Port Forwarding

Port forwarding is a configuration setting in your router that is essential to making your security DVR or NVR accessible from online using either your computer or mobile device. Depending on the manufacturer of your surveillance video recorder, it will use specific ports for web login, data communication, and video streaming to serve up the camera feed.

Mostly, there are two cases for setting up port forwarding.

Note: In both cases, you will need to get the modem’s admin username and password from the internet technician or the ISP-assigned operator.

Case 1 - If There is Only One DVR/NVR:

1. Collect the necessary details, such as the DVR/NVR brand, admin username, and password.
2. If you don’t know the DVR’s IP address, use any network scanning software, such as Advanced IP Scanner, or the DVR brand’s network scanning tools to find the DVR’s IP.
3. Ensure that the DVR/NVR IP address is set to static mode in the network settings (not DHCP mode).
4. Log in to the internet modem.
5. Locate the DMZ option under the NAT profile. If it’s not there, check the Security or Firewall settings.
6. Enable the DMZ option (if available) and add the DVR/NVR IP address in the IP address field. Save the settings.
7. To verify the setup, use an online port checker tool to confirm that the ports for the DVR/NVR are open.

Case 2 - If There Are Multiple DVRs/NVRs:

1. Follow the first three steps as outlined in Case 1. In the case of multiple DVRs/NVRs, note down the IP addresses for all DVRs/NVRs.
2. Log in to the modem.
3. Locate the Port Forwarding option under the NAT profile. If it’s not there, check the Security or Firewall settings.
4. Enable the Port Forwarding option (if available). You will typically see a table asking for external IP/port and internal IP/port. In some modems, the internal IP and port might be labelled as local IP and local port.
5. External IP and port refer to the public IP address and the port numbers used to access the DVR from outside the local network. Internal IP and port refer to the local DVR IP and port numbers.
6. Assign different external ports for each DVR/NVR to avoid clashes when accessing the devices remotely. Use the same DVR/NVR IP and port in the internal/local settings.

For DVR 1:

• Assign HTTP Port: External Port = 80, Internal Port = 80, Internal IP = 192.168.X.X
• Assign RTSP Port: External Port = 554, Internal Port = 554, Internal IP = 192.168.X.X
• Assign Server/TCP Port: External Port = 8000, Internal Port = 8000, Internal IP = 192.168.X.X

For DVR 2:

• Assign HTTP Port: External Port = 81, Internal Port = 80, Internal IP = 192.168.Y.Y
• Assign RTSP Port: External Port = 555, Internal Port = 554, Internal IP = 192.168.Y.Y
• Assign Server/TCP Port: External Port = 8001, Internal Port = 8000, Internal IP = 192.168.Y.Y

By following this method, you can configure port forwarding without changing the default internal ports on the DVR/NVRs. Each DVR can then be accessed using the WAN IP address and its assigned external port.

7. Make sure that the required ports are open for your IP address. Some internet service providers (ISPs) open all ports by default, while others may require you to contact them to request specific ports to be opened. In some cases, ISPs may limit you to only three ports per connection, and in other instances, you may need to purchase a static IP.