AV IP Utility / Costar Utility cannot discover a camera

Issue:

Cameras are not being discovered by AV IP Utility or Costar Utility.

Prerequisite: 

Verify physical connections and power requirements for the specific camera.

• • Refer to the datasheet of the product regarding PoE / Auxiliary power requirements.
  • Ethernet runs should be no longer than 100 meters using either EIA/TIA 568A or 568B standards.
  • Use a PoE injector to bypass any potential network issues.
  • Verify the NIC on the camera and switch are lit.
    • Test or replace the cable as needed.
    • Bypass the Ethernet pigtail on the camera.
    • Move the camera to a different port on the switch.
    • If these are managed switches, verify PoE is enabled and that there are no security policies in place that would prohibit the camera from coming online.
    • For Contera cameras, try to press and hold the physical reset button for 10 -15 seconds.

Resolution:

1. Install AV IP Utility or Costar Utility on the PC: https://sales.arecontvision.com/software.php
2. Set your Ethernet adapter to DHCP.
   • Both tools find cameras regardless of what network scheme the cameras are on.
3. For AV IP Utility, verify the Ethernet adapter is enabled.
   • Discovery > Select Network Interfaces > Select the local Ethernet interface > Click Refresh Camera list > Click OK.
4. If neither tool is able to discover the camera they will look like the below.
   
   
   
   
5. In these instances, we need to install Wireshark (https://www.wireshark.org/#download) as there may be something blocking camera discovery.
6. Install Wireshark accepting all the defaults.
7. Launch Wireshark then double click on the Ethernet interface.
   
   
   
   
8. Power cycle the camera and let it boot up. After a minute or two, stop the capture.
   
   
   
   
9. In the filter field, type arp then click Enter.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. You should see an ARP entry similar to the one below. The camera IP in the below example is 169.254.127.7 and the last 6 digits of the MAC address on the second line are 1B-25-8A.
    
    
    
    
11. If you open a webpage to 169.254.127.7 you should be able to configure the camera.
12. If the camera is found using this method, you will need to reach out to local IT to identify if there is something on the PC or network that is blocking the camera discovery.