Unifi Protect G3 Camera issue. Need geeky help!
Discussion
I have six G3 Pro cameras attached to a Cloud Key Gen 2 unit. 2 of the cameras were unplugged for 12 months whilst we did work on the house. I just came to reconnect them, and now they won't work. I checked the connectors etc using a network cable tester - all fine, and I swapped them for 2 other cameras from the front of the house. The fault stays with the cameras. These were stored in a warm dry place for that time, so I can't see them being "faulty" - and, it's 2 of them - so it doesn't make sense. Have tried the factory reset for the camera's and also disconnect/reconnect but it didn't work. When you plug them in the camera infrared lights up and you hear the aperture click open so they are definitely getting power.
The only thing I can think of, is that since the system was set to "auto update" the rear (disconnected) cameras did not receive updates which have now meant they are no longer compatible with the updated Cloud Key.
I have used a network scanner to see if the cameras are lurking on my subnet (192.168.0.x) but they are not. I have read that these cameras will sit at 192.168.1.20 if they can't establish a DHCP connection, but I don't know how to configure my MacBook (wireless) via my router to actually try and access 192.168.1.x - can anyone help with that? The only experience I have of connecting to stuff on a different subnet is with Win7 where I would plug the device in on RJ45 and use TCP/IP to set the machine to the .1.x subnet, so I really am a novice at the Mac side of it and also don't really want to have to go up on the roof and take the cameras off to plug them directly into the machine because 1) I dont have a crossover cable, and 2) my Mac is a new one so stupidly doesn't have an ethernet port.
Thanks in advance for any help.
The only thing I can think of, is that since the system was set to "auto update" the rear (disconnected) cameras did not receive updates which have now meant they are no longer compatible with the updated Cloud Key.
I have used a network scanner to see if the cameras are lurking on my subnet (192.168.0.x) but they are not. I have read that these cameras will sit at 192.168.1.20 if they can't establish a DHCP connection, but I don't know how to configure my MacBook (wireless) via my router to actually try and access 192.168.1.x - can anyone help with that? The only experience I have of connecting to stuff on a different subnet is with Win7 where I would plug the device in on RJ45 and use TCP/IP to set the machine to the .1.x subnet, so I really am a novice at the Mac side of it and also don't really want to have to go up on the roof and take the cameras off to plug them directly into the machine because 1) I dont have a crossover cable, and 2) my Mac is a new one so stupidly doesn't have an ethernet port.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Julian Thompson said:
I have used a network scanner to see if the cameras are lurking on my subnet (192.168.0.x) but they are not. I have read that these cameras will sit at 192.168.1.20 if they can't establish a DHCP connection, but I don't know how to configure my MacBook (wireless) via my router to actually try and access 192.168.1.x - can anyone help with that? The only experience I have of connecting to stuff on a different subnet is with Win7 where I would plug the device in on RJ45 and use TCP/IP to set the machine to the .1.x subnet, so I really am a novice at the Mac side of it and also don't really want to have to go up on the roof and take the cameras off to plug them directly into the machine because 1) I dont have a crossover cable, and 2) my Mac is a new one so stupidly doesn't have an ethernet port.
Thanks in advance for any help.
You can create a new subnet on the 192.168.1.x range put the switch port connected to a camera in that subnet and also add that subnet to a new ssid on your ap and connect the Mac to that then scan / ping the cameras as they both may have the same ip only do one camera at a time Thanks in advance for any help.
I don’t suspect this will matter but how long have you left them powered up for?
Sounds like the cameras are not getting an IP address. Have you forgotten them on the network app? Perhaps there is a clash, have you tried rebooting the cloudkey?
Ubiquity is a strange unpredictable fellow, I lost 2 of 3 APs on a switch this morning at 6.35am for no reason after many months of stability.
Ubiquity is a strange unpredictable fellow, I lost 2 of 3 APs on a switch this morning at 6.35am for no reason after many months of stability.
Thanks chaps. Tried leaving them powered up for a while, doesn’t seem to matter. Tried forgetting them etc - no response.
Today I connected the camera to the ubiquity Poe switch (with everything else disconnected) and then ran a cable to a windows pc which I set to 192.168.1.100. I then pinged 192.168.1.20 and it worked round trip 3ms no packets lost. So the camera is there.
But I can’t access the gui on 192.168.1.20 - it just says that the address is refusing the connection.
About the help above, I don’t understand how to set my Poe switch to the .1 subnet - is that important and might it have affected my test?
Today I connected the camera to the ubiquity Poe switch (with everything else disconnected) and then ran a cable to a windows pc which I set to 192.168.1.100. I then pinged 192.168.1.20 and it worked round trip 3ms no packets lost. So the camera is there.
But I can’t access the gui on 192.168.1.20 - it just says that the address is refusing the connection.
About the help above, I don’t understand how to set my Poe switch to the .1 subnet - is that important and might it have affected my test?
Julian Thompson said:
Thanks chaps. Tried leaving them powered up for a while, doesn’t seem to matter. Tried forgetting them etc - no response.
Today I connected the camera to the ubiquity Poe switch (with everything else disconnected) and then ran a cable to a windows pc which I set to 192.168.1.100. I then pinged 192.168.1.20 and it worked round trip 3ms no packets lost. So the camera is there.
But I can’t access the gui on 192.168.1.20 - it just says that the address is refusing the connection.
About the help above, I don’t understand how to set my Poe switch to the .1 subnet - is that important and might it have affected my test?
Yes the subnet is very important I’m surprised that with the switch on a different range to the camera & pc you got a valid test. I’d be inclined to run the test again and see what happens when the camera is disconnected.Today I connected the camera to the ubiquity Poe switch (with everything else disconnected) and then ran a cable to a windows pc which I set to 192.168.1.100. I then pinged 192.168.1.20 and it worked round trip 3ms no packets lost. So the camera is there.
But I can’t access the gui on 192.168.1.20 - it just says that the address is refusing the connection.
About the help above, I don’t understand how to set my Poe switch to the .1 subnet - is that important and might it have affected my test?
This video might help you understand how to create and assign new vlans, obviously you’ll not want to take the traffic isolation steps in your case
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UGBobTInIBc
Thanks for the help.
I connected the camera to the computer using a Poe injector as mentioned and I can get a ping.
Now also, I can get a blue screen at 192.168.1.20 and the tab for the browser says UniFi Protect so some comms are happening.
I downloaded the latest firmware for the camera, installed Telnet onto a windows machine and tried to PUT the file.
I get a connection time out. Any ideas?
I connected the camera to the computer using a Poe injector as mentioned and I can get a ping.
Now also, I can get a blue screen at 192.168.1.20 and the tab for the browser says UniFi Protect so some comms are happening.
I downloaded the latest firmware for the camera, installed Telnet onto a windows machine and tried to PUT the file.
I get a connection time out. Any ideas?
Sorry I’m not quite following now. I set the subnet of the computer to 255.255.255.0 and plugged the camera directly into the computer using a Poe injector - I can’t see what else I can change?
Or is there some further work on the tcp/ip v4 setup screen? Like setting the gateway ip or dns or something?
Or is there some further work on the tcp/ip v4 setup screen? Like setting the gateway ip or dns or something?
Julian Thompson said:
Sorry I’m not quite following now. I set the subnet of the computer to 255.255.255.0 and plugged the camera directly into the computer using a Poe injector - I can’t see what else I can change?
Or is there some further work on the tcp/ip v4 setup screen? Like setting the gateway ip or dns or something?
That will work fine with a 192.168.1.x IP address.Or is there some further work on the tcp/ip v4 setup screen? Like setting the gateway ip or dns or something?
Can you clarify a couple of things:
1- the camera you are trying to recover has been forgotten by the cloud key and no longer appears?
2- before you forgot it, was it showing as offline?
3- you have followed the factory reset procedure and the device is now in adoption mode?
4- the cloudkey network app doesnt see the device when you connect it to the network?
5- you can ping 192.168.1.20 as the default camera IP. Have you got another device on your network with the same IP?
If you want to ssh to the device from a reset I believe you have to hold the reset button for around 10 seconds to force into accepting ssh connections (it may not be this on a G3, i have G4s).
Edit - do you use the unifi protect app to manage your cameras, and does the device also not show up in the protect app?
Edited by M1AGM on Tuesday 5th April 14:43
Thanks for that -
1) the camera is not detected by the cloud key, or by a search from the cloud key.
2) before I forgot it, it was showing as offline and it wasn’t searchable.
3) I have followed the procedure I can find for factory reset which seems to be disconnect, hold reset, plug in, wait 10 seconds or so until you hear the aperture click inside and then release the reset. Doing this doesn’t seem to influence the camera or it’s ability to be pinged and so I can’t confirm it is in “adoption mode”
4) cloud key network is oblivious to these 2 cameras at all times now.
5) as per post above, I am now conducting these tests with a computer plugged solely in to one camera, on a different subnet to my house. So there is nothing at all on this network except the pc and the camera.
6) yes I use the unify protect app, and again, the cameras do not show there.
It’s the oddest thing in the world. They worked flawlessly for 12 months then I unplugged them, stored them for 12 months and plugged them back in and nothing. The fact it is 2 cameras must mean they can’t be faulty surely?
If I could work out why the camera won’t allow the telnet upload of the the firmware that would be a good step. Maybe it’s not in adoption mode or something?
1) the camera is not detected by the cloud key, or by a search from the cloud key.
2) before I forgot it, it was showing as offline and it wasn’t searchable.
3) I have followed the procedure I can find for factory reset which seems to be disconnect, hold reset, plug in, wait 10 seconds or so until you hear the aperture click inside and then release the reset. Doing this doesn’t seem to influence the camera or it’s ability to be pinged and so I can’t confirm it is in “adoption mode”
4) cloud key network is oblivious to these 2 cameras at all times now.
5) as per post above, I am now conducting these tests with a computer plugged solely in to one camera, on a different subnet to my house. So there is nothing at all on this network except the pc and the camera.
6) yes I use the unify protect app, and again, the cameras do not show there.
It’s the oddest thing in the world. They worked flawlessly for 12 months then I unplugged them, stored them for 12 months and plugged them back in and nothing. The fact it is 2 cameras must mean they can’t be faulty surely?
If I could work out why the camera won’t allow the telnet upload of the the firmware that would be a good step. Maybe it’s not in adoption mode or something?
I apologise if the suggestions were unclear
Here is mu understanding of the situation so far and suggestions to resolve it
You told us your your cameras were on the 192.168.0.x subnet range and you couldn't contact the two cameras.
You suspected that the unresponsive cameras might be addressed as 192.169.1.20
Obviously this is not on the 192.168.0.x range but on the 192.168.1.x range
I said you need to create a vlan on the 192.168.1.x range
You said you were unsure how to put devices onto a vlan with a 192.168.1.x range or if it was important
I said yes it was important to have devices on the same range
You disconnect other devices and wire a PC up and manually change the PC ip to a 192.168.1.x range address
Ping works (not sure why) but other services don't
I gave you a link to a instruction video on how to set up vlans on Unifi systems to help you remove the network subnet issue as a cause of your issue
You have not raised any questions or comments re this video so I presume its unwatched.
I suggest that the cloud key is oblivious because it is on the 192.168.0.x range and the camera is on the 192.168.1.x range and the Unifi network doesn't know how to communicate to the 192.168.1.x range because it hasn't been defined
Perhaps this might clarify why being on different subnets / vlans might be a issue
Subnets: https://youtu.be/s_Ntt6eTn94
Vlans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC6MJTh9fRE&vl...
I suggest you watch those and my earlier video and then try to define the 192.168.1.x range as a vlan on your Unifi setup and then put the unresponsive cameras port and the PC port into that vlan and confirm if that changes things
BTW This is also incorrect, the camera needs to powered on to perform the reset
3) I have followed the procedure I can find for factory reset which seems to be disconnect, hold reset, plug in, wait 10 seconds or so until you hear the aperture click inside and then release the reset. Doing this doesn’t seem to influence the camera or it’s ability to be pinged and so I can’t confirm it is in “adoption mode”
See Here: https://dl.ubnt.com/guides/unifivideo/UVC-G3_QSG.p...
Here is mu understanding of the situation so far and suggestions to resolve it
You told us your your cameras were on the 192.168.0.x subnet range and you couldn't contact the two cameras.
You suspected that the unresponsive cameras might be addressed as 192.169.1.20
Obviously this is not on the 192.168.0.x range but on the 192.168.1.x range
I said you need to create a vlan on the 192.168.1.x range
You said you were unsure how to put devices onto a vlan with a 192.168.1.x range or if it was important
I said yes it was important to have devices on the same range
You disconnect other devices and wire a PC up and manually change the PC ip to a 192.168.1.x range address
Ping works (not sure why) but other services don't
I gave you a link to a instruction video on how to set up vlans on Unifi systems to help you remove the network subnet issue as a cause of your issue
You have not raised any questions or comments re this video so I presume its unwatched.
I suggest that the cloud key is oblivious because it is on the 192.168.0.x range and the camera is on the 192.168.1.x range and the Unifi network doesn't know how to communicate to the 192.168.1.x range because it hasn't been defined
Perhaps this might clarify why being on different subnets / vlans might be a issue
Subnets: https://youtu.be/s_Ntt6eTn94
Vlans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC6MJTh9fRE&vl...
I suggest you watch those and my earlier video and then try to define the 192.168.1.x range as a vlan on your Unifi setup and then put the unresponsive cameras port and the PC port into that vlan and confirm if that changes things
BTW This is also incorrect, the camera needs to powered on to perform the reset
3) I have followed the procedure I can find for factory reset which seems to be disconnect, hold reset, plug in, wait 10 seconds or so until you hear the aperture click inside and then release the reset. Doing this doesn’t seem to influence the camera or it’s ability to be pinged and so I can’t confirm it is in “adoption mode”
See Here: https://dl.ubnt.com/guides/unifivideo/UVC-G3_QSG.p...
megaphone said:
I understand he is now connecting directly to the cameras via a PoE adaptor from a Windows PC set to 192.168.1.xxx range.
Missed that.Would good to see the ip config on the pc to confirm it’s correct.
It would also be worth plugging in the other camera and trying the correct reset process also remembering it could take a good few minutes to reset and appear in the dashboard.
megaphone said:
I understand he is now connecting directly to the cameras via a PoE adaptor from a Windows PC set to 192.168.1.xxx range.
That's correct - I have ditched the network and gone direct.I have done more reading, and it appears I'm not alone on this. There was one chap obviously fully clued up who was able to do a fair bit with logging of events and other things I can't do and he concluded that there was a hardware fault in the memory.
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