down it's likely an IP conflict, if it's the whole lot as suggested in the OP it is a bigger problem imo and will require more troubleshooting.

  • muncan on 01/03/2016 - 09:09

    Have you tried connecting a camera directly in to a PC with an Ethernet cable, and temporarily set your PC IP address to what you believe is the same fixed IP range of the camera (but different last digit) and see if they can talk? Maybe the cameras have gone back to their default IP configuration following the power loss? Also is there a factory reset button on the cameras?
    More suggestions on Whirlpool

  • jubified on 01/03/2016 - 10:00

    Was there heavy rain during that night? I installed a network cam myself for the first time and didn't think to seal the Ethernet connection with adhesive or electrical tape. I had a broken tile on my roof and water leaked to the connection point and burnt out.

    Check the connections if it looks okay and try connect to modem/router and find the IP

    • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2016 - 12:34

      No, no rain

  • urzu on 01/03/2016 - 10:45

    So close to the 29th of February, leap year, I wonder if it could be due to a time stamp discrepancy on your network

  • prinzw on 01/03/2016 - 15:25

    depends on your gateway router. What I suggest is firstly set those cams to be static ip or binding arp to particular ip pool. then setup a firewall to prevent traffic for all sort of protocol for both in and out direction.

    Try to contact kmart whether it is somehow in the warranty, otherwise do some debug (ping, telnet etc…) Not sure about your modem, but certain model of Chinese cams are using same firmware so you might thing about somehow refresh that.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2016 - 19:01

    Ok so this is really weird. I got in today and turned on the app in my phone and the single camera I had plugged in was working. So I plugged the remaining cameras in and boom! 3 out of 4 are working. I can't explain it. I've unplugged them many times, I've made no differences to the network, I've literally not touched anything since they weren't working yesterday or the day before. Any ideas?

  • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2016 - 19:02
    +1

    Now 4/4 are working

    • knk on 02/03/2016 - 15:07

      Sounds like a power supply issue, if they play up again I'd look at replacing it.

      Most of the time when the sparky does the install he'll run all the cameras back to one point in the house and you should have the power supply there also. Take some photos I may be able to give some guidance on what's what?

      • [Deactivated] on 02/03/2016 - 18:59

        Nope, each camera has a seperate power supply.

  • muncan on 01/03/2016 - 20:01

    Leap year? ^

    • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2016 - 21:20

      No idea, but they started failing before the leap year

  • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2016 - 21:49

    Thanks for all the help in this thread guys, even though for some reason they rectified themselves. If anyone has any idea what happened, or a theory, let me know.

  • superm86 on 01/03/2016 - 22:09

    May be they just wanted some attention? ;p

  • shangoz on 02/11/2016 - 14:12

    The SC10IP bought from Kmart now tinyCam Monitor PRO show "Device has known vulnerability", if you can not upgrade the firm ware, better turn of WiFi function now!

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