Exclusions to our Support:
A list of things that we, unfortunately, won't be able to help you with:
1. In order to view your cameras remotely, you will have to forward a few ports in your router settings. Normally, we will help you do this over the phone or with a screen-sharing applicaiton. However, 1-2% of ISP in the US won't allow these settings to take effect until you call their support. If you are in that 1-2% group, we can't call your ISP for you - they require you to be on the line to authorize the change. Mifi Hot Spots may not have this ability at all. If you are planning on getting a cellular network to transmit your surveillance footage, you should check that you can open ports before you sign a Mifi contract. There's no way to watch your surveillance footage off-site, if you cannot open ports.
2. Outside brand cameras cannot be connected to the back of our NVRs. The POE ports on the back of our NVRs, do not just provide power, they also pass all the settings for the cameras to the NVR's menu, and assign the IP address to the camera itself while putting it on its own subnet (this means that the cameras will not slow down your network or internet). We would love it if ONVIF supported our Plug-and-Play connections, sadly, they do not at this time. Perhaps they will in a future version, but as of now the only way to plug a camera into the back of our NVR and have it auto-configure the camera for you, is to use our cameras. You will have to plug an ONVIF camera into your router or switch and assign the IP address yourself. We cannot help with assigning an IP address to an ONVIF camera, as that can only be done in person and requires comprehensive knowledge about how your network is configured that we do not have.
3. Our NVRs and IP cameras should work with any other outside brand that is ONVIF compliant. All our IP product are 100% ONVIF compatible with version 2.4 of Profile S for IP security cameras. We are as compatible as you can get. Cameras models made by Honeywell, Panasonic, Dynacolor, Sony, Samsung, Pelco, Bosch, Axis, HikVision, and Arecont Vision can be ONVIF compatible. Sadly, we cannot provide phone, email, or chat support for camera models from other companies. ONVIF has several versions (2.4 is the latest) and certain features are only available on certain version of ONVIF. ONVIF is also self-signed, which means that no one is checking on the claims made the manufacturer, so someone could claim ONVIF support and then not deliver. Several name brand manufacturers that once worked in ONVIF mode have accidentally and completely broken ONVIF support when they updated their firmware. Some cheaper manufacturers claim ONVIF support, but we have never been able to find ONVIF settings in their camera menu systems. We cannot control or know what another company may do. We can tell you how a ONVIF camera should be connected to our NVRs and how to set our NVRs to accept the ONVIF protocol. We cannot guarantee that your model will work both now and in all future versions of their firmware. We cannot troubleshoot anyone else's devices. We will happily show you how to connect it with ONVIF settings, but the only way to guarantee compatibility, to use the integrated POE ports on the back of our NVRs, and to have support on your cameras is to use the ones we provide.
4. Our web interface does not have ads. If you see ads when you go to log into your camera system, you have a virus or spyware. For your own security, we strongly recommend that you take care of that issue before you/we log into your router to change your port forwarding settings or log into your security system via that computer. Spyware can capture the keys you type into your computer and send someone else your passwords. This is an urgent problem that should be taken care of immediately.
5. Viewing your SCW systems remotely requires an addressable IP address, which means that you usually need a wired Cable or DSL connection. Satellite or Cellular data packages may not work without an addressable IP and the ability to open ports.
