DS-2CD2543G20-IWS won’t stay online via WiFi on DS-7616NXI-K2 NVR

[aristos87]

Hi all,


I have a DS-7616NXI-K2 NVR (latest firmware) connected with several cameras via PoE, all working perfectly and accessible through iVMS-4200 and the mobile app. So far, so good.

Recently, I added a DS-2CD2543G20-IWS ultra wide dome camera (-IWS for WiFi) for a location where there’s no Ethernet available.
The idea was to power it via 12V and connect it wirelessly through a nearby WiFi access point to integrate it into the existing system.

Here’s what I did:

• Initially connected the camera via Ethernet to the PoE switch for setup
• Configured it to connect to the WiFi access point — connection successful
• Updated the camera to the latest firmware
• In iVMS-4200, I now see two entries for the camera — one with the Ethernet IP and one with the WiFi IP (both manually configured)
• In the NVR’s Device Management, I added the camera manually using the WiFi IP

However, once I disconnect the Ethernet and power it only via 12V, the camera goes offline.
No matter what I try, I can’t get it to come online again via WiFi. I’ve even done a full reset and reconfigured everything from scratch... same result.

I’m running out of ideas. Has anyone experienced something similar or can point out what I might be missing?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[aristos87]

Update / Solution:


After a lot of testing, I finally got my Hikvision DS-2CD2543G2-IWS Wi-Fi camera working reliably with my DS-7616NXI-K2 NVR and a FritzBox router.


Everything looked correct — the camera connected to Wi-Fi and showed as “connected” in the FritzBox, but it went offline in the NVR as soon as I unplugged Ethernet.


Here’s what fixed it:

• Static IP for Wi-Fi interface (outside FritzBox DHCP range):
  

  IP: 192.168.178.210
  Mask: 255.255.255.0
  Gateway: 192.168.178.1
  DNS: 8.8.8.8

  
  
• Dummy settings for LAN interface (so the camera stops routing via Ethernet):
  

  IP: 169.254.1.10
  Mask: 255.0.0.0
  Gateway: 0.0.0.0

  
  
• FritzBox Wi-Fi settings:
  – 2.4 GHz band set to Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n)
  – Band steering (“WLAN-Geräte automatisch zwischen den Frequenzbändern steuern”) disabled
  – “Active WLAN devices may communicate with each other” enabled
  – Camera IP reserved with “Diesem Gerät immer die gleiche IPv4-Adresse zuweisen”
  
  
• Reboot order:
  Restart FritzBox first → then the camera (powered only via 12 V, no Ethernet data cable)
  
  
• Wait about 60 seconds — camera comes online via Wi-Fi, replies to ping, and shows as Online in the NVR.

Root cause:
Hikvision Wi-Fi cameras keep routing through Ethernet if that interface has a valid gateway.
By giving the LAN interface a dummy IP and proper WLAN configuration, the camera switches routing to Wi-Fi permanently.
FritzBox’s Wi-Fi 6 and band-steering features also confuse the 2.4 GHz-only camera.


Result:
Stable connection, fixed IP, and the camera now stays online even after power cuts or restarts.


Hope this helps someone avoid a few hours (or days) of head-scratching