Did you see "The network is unreachable" message in your Hikvision NVR?
No worries, I've been there and I will share the solution to this problem.
To solve the "The network is unreachable" issue in the Hikvision NVR, just check all the network cables, connections to the switch or router and the IP configuration. Most of the time you can solve this problem by just connecting the cables correctly.
There's a video by the end of this article to help you to understand the details.
Let's dive into this...
What causes the network is unreachable message
The NVR needs to communicate with the IP camera via the network.
You may see this error message when something is not correct such as power, bad UTP (network) cable, wrong IP address, wrong IP range, VLANs in the switch, etc.
The best approach to solve this problem is to understand the network topology and then investigate what could be causing these communication issues.
Check the network topology before proceeding
Here's an example of a camera connected directly to a Hikvision NVR.
In this case, the camera is powered by the NVR's PoE port.
This topology is very simple and "the network is unreachable" message usually doesn't show up unless there's something wrong with the power or IP address.
How to troubleshoot cameras connected to the NVR
If you have your NVR connected this way and still see the error message, please make sure to check the following:
- Is the camera powered?
- Is the UTP (network) cable good?
- Is the camera connected to the correct port?
- Is the camera set to use DHCP?
- Is the NVR internal NIC IP range correct?
Hikvision NVRs use a different IP range for the LAN and PoE ports.
Make sure to check that information in the NVR's network menu.
The idea is to let the NVR give the IP address to the camera via DHCP protocol.
How to troubleshoot cameras connected to a switch
OK, now the situation is different.
The camera and NVR are connected to the same switch.
In this case, the connection is done to the LAN port of the NVR.
This scenario is more susceptible to having issues related to the network connection.
Here's are some things to check in this situation:
- Is the UTP (network) cable good?
- Is the PoE switch supplying enough power to the camera?
- Is the camera IP address and subnet mask correct?
- Is the switch using different VLANs?
Have you noticed I have some of the things you may check in red?
Yes, most of the time the error message is related to an incorrect IP address.
Please make sure the NVR and camera are part of the same network range.
And that's it. Most of the time, the problem is related to a misconfiguration.
Video: Hikvision NVR - The Network is unreachable
Here's a quick video on how to troubleshoot the problem.
Hit the play button and enjoy (YouTube Video).
