Networking in Depth
Techpro Security Products
Network Configuration
Setting up your Home or Office network to allow your DVR to be accessible externally can be kind of
tricky, but I will try to explain basic network concepts to allow you to configure your network.
First, you must review your network scheme to identify if your DVR is within the same network scheme.
There are a few ways to identify your network by simply going to the “Command Prompt” in your
Windows PC. If you are using MAC (Apple) you can use the application called “Terminal”. See the
examples below:
Note: If you are using Windows XP, click , then Run and type “cmd” without
quotes.
For Apple users, go to the top right corner and type in the spotlight the word “terminal” without
quotes and hit return. A little window will open and you can type “ifconfig”, again without quotes.
After you have opened the command prompt, you can type “ipconfig” and the result will be displayed as
shown below:
For apple users you can use these steps:
Mac OS X
1. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences….
2. In System Preferences, from the View menu, select Network.
3. Select the appropriate port. For example, choose Ethernet for broadband
connections, AirPort for wireless or Internal Modem for dial-up.
4. Click Advanced…, and in the sheet that opens, click the TCP/IP tab. The number next to
“Router:” is your default gateway.
Concepts:
1. IP ADDRESS: An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each
device (e.g., computer, printer, DVR, etc) participating in a computer network that uses
the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or
network interface identification and location addressing.
2. SUBNET MASK: A Subnet Mask allows IP networks to be subdivided.
3. DEFAULT GATEWAY: A Gateway is a node that routes the traffic from a workstation to
another network segment. The default gateway commonly connects internal networks (LAN)
and the outside network (Internet/WAN).
4. DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol allows getting an IP Address automatically from a
device that is providing this service. (ie. Router, Server).
5. DMZ: A DMZ or Demilitarized Zone is a physical or logical sub network that contains and
exposes an organization’s external services to a larger untrusted network, usually the Internet.
NOTE: The DVR will come with static IP’s already, in some cases some routers such as AT&T 2Wire
devices, in order to configure port forwarding you must turn DHCP ON in your DVR to show as a
connected device in those routers.
Now that you know the scheme of your network, let’s proceed to configure the DVR network portion.
By default, the DVR will be shipped with these network configurations. See the Picture Below:
You can easily change these numbers to match your network. We suggest that you change the HTTP
port to 88, because most ISP’s (Internet Service provider) will block port 80.
Once you have your DVR configured, you have to change some options in your Web Browser (ie.Internet
Explorer, Chrome or Mozilla Firefox) in order to access your DVR internally by following these links:
http://support.techprosecurity.com/entries/366108-dvr-access-from-a-pc
Port forwarding steps
Forwarding ports on a Router can sometimes be challenging, but I will try to explain it as simply as
possible to accomplish the task.
First, you must know the router’s internal IP; normally this will be what you have as default gateway on
your computer. See picture below:
The IP Address in this case is 192.168.1.2 (Default Gateway), so you need to type that information in
your web browser.
STEP 1:
Depending on the type of router you have, you may see a similar pop-up window as shown below.
Some other routers (ie. Comcast or Verizon) have their own interface and may look different but the
information required is the same.
STEP 2:
NOTE: By default the username and password of some routers will be “admin” for the username, and
“password” for the password. Consult with your ISP or Router Manufacturer to get the right
information.
Once you have clicked “Ok” you will need to look for the Port Forwarding options on your router. For
Linksys routers, you should go to “Applications & Gaming” then choose “Port Forwarding”. In that
location you will have to open 3 ports and name them; assuming you’re using the default ports in your
DVR, these ports are Port 37777, Port 37778 & Ports 80 or 88. You can name them whatever you like, to
suite your needs.
The protocols being used for these ports must be TCP and UDP. Depending upon the type of router you
have, the option “Both” under Protocol may be available. You can choose this option instead of
selecting TCP and UDP separately. If your router does not have “Both” as an option, you MUST open the
ports individually by selecting TCP and then UDP for each port.
For example: Port name: DVR1 then type Port 37777 and select protocol TCP, then Port name: DVR2
and retype Port 37777 and select UDP. Do the same on each of the remaining two ports which you will
be opening. It is important to remember to name each Port something different otherwise you will get
an error when you save the configurations.
NOTE: MAKE SURE when opening the ports in your router, the IP address that has to be pointed this
ports to is your DVR’s IP address.
Configuring Network with two Routers
Sometimes you will get caught in a situation where you have two routers (ie.Your ISP Router and your
Wireless Router); and the configuration for port forwarding could be hard to set. I will explain as much
as possible of how to set this up to successfully forward the ports.
Look at the diagram to understand the scenario:
Concepts:
LAN: A Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network that connects computers and devices in a
limited geographical area such as a home, school, computer laboratory or office building. This is
normally called an “Internal Network”
WAN: A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a broad area (i.e., any network
whose communications links cross metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries. WANs are used to
connect LANs and other types of networks together, so that users and computers in one location can
communicate with users and computers in other locations. This is normally called an “External
Network”
The previous diagram shows the ISP’s Router LAN IP Address as 10.1.10.1, and your Wireless Router LAN
IP Address is 192.168.1.1. As you see, they are not in the same scheme or in the same network as your
wireless router, so when you do port forwarding in your wireless router and try to check if the ports are
open by going to www.canyouseeme.org , you will get an error stating that the ports are still closed. To
resolve this issue you MUST get into the configuration page of you ISP’s router and place the Wireless
Router WAN IP assigns by the ISP’s Router to the DMZ of your ISP’s router. You can check the WAN IP
assigned by the ISP’s router in your Wireless Router by going to the status link in your router.
Example:
Let’s say that your Wireless Router got an IP from the first router (ISP’s Router) of 10.1.10.10; this has
been assigned to the Wireless Router (Second Router) WAN Port through DHCP. So in the first router
you go to the DMZ configurations and input that IP Address; save the configurations and you are done.
This is what is called “Bridging Networks”.
Configuring two or more DVR’s in a single Network
If you have two or more DVR’s on your network and need it to forward ports in your Router the
procedure to have this done is basically the same, but the only difference is that each DVR must have
different IP addresses and port numbers.
Look at the diagram to understand the scenario:
I hope this is been informative for you, and I would like to thank you for choosing us!!!
