1. OCAU Merchandise is available! Check out our 20th Anniversary Mugs, Classic Logo Shirts and much more! Discussion in this thread.
    Dismiss Notice

Phantom camera device on network

Discussion in 'Networking, Telephony & Internet' started by digamma, Jun 26, 2024.

  1. digamma

    digamma Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2002
    Messages:
    2,799
    Location:
    The Sticks, Toowoomba
    I've got a phantom device on the network, and I know it is a camera. I do have IP cameras on the network, except I can account for them all. I can view them by individual IP, through the web browser app for the NVR and also locally on the NVR. I can see the IP addresses I have set for them (NVR is .70, the cameras are .71 - .80) and they are responding on those IPs. This one shows up as .149, just at the edge of the static IP range. I've got dynamic IPs from .150 - .254.

    And this is the problem. I don't have an extra camera I can locate. I can log in to this camera device using the set username and password that all the cameras and NVR have, but it shows no video image. I'm using an RPi running pihole which also doubles as the DHCP server, and it doesn't show .149 up in the IP logs at all. Running wireshark doesn't show .149 making any requests or other traffic on the network. It shows up in the router (Asus) in the client list. It isn't a wifi device as they are all allocated dynamic IPs.

    I'm honestly at my wits end with this. I can't think of anything else it could be, and I haven't added any new devices to the network lately.
     
  2. JSmithDTV

    JSmithDTV Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2018
    Messages:
    12,906
    Location:
    Algol, Perseus
    Hmm... does .149 have a MAC address when looking at the ARP table?



    JSmith
     
  3. looktall

    looktall Working Class Doughnut

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2001
    Messages:
    27,686
    I've seen some cameras that still pull an IP from dhcp even when you statically assign one.

    Edit: unplug your cameras one at a time until you find the mystery one.
     
    Nobby6 likes this.
  4. JSmithDTV

    JSmithDTV Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2018
    Messages:
    12,906
    Location:
    Algol, Perseus
    Wouldn't that be in the DHCP client list then?



    JSmith
     
  5. looktall

    looktall Working Class Doughnut

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2001
    Messages:
    27,686
    Yeah normally.
    It could be a default IP of the camera.

    Camera manufacturers tend to have this aversion to following standards.
     
  6. OP
    OP
    digamma

    digamma Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2002
    Messages:
    2,799
    Location:
    The Sticks, Toowoomba
    Yep, and it's different from the other 9 cameras (which are all different from each other. As it should be :) )

    Sorry, should have mentioned I tried that. I just flipped the switch to the POE injector PSU. The expected cameras go away, but .149 is still responding.

    That's what's odd. All the other static devices show in the pihole dhcp list, but not .149.
     
  7. OP
    OP
    digamma

    digamma Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2002
    Messages:
    2,799
    Location:
    The Sticks, Toowoomba
    Well, this is a little embarrassing. It seems that the only camera that has wifi somehow has switched it back on after years of having it off. I unplugged it a couple of weeks ago to remove some old cabling and when it came back online, it had wired and wifi enabled. Beats me how. It was the only camera that isn't POE and uses a usb plug pack. When I turned all the other cameras' POE off and it was still there, I checked the serial number it uses to register and it was the same as the one for .149. Problem solved. Turns out to not be Chinese agents or aliens from Mars spying on me. Still can't work out why it doesn't show up in the dhcp list on the pihole, or in the wifi list in the Cloudkey, but does in the router device list.

    Anyway, crisis averted, thanks for playing!
     
  8. JSmithDTV

    JSmithDTV Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2018
    Messages:
    12,906
    Location:
    Algol, Perseus
    So it's still a legit MAC for that brand and model of cameras?
    Quite a mystery here, but at least you know from Wireshark that there is no network traffic associated with it.
    Ah... good to hear. :)



    JSmith
     
  9. looktall

    looktall Working Class Doughnut

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2001
    Messages:
    27,686
    Sometimes cameras do what cameras want.
     

Share This Page

Advertisement: