Isolate NVRs behind a second router?

And I could build my own car but I'm lazy and prefer someone more knowledgeable to do it for me
I also happen to be familiar with its ease of use for non-technical types.
Yes, of course, you can buy a ready-made unit like that - and if you’ve found the Firewalla solution to be fairly easy to set up and manage, all the better. But there are plenty of such solutions on the market, varying in how easy they are to configure and administer. Some users might prefer OPNsense, OpenWrt, or IPFire, for instance. Personally, I find IPFire easier to manage than OPNsense, for example. But those are just individual preferences.

Theoretically, you could also install Firewalla on your own suitable hardware; after all, Firewalla is open source. :)

I just wanted to prevent @JPmedia from spending money unnecessarily, only to potentially realize later that it doesn't actually help with his NVR issue. After all, simply placing an NVR behind an extra router and/or into a VLAN - without first considering the implications for access from various clients - isn't the right approach. That is precisely why I suggested that @JPmedia should familiarize himself with the subject matter a bit more first.

Edit @JPmedia
Is this about your (or a) Dahua NVR - the one you mentioned in other posts? If so:
1. I find it hard to imagine there would be an admin user that you cannot delete.
2. Depending on the firmware version, a Dahua NVR already has certain basic, built-in firewall functions. For example, you can restrict access to specific IP addresses within the LAN.

Dahua_NVR_Basic_Firewall.jpg

Furthermore, unless you have set up a port forwarding rule for the NVR in your router, or enabled UPnP for it, or are using P2P or some other method for remote access, no one can access the NVR from the internet anyway. Access attempts from the WAN (internet) to your LAN are typically blocked by default, unless you have manually lifted or relaxed that restriction. Consequently, WAN access to the NVR wouldn't be possible - unless the NVR itself initiated an outbound connection to the internet that could then be exploited by someone else.
 
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Yes, of course, you can buy a ready-made unit like that - and if you’ve found the Firewalla solution to be fairly easy to set up and manage, all the better. But there are plenty of such solutions on the market, varying in how easy they are to configure and administer. Some users might prefer OPNsense, OpenWrt, or IPFire, for instance. Personally, I find IPFire easier to manage than OPNsense, for example. But those are just individual preferences.

Theoretically, you could also install Firewalla on your own suitable hardware; after all, Firewalla is open source. :)

I just wanted to prevent @JPmedia from spending money unnecessarily, only to potentially realize later that it doesn't actually help with his NVR issue. After all, simply placing an NVR behind an extra router and/or into a VLAN - without first considering the implications for access from various clients - isn't the right approach. That is precisely why I suggested that @JPmedia should familiarize himself with the subject matter a bit more first.

Edit @JPmedia
Is this about your (or a) Dahua NVR - the one you mentioned in other posts? If so:
1. I find it hard to imagine there would be an admin user that you cannot delete.
2. Depending on the firmware version, a Dahua NVR already has certain basic, built-in firewall functions. For example, you can restrict access to specific IP addresses within the LAN.

View attachment 250265

are using P2Pme other method for remote access.
Current old NVR is using P2P originally set up on initial installation for notifications and remote access. As far as I know, that's the only way to access it remotely. And yes, there are logs which show weird behavior and another user initiating said behavior and then sometimes I check the logs and there are none present, even though there should be from motion detection and other operations.

I don't suppose resetting the NVR might remove the account activity and odd behavior?
 
Yes, of course, you can buy a ready-made unit like that - and if you’ve found the Firewalla solution to be fairly easy to set up and manage, all the better. But there are plenty of such solutions on the market, varying in how easy they are to configure and administer. Some users might prefer OPNsense, OpenWrt, or IPFire, for instance. Personally, I find IPFire easier to manage than OPNsense, for example. But those are just individual preferences.

Theoretically, you could also install Firewalla on your own suitable hardware; after all, Firewalla is open source. :)

I just wanted to prevent @JPmedia from spending money unnecessarily, only to potentially realize later that it doesn't actually help with his NVR issue. After all, simply placing an NVR behind an extra router and/or into a VLAN - without first considering the implications for access from various clients - isn't the right approach. That is precisely why I suggested that @JPmedia should familiarize himself with the subject matter a bit more first.

Edit @JPmedia
Is this about your (or a) Dahua NVR - the one you mentioned in other posts? If so:
1. I find it hard to imagine there would be an admin user that you cannot delete.
2. Depending on the firmware version, a Dahua NVR already has certain basic, built-in firewall functions. For example, you can restrict access to specific IP addresses within the LAN.
As I mentioned, my knowledge on the subject of VLANs, VPNs, Firewalls and network security is non-existent.

Besides the usual P2P connection, how else does one get notifications and access the NVR for viewing remotely? How does anyone else do it with a Dahua NVR?
 
Remote access typically via

  • P2P if NVR FW and SmartPSS/Lite is updated newer than Aug 2024 when the P2P problem existed
  • Via VPN

Both can, depending on settings, work with DMSS for notifications

I use both
 
As I mentioned, my knowledge on the subject of VLANs, VPNs, Firewalls and network security is non-existent.
That’s not a problem, of course, but that is precisely why you should do a bit of research on the subject first, instead of just buying something.

Yes, the P2P connection via DMSS is indeed the standard method for this. Alternatively, there is the option of using a VPN connection.

Regarding P2P, there was a rather serious security vulnerability with Dahua in 2024, which was subsequently patched via a firmware update. If your Dahua NVR is still running firmware from before 2024, it is quite possible that your device is affected by this vulnerability. You would need to look into this matter yourself, though; I am not sure if you have ever posted or asked about this here before - I haven't gone through all 1,500 or so of your previous posts. :)

And yes, there are logs which show weird behavior and another user initiating said behavior and then sometimes I check the logs and there are none present, even though there should be from motion detection and other operations.
What exactly do these logs showing "strange behavior" and a different user look like? The log should allow you to clearly identify when a user logged into the NVR - specifically, whether it was a user from the admin group and which IP address they used to log in.

NVR_Log.png

However, motion detection log entries are found in the alarm log

NVR_Alarm_Log.png

rather than the system log, and the two logs are not really related to each other.

What I also don't understand is you mentioning certain user accounts on the NVR that are supposedly "hidden" and/or cannot be deleted. I don't believe any "malicious hacker" went to the trouble of rewriting your NVR's firmware to effectively completely bypass the account and user management systems.

NVR_Konto.png

Yes, I can certainly understand why you’re worried if strange things are happening with your NVR that you can’t explain; I’d feel the same way. However, I’m not sure if anything odd is actually going on with your NVR or perhaps within your network - it’s just hard to judge that sort of thing remotely.
I don't suppose resetting the NVR might remove the account activity and odd behavior?
If really strange things are going on with your NVR, I would have tried that out a long time ago if I were you - even if it means having to set everything up again from scratch afterwards.

Edit: OK, regarding P2P and 2024 and VPN @bigredfish beat me to the post by a few seconds. :lol:

P.S. I’m heading offline for the day now, too, because here in Germany it’s time for dinner and the end of the workday. :)
 
That’s not a problem, of course, but that is precisely why you should do a bit of research on the subject first, instead of just buying something.

Yes, the P2P connection via DMSS is indeed the standard method for this. Alternatively, there is the option of using a VPN connection.

Regarding P2P, there was a rather serious security vulnerability with Dahua in 2024, which was subsequently patched via a firmware update. If your Dahua NVR is still running firmware from before 2024, it is quite possible that your device is affected by this vulnerability. You would need to look into this matter yourself, though; I am not sure if you have ever posted or asked about this here before - I haven't gone through all 1,500 or so of your previous posts. :)


What exactly do these logs showing "strange behavior" and a different user look like? The log should allow you to clearly identify when a user logged into the NVR - specifically, whether it was a user from the admin group and which IP address they used to log in.

View attachment 250268

However, motion detection log entries are found in the alarm log

View attachment 250269

rather than the system log, and the two logs are not really related to each other.

What I also don't understand is you mentioning certain user accounts on the NVR that are supposedly "hidden" and/or cannot be deleted. I don't believe any "malicious hacker" went to the trouble of rewriting your NVR's firmware to effectively completely bypass the account and user management systems.

View attachment 250270

Yes, I can certainly understand why you’re worried if strange things are happening with your NVR that you can’t explain; I’d feel the same way. However, I’m not sure if anything odd is actually going on with your NVR or perhaps within your network - it’s just hard to judge that sort of thing remotely.

If really strange things are going on with your NVR, I would have tried that out a long time ago if I were you - even if it means having to set everything up again from scratch afterwards.

Edit: OK, regarding P2P and 2024 and VPN @bigredfish beat me to the post by a few seconds. :lol:

P.S. I’m heading offline for the day now, too, because here in Germany it’s time for dinner and the end of the workday. :)



FYI- We've actually been over some of this before

 
FYI- We've actually been over some of this before

Yes we have, and I've changed passwords on the NVR, laptop and cameras and the issue still persists. I had to take the Southside camera down to reset it physically with the reset button because I could not access it through the web page. It kept saying incorrect password.

I reset it, reinstalled it and later that evening, the camera showed signs of tampering again. Someone or something set the exposure so you could only see the lights dimly. No amount of setting changes would make the image brighter.

I'm frustrated at this point. It shouldn't be this difficult to have a functional camera system
 
Two routers are not sufficient, the NVR/camera may be able to get out to the internet ( happened to me before using vlans).

My setup:
1 router with 2 vlans.
1 vlan for NVR
1 vlan for other devices
The NVR vlan doesn't have internet access.
I have one device that is on both vlans, a Raspberry pi, that I trust, it's also the VPN server.
So if I'm out of home I can connect to the RPI and then reach the NVR.