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Hello - I am looking for advice on the XR 1000 router in connection with Blink Security Cameras. Under Device Manager - Network Map, I have discovered the 4 cameras and corrected the type of equipment from computer to security camera.
Happy to advise this forum & those who opined on the issue we were encountering with the Blink cameras. After 2 hours on phone with NetGear tech support & 2 hours on phone with Blink tech support, the problem was the Blink Sync Monitor. Defective & once replaced, issue was resolved.
Many thanks - Happy Canada Day to the canucks July 1 & Fourth of July to USA residents.
I've been using Blink cameras since they first came out, Hopefully I can both answer you and give you some general advice/ideas if your new to them...
First off, the short answer to your question is that is all you have to do to have them work, though I have found you get more reliable connectivity (like the time it takes for the Sync Modules to re-connect after an internet outage) if you assign your blink modules fixed IP addresses. Oh, and in the pull-down menu I set both cameras AND the sync modules themselves as "Security Cameras".
Now, for some more info on a blink setup... In our example we're on a Horse ranch with a couple of hundred total acres, though most is wooded or fields and creeks running through it. The road we live on is in fact named after our ranch and even though it's technically a county road it's really our private driveway that runs in fromt the side to our place which sits along a large creek and we own eveything for about 3/4 mile down stream and 2 miles upstream and 1 mile in the other directions. The road dead ends at our stables after passing by our two houses, a large work shop, a large equipment shed for the tractors, etc. some other smaller storage buildings, and then ends in a circle drive in front of the main stables. We have two Nighthawk Routers; the XR1000v2 is the main in the main house, an RAX54v2 set in Wireless Access Point mode in the second house, and two older Wireless Access Points, one in our Stables and one in a our large shop. All of them are hardwired back to the main router.
We often do open to the public trail rides on both horseback and on ATV, SxS, UTV and Jeeps with almost 20 miles of trails on our land up in the woods. So a lot of people know about our place and the woods. And once or twice over the years we have a couple of unscrupulous people try to use our own trails through the woods to try and sneak up from the backside on an ATV or UTVs when we was known to be away. Our shop alone contains about every kind of tool you can think of and tools make easy targets for meth heads to steal and try to pawn.
So to combat this we have three Blink Sync Modules and a total of 27 Cameras; 10 outside connected to what I named "Sync Module 1", and 5 inside the house and 1 each inside the stable and the main work shed connected to what I named "Sync Module 2", and 10 around the outside of our stables and large shop area and equipment sheds connected to what I named "Sync Module 3" in the router settings when I gave the sync modules fixed IP Addresses in the router "LAN Setup" page via their MAC address. In my phones Blink App the the three Sync Modules are simply named "Outdoor", "Indoor", and "Shop/Stables". I leave the Outdoor ones on all the time, have the Shop/Stables set with the timer in the app to come on of the evening and turn off in the morning, but only turn the Indoor ones on when we're going to be away from the house for extended periods. And honestly you can't get close to anywhere on the property without tripping at least a couple of the Outdoor ones anyway.
They are setup in a ring around the ranch with each ones view overlapping the view of the next one, of not two others.... IE. someone can't try to sneak up from the side out of the view of a camera and spray the lens with black paint or hit it with a bat or something because you can't get close to any of them without being seen by several of them long before you get close enough. That was a mistake a neighbor made, he thought just one on his gate at the road would be enough thinking anyone would have to come through the gate to get in. But someone just stayed close to the fence until they was near the camera on his gate and then sprayed the lenses with black paint, signaled their buddy who was waiting down the road with a UTV, came into his property, broke in his garage, and stole a UTV bed full of tools and gear. Anyway, I also have a couple of extras aimed at things like the mailbox and one inside a smaller work shed up aimed down at the only door. So if your new to cameras keep that in mind, if you set one up where there is a way for someone to skulk against a wall or fence and get up beside it without being seen, crooks like to carry a can of black paint and will try that and then spray the lens from the side.
The little Cameras themselves it's harder to assign a fixed IP too because while they are connected to the WIFI they seem controled more through the Sync modules most of the time rather than the WIFI. The WIFI does see them. The Sync Modules themselves act as little mini-controllers for the cameras assigned to them and control the cameras, even though the cameras are also connected direct to the WIFI. All the cameras do show up in the "Device Manager" tab looking at the Network Map but yet show as Offline most of the time even though they are all working. The only time a camera itself will show as Online is when your actually using your phone and watching it "Live". They all have obscure names so if you want to give them names in Device manager that is the only way to do it, sit at your computer with the DumaOS loaded on the Device Manager/Network Map page and load your Blink App, go one by one hitting the > (Play) button and watch which one momentarily moves from Offline to Online. Then you can give it a Unique name and if your fast enough maybe assign a static IP though I never bothered with the static IP part on ours.
This seems to be normal behavior for them. As far as setup, as I said I just assigned Fixed IP addresses to each Sync Module and then set all the Sync Modules and all the Cameras as "Security Camera" on that page and hit Apply. If your new to Blink cameras and using batteries (as opposed to running a wire) keep in mind when they say to only use Lithium Ion batteries (we've found the best to be Energizer Ultimate Lithium) they are serious. A friend has some and had a couple of cameras in need of a new battery's one time, didn't have lithium, so just stuck in regular AA batteries, they worked for a couple more weeks then both cameras went DOA and have never worked again since and he had to replace them, all his other cameras he put lithium in was still fine. Some of ours are still first Gen Blink cameras and still work great.
The problem is that the Blink cameras do not work consistently. Online sometimes & then offline. We were away for 43 days and could observe from cameras situated in Atlantic Canada from SW USA. Get back home & they never stay online consistently.
Thanks for this - I now have all the devices named by location and located the Sync Manager. My devices table has many entries. To be truthful, there are two Iphones, two Ipads, 4 Fire Sticks, an ADT alarm system with one camera, 3 Smart Home Devices for lights. There was an option to remove offline devices. If deployed, will another device (say laptop) using WIFI that has been off for a week be added to list. Again many thanks.
Ours have always been consistant and remained online reliably. Not sure what would cause yours to be inconsistant but might try assigning fixed IP addresses, certainly to your Sync Modules, and to individual cameras if you want to take the time to do it. Might also try moving your Sync Module or Modules to make sure they always have good connections to each camera and that Sync Modules and Cameras all have good WIFI signal. I helped a buddy diagnose some issues with some of his going on and offline randomly (maybe that's what you mean by them being inconsistant) and it was that one of his Sync modules ended up just needing to be relocated to the next room which was only a move of about 7 feet if you could have measured it straight line, yet was on the other side of a wall which made all the difference connecting reliably to the cameras at one end of his house and a few that was outdoors at that end of the house) and one of his cameras had to be moved to a new location where he got more consistant green bars on signal strength.
If the devices that are offline are your devices then don't delete them. I have fixed IP addresses assigned to things like a laptop which I really only use when traveling, a Fire TV Stick 4K that I also only use when traveling, and a GPS that stays in my Jeep, oh and the Alpine stereo in the Jeep itself. I have them assigned fixed IP addresses so I know what they are and can name them for those times when I do bring them inside for an update prior to a trip, occasionally checking for an update for the GPS, and even updating the firmware/software in the Jeeps stereo sitting in the garage. Everything here has a fixed IP address and a name, even friends and relatives phones who visit often. So the only things that ever show up as "unknown device" is when I have some random person visit who doesn't visit often enough to merit assigning a fixed IP address for their phone, those I will occasionally delete. If I go to the Device Manager tab some evening and see something that says unknown device, and I don't have any visitors and no one has visited since I last deleted the unknown ones, then I know something unauthorized might be connecting.
Also - the device manager was cleaned up so that now I know every device. Not a lot of them - 21 in total using WIFI, with more than half turned off & not using WIFI. This AM, all four cameras were functional. 6 hours later, all showing as offline.
I operate will 100 MB download cable internet which has upload of 11 MB. Cable modem checked out OK.
For your Sync Modules just find them and enter their MAC address like adding anything. For Cameras if you want to give them unique names, you have to go to the Device Manager screen and they will all show offline, but if you then go on your phone and hit PLAY on one of them to watch a "Live View", you will notice that one camera will move to the Online side (and only as long as your watching the live view) and that is your opportunity to click on it, give it a unique name, and copy the MAC address and go back to the Settings > LAN and add it to the fixed IP address table. What I do is in the Device Manager view I just click on the MAC address, pull it over to highlight it, select copy, then go to the Settings / LAN Setup and choose ADD and paste the MAC address. If your adding brand new cameras the MAC address is actually printed in the back of the camera and you can just take a pic with your phone or enter it as your setting up the camera but in my case the cameras are all already mounted and it was the XR1000 router that was new so I had to do it that way. Took me maybe 15 minutes to do 27 cameras. And when your done be sure to go to advanced settings > administration > Backup Settings and save yourself a copy of your routers settings.
That's strange they'd just go offline unless your Sync Modules and/or cameras are not getting good connections to each other and to the WIFI with the only other thought being if something else nearby is transmitting on the same frequency and knocking them offline.
Thanks. We do have neighbour who has Blink cameras. We were away for 43 days to SW USA and could check the cameras & clips using 5G mobile phones. Arrive home to Atlantic Canada - they appear on 5G phones early in AM, then go offline within 1-2 hours.
Happy to advise this forum & those who opined on the issue we were encountering with the Blink cameras. After 2 hours on phone with NetGear tech support & 2 hours on phone with Blink tech support, the problem was the Blink Sync Monitor. Defective & once replaced, issue was resolved.
Many thanks - Happy Canada Day to the canucks July 1 & Fourth of July to USA residents.
