NVR NTP settings for poe attached cams

[Kyle]

Sorry for the delayed reply @mtv

Just to confirm, have you kept the NVR set to use the NTP server and set the cameras to manual in the time settings?

It's worth trying different NTP servers too in case the NVR is not connecting to it properly, just "pool.ntp.org" tends to work well wherever you are, or whichever the one for your country is here:

pool.ntp.org: NTP Servers in Europe, europe.pool.ntp.org

www.ntppool.org

Changing the NVR's interval to 1440 minutes looks like it's helped other users with similar issues too (for whatever unknown reason):

Yep the NVR NTP default is normally 60 minutes (which is bonkers), so I've set it to 1440 minutes (24hrs).

Here's why...
Looking at a camera NTP setting via the camera interface my defaults vary according to camera age.
The default for my older PTZ cameras is 60 minutes.
The default for smart cameras 2345 and 2387 is 1440 minutes.
The default time server on all my Hikvision & HiLook cameras is time.windows.com (though not my preferred server).
So me thinks why would they choose 1440 minutes instead of 60 on the newer cameras?

However the cameras are not set to use the direct NTP server feature by default, instead they are set to use the manual time sync.
All my camera time settings are set to manual time sync as supplied.
They are perfectly in step, identical time on all, so they must be using time sync sent from the NVR.
Since the default for the newest 2387 cameras is 1440 minutes then that tells me Hikvision are changing their thinking hence I'm going to continue using 1440 minutes for the NVR time interval. It makes no sense to set it more frequently than that.

Plus, the DST time settings on the NVR were incorrect after the 4.60 upgrade so I've set these correctly too.
(They were First Sunday and DST Bias 30min so changed to Last Sunday and DST Bias 60min).

My point to all this is...
That single change coincides with fixing the flickering image & date anomalies on my system, happy days!

Also, you shouldn't need to set up DST if using an NTP server, so try disabling this too in case this is causing the Hik-Connect time anomaly.

Hik-Connect may be holding onto the NVR's old time, so I would unbind and re-add it to your account too.
Which version of Hik-Connect are you using and on what platform?

 

[mtv]

Sorry for the delayed reply @mtv

Just to confirm, have you kept the NVR set to use the NTP server and set the cameras to manual in the time settings?

It's worth trying different NTP servers too in case the NVR is not connecting to it properly, just "pool.ntp.org" tends to work well wherever you are, or whichever the one for your country is here:

pool.ntp.org: NTP Servers in Europe, europe.pool.ntp.org

www.ntppool.org

Changing the NVR's interval to 1440 minutes looks like it's helped other users with similar issues too (for whatever unknown reason):


Also, you shouldn't need to set up DST if using an NTP server, so try disabling this too in case this is causing the Hik-Connect time anomaly.

Hik-Connect may be holding onto the NVR's old time, so I would unbind and re-add it to your account too.
Which version of Hik-Connect are you using and on what platform?

Hi @Kyle,

no problem.

I'll set the NTP server settings to pool.ntp.org with 1440 interval so see what is does. I also will de-select DST at the NVR.

changing the time setting brings up something strange.

time is 16:18 dutch time, with gmt +1 and summertime
Change systemtime to 16:18 will activate dst at once. Disable dst does not chnage time on cams and nvr…
reboot with dst off will bring Time to 15:18 :-(
so to keep time in line on systemlevel i have to activate dst (automatic) for some reason on the nvr.

I'm on hik-connect version 4.22.0.2022032219 on IOS platform.

 

[mtv]

Hi @Kyle,

no problem.

I'll set the NTP server settings to pool.ntp.org with 1440 interval so see what is does. I also will de-select DST at the NVR.

changing the time setting brings up something strange.

time is 16:18 dutch time, with gmt +1 and summertime
Change systemtime to 16:18 will activate dst at once. Disable dst does not chnage time on cams and nvr…
reboot with dst off will bring Time to 15:18 :-(
so to keep time in line on systemlevel i have to activate dst (automatic) for some reason on the nvr.

I'm on hik-connect version 4.22.0.2022032219 on IOS platform.

Update till now

setting the nvr to 1440 interval doesn’t seem to be change the time on the cams At all. They are all tens of seconds out of range of each other.

 

[Kyle]

Apologies @mtv - I've been looking into this but have run out of ideas, to be honest

Clutching at straws but...
Reboot and reconnect each camera?
Or, reset the whole system and start afresh?

Have you tried "nl.pool.ntp.org"?

 

[mtv]

Apologies @mtv - I've been looking into this but have run out of ideas, to be honest

Clutching at straws but...
Reboot and reconnect each camera?
Or, reset the whole system and start afresh?

Have you tried "nl.pool.ntp.org"?

Thanks @Kyle

i did had pool.ntp.org selected, changed it to nl.pool.ntp.org and rebooted.

if not working,i’ll try to reset entire system.

i doubt it is related to the b version of my ds7604ni-k1/4p and the latest software. I guess even an i-serie would have the same ntp issues.

 

[daveb]

i doubt it is related to the b version of my ds7604ni-k1/4p and the latest software. I guess even an i-serie would have the same ntp issues.

I have the same issue. The only time the NVR sets the time on the cameras is when the cameras first connect to the NVR. After that they drift out of time over a period of days. I know that doesn't help resolve your issue but it may confirm that it isn't the way you have it set up.

My solution to this isn't suitable for everyone. I didn't want to give my cameras Internet access so I ran a second network cable from a Mac that runs a time server to a spare camera port I wasn't using on the back of the NVR. I set up this network connection on the Mac to be on the same network as the cameras (i.e. the one that the NVR uses with the cameras) and then set NTP on the cameras to check the time on the Mac. It works very well but it shouldn't be necessary in my opinion and happened to rely on the fact I had a Mac that is on most of the time running a time server.

 

[mtv]

I have the same issue. The only time the NVR sets the time on the cameras is when the cameras first connect to the NVR. After that they drift out of time over a period of days. I know that doesn't help resolve your issue but it may confirm that it isn't the way you have it set up.

My solution to this isn't suitable for everyone. I didn't want to give my cameras Internet access so I ran a second network cable from a Mac that runs a time server to a spare camera port I wasn't using on the back of the NVR. I set up this network connection on the Mac to be on the same network as the cameras (i.e. the one that the NVR uses with the cameras) and then set NTP on the cameras to check the time on the Mac. It works very well but it shouldn't be necessary in my opinion and happened to rely on the fact I had a Mac that is on most of the time running a time server.

@daveb, thanks for your explanation. I still have 1 port poe free, so might consider the same approach.