Which port does my IP camera use? (0)

In these digital times, nothing seems possible without the internet. And as long as everything works, that's not so bad but switching on various devices can still be quite an art. Depending on how knowledgeable alarmsysteemexpert customers are, we occasionally get asked what port does my IP camera use? . While others don't understand exactly what a port actually is! But that's not a bad thing at all. Because fortunately, you have us to make this kind of thing understandable when you start setting up your Dahua IP camera surveillance, for example.

Ports

Maybe it is easy to think of your router as a residential area. Yes, that sounds crazy but let this sink in for a moment. Everyone in the residential area has access to the same facilities, in this case the internet. All 'residents' of residential district router have their own unique address. Think websites, e-mail, intercom access systems, Alarmanlage and other internet functions. Your IP camera also has one. In most cases, this is RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) port 554. It is used specifically to transmit live video images and sounds and is compatible with most modern cameras. However, do you have an MJPEG camera? Then you will probably need port 80. If you have any questions about the connection to your IP camera , you can of course always contact us.

What is port forwarding?

Okay, you now know a bit about what a port is. But then what exactly is port forwarding? Simple. This is assigning a specific port to an internet function. To a camera in this case. You can compare the port number to a postcode and the IP address of each individual camera to a house number. Thus, all electronic eyes 'live' on the same street but each at a unique address. Assigning this is what is meant by port forwarding .

IP camera setup

Should you not be so handy with computers, it might be wise to leave your IP camera setup to someone who does have such expertise. Still, we want to make this process as clear as possible so you can go through it all by yourself.

To retrieve individual addresses

To retrieve the data of a specific device, it must have a completely separate IP address. Do you have a Windows computer? Then go to 'execute' and type in the letters 'cmd', without spaces, and press enter. Type in 'ipconfig' and press enter again. The information below will appear - although the details may be different for you.

The IP address of the computer itself is 192.168.2.181. The user has a so-called 'IP range' of 192.168.2.x, where the x is a number between 0 and 255. The gateway refers to the router, which is denoted by 192.168.2.254. The highest possible numbers are unlikely to be used; therefore, choose 250 and below for your cameras.

Allocate individual addresses

Now it's time to start assigning the individual addresses to the cameras. You do this using the IPsearch programme, which you can download for free. This piece of software finds all cameras that are connected. See the image below. Note: similar software may already be supplied with your system. The operation will be broadly the same.

In the above example, you will see only one device but if you have several connected, you will see them appear below each other. Enter the desired data and press 'Modify'. Done!

Do you want to make sure everything runs smoothly when implementing your new system? Our installation and maintenance department is only too happy to assist you!