Kestrel Viewer App CCTV problems- cannot view - Wifi IP range conflicts?

Clutterfree

Hi,
A few months ago we installed CCTV to our property.
We could view the cameras remotely via our mobiles and tablets.
Yesterday the login appeared frozen on my iPad but I was still able to view on my iPhone.
Then last night we had a “connect fail” message when we attempted to log in using a Samsung Galaxy tablet and Samsung mobile. However, I could still view using my iPhone.
This morning I cannot log in on my iPhone either. I press “log in” and I just get the timer scrolling and eventually it says “cannot connect to server.”
We are at home so I’ve tried viewing both on our usual wifi connection and via 4G.
Does anyone else use this system? 

I don’t know how I can check if it is a Kestrel server problem their end or a problem our end and we need to reinstall the app. 

Their app has not been updated for 3 years! 

The CCTV uses Kestrel turret cameras and an OYN-X 8 Chn 4K POE NVR.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Neil_Jones

The bulk of these cheaper NVR systems you can usually view the live camera streams with something like VLC, and the app is only used for fast forward/rewind or anything more advanced than "live".

Its unlikely to be a "Kestrel server" problem as the bulk of those systems run locally at home rather than anything linked to the provider.

If its not working at home either and its all on the same network then reboot your box in the first instance.

Clutterfree

Neil_Jones said:

The bulk of these cheaper NVR systems you can usually view the live camera streams with something like VLC, and the app is only used for fast forward/rewind or anything more advanced than "live".

Its unlikely to be a "Kestrel server" problem as the bulk of those systems run locally at home rather than anything linked to the provider.

If its not working at home either and its all on the same network then reboot your box in the first instance.

Thanks for your reply.
I switched off the NVR and the Modem/Router at the same time but still no joy.
I think the problem is with it picking up our wifi.

On the wifi menu it shows:
Status: “Device does not exist” and
“wifi ip range conflicts with wired ip range.”
IP address shows as all zeros?

On the 3G/4G menu is shows:
P2P
Status: “connection failed: connect to the server failed

I’ll see if I can attach photo’s.
We haven’t altered anything, it just stopped working on our apps last night. It is still recording on the hard drive though.

Deleted second screenshot.

[Deleted User]

Is the PVR connected via ethernet to your router?

If so, on the Connectivity menu, what does it say under LAN?

The screenshot of Wifi suggests the NVR hasn't got wifi or the adapter has failed. Also the link to the model / spec you have provided suggests it is Ethernet (LAN) only so what you are seeing on the Wifi tab is expected.

Please share a screenshot of LAN tab.

EDIT: Just seen the insecure URL http://www.kestrelp2p.com on the second screenshot 

Clutterfree

[Deleted User] said:

Is the PVR connected via ethernet to your router?

If so, on the Connectivity menu, what does it say under LAN?

The screenshot of Wifi suggests the NVR hasn't got wifi or the adapter has failed. Also the link to the model / spec you have provided suggests it is Ethernet (LAN) only so what you are seeing on the Wifi tab is expected.

Please share a screenshot of LAN tab.

EDIT: Just seen the insecure URL http://www.kestrelp2p.com on the second screenshot 

I didn’t screenshot the LAN because I didn’t know if the IP address etc is safe to share.
Sorry, I’m not very technical.
Should I remove the second screenshot? 

johnpac

Hi, the Kestrel Viewer CCTV app has also stopped working in my iPhone 11 (IOS 16.5) about 2 days ago. The app loads the login splash screen, but you can’t click on ANY of the buttons or fields (email address, password, login, register, local login etc). It’s almost like the login screen is just a picture. Tried to close the app, reboot the iPhone. All other apps on the iPhone are fine. Not sure how long my iPhone has been on IOS 16.5 (or if it recently upgraded its self over night). As the app is unresponsive it’s got to be an App/iPhone issue. At this stage I’m looking fully uninstall it next and see if reinstalling it allows it to work. Upstate to follow.

[Deleted User]

Clutterfree said:

[Deleted User] said:

Is the PVR connected via ethernet to your router?

If so, on the Connectivity menu, what does it say under LAN?

The screenshot of Wifi suggests the NVR hasn't got wifi or the adapter has failed. Also the link to the model / spec you have provided suggests it is Ethernet (LAN) only so what you are seeing on the Wifi tab is expected.

Please share a screenshot of LAN tab.

EDIT: Just seen the insecure URL http://www.kestrelp2p.com on the second screenshot 

I didn’t screenshot the LAN because I didn’t know if the IP address etc is safe to share.
Sorry, I’m not very technical.
Should I remove the second screenshot? 

Ok, so your NVR will be connected to your network / internet by one of those 3 options, given you said your LAN tab had an IP address on it then I'd suggest that it looks connected but without seeing that screen hard to say.

LAN IP addresses are ok to share, so if it begins with 192, 172 or 10 then don't worry about sharing it, just don't share your public IP address.

Also, no need to remove second screenshot, it was more a comment about the company that makes the NVR, very poor for them to provide a login screen on an insecure HTTP connection, like 10 years behind the rest of the world and means your password is sent unencrypted over the internet and you have no trust factor on the domain. Personally wouldn't use that device for my personal CCTV, doesn't bode well for their security. Often people on here refuse to use cloud based video storage like Ring but I'd trust them more than Kestrel from what I've seen above.

Anyway, for diagnosing now, need that LAN screenshot to see if the NVR is connected to your network and the internet as the first step.

As for connecting - the P2P screen appears that it cannot connect to the Kestrel servers, could be all sorts of reason, I imagine they use a relay server to establish the P2P and it appears that isn't working. That website is actually up when I try it - have you tried logging in via the website just to eliminate a stage in the connectivity? http://www.kestrelp2p.com/ - use the "by device" tab and the cloud ID.

johnpac

Update…
Deleted the Kestrel Viewer app in full of my iPhone 11 (iOS 16.5), Rebooted iPhone, reinstalled the app. Still the same issue. The splash screen loads for Username/Password etc, but NON of the field values are clickable. 

To further test I’ve installed the app on an old IPhone 6 (IOS 12.5.7) and it seems to work fine, in that once the app splash screen has loaded ALL the field values to enter UN/PW, local login, settings work fine. I just need to remember my cloud logins for the app to see if I can get it fully working.

For me, something must have changed on my IPhone 11 (IOS 16.5) in the last few days for the app interface to stop working. I’m guessing Apple security update or similar.

If you have the same issue as me stop fault finding on your NVR, try the app on an older device, or roll back your Samsung operating system if it allows it?. I know I cant as easily do that on iPhone.

johnpac

I’ve the same NVR. 

There is a WI-FI tab in settings as per photo further up the thread, but it’s not got an inbuilt Wi-Fi antenna (stupid I know). To use the Wi-Fi feature you need to plug in a generic USB WI-FI adapter into one of the 2x usb ports on the NVR.
So network connectivity options are either hard wire it via Ethernet cable, or use same Ethernet cable into a wireless access point. I’ve a old sky Wi-Fi access point being used for this purpose.

[Deleted User]

So although I don't have Kestrel CCTV I had a play with that app, and managed to see both issues reported by the people above, the interface froze, can't click anything, but a hard close of the app cleared that so don't think it is anything other than a poorly written app (not updated since 2019) and just freezes when it can't play with the server. (using iOS 16.5 / iPhone 13)

When the interface was usable, I tried any username and password and just got the same as the OP - connect fail.

So I captured the network traffic on my firewall to see what was happening - Long story short - it is a problem at their end the P2P server is not responding:

Full details below:

1. The app does a DNS lookup for the domain api.hawkp2p.com - screenshot captured from PiHole DNS resolver:



2. This successfully returns the IP address 54.36.165.181



3. Did a network packet capture on my Firewall for my iPhone - the list shows 12 entries of packets over 15 seconds - the app is sending data to that IP address but just keeps retrying every second or so - highlighted in red is because it didn't get a response on the TCP connection attempt - see highlighted with a red circle for that bit.



4. Simple ping confirms the server is not responding:



EDIT: Step 3 wasn't wholly necessary but I was trying to prove a point by showing the password being sent in plain text on the internet but unfortunately it didn't even manage to establish a connection to transmit the password.

Clutterfree

[Deleted User] said:

So although I don't have Kestrel CCTV I had a play with that app, and managed to see both issues reported by the people above, the interface froze, can't click anything, but a hard close of the app cleared that so don't think it is anything other than a poorly written app (not updated since 2019) and just freezes when it can't play with the server. (using iOS 16.5 / iPhone 13)

When the interface was usable, I tried any username and password and just got the same as the OP - connect fail.

So I captured the network traffic on my firewall to see what was happening - Long story short - it is a problem at their end the P2P server is not responding:

Full details below:

1. The app does a DNS lookup for the domain api.hawkp2p.com - screenshot captured from PiHole DNS resolver:



2. This successfully returns the IP address 54.36.165.181



3. Did a network packet capture on my Firewall for my iPhone - the list shows 12 entries of packets over 15 seconds - the app is sending data to that IP address but just keeps retrying every second or so - highlighted in red is because it didn't get a response on the TCP connection attempt - see highlighted with a red circle for that bit.



4. Simple ping confirms the server is not responding:



EDIT: Step 3 wasn't wholly necessary but I was trying to prove a point by showing the password being sent in plain text on the internet but unfortunately it didn't even manage to establish a connection to transmit the password.

Thank you for all your help. You really have gone above and beyond.
Hopefully they’ll get it fixed/updated after the weekend so I’ll just have to sit tight until then.