1. Hardware & Installation

Q1.1: How to reset the NVR to factory settings?

Note: The reset operation is critical. Please strictly follow the steps to avoid reset failure.

1. Turn off the power

2. Press and hold the reset button and power on the device, you will hear a short "beep" at the same time

3. After about 5 seconds, you will hear a "beep" that lasts for about 3 seconds

4. When the "beep" stops, the reset is successful

⚠️ If the reset fails or you encounter any issues, please contact Support@milesight.com

More detail refer to How to Hardware Reset Milesight NVR

Q1.2: What is the difference between the LAN port and PoE port of a PoE NVR?

LAN Port (Network Port):

• Default IP address: 192.168.5.200

• Used to connect to the local area network and manage the NVR via Web or client

• The IP address can be modified using the Smart Tools utility

PoE Port (Power over Ethernet Port):

• Each port has a fixed number

• Can directly connect to Milesight cameras, transmitting data and supplying power at the same time

• Supports plug-and-play and automatic camera recognition

• The default IP address of the PoE network interface is 192.168.20.1;

Q1.3: How to add Milesight cameras using the PoE port?

1. Directly connect the camera to the PoE port via an Ethernet cable

2. The NVR will automatically recognize and add the camera

3. You can view the status of connected cameras in the Channel Management

4. If the camera password is different from the NVR password, you need to modify the password in the Channel Management

⚠️ The PoE port has a maximum power supply limit. Please ensure that the total power consumption does not exceed the rated value.

2. Basic and System Configuration

Q2.1: I forgot my password, how to restore it?

Method 1: Retrieve via security questions (no data loss)

1. Click "Forgot Password" on the login page

2. Answer the security questions for verification

3. Reset the password after the verification is passed

Method 2: Hardware reset (data will be lost)
Restore the factory settings via the hardware reset button. After the reset, the password will be restored to the default password.
⚠️ Hardware reset will clear all configurations and data, please operate with caution.

Q2.2: How to obtain the basic device information (SN/MAC/full model/firmware version)?

Method 1: Obtain via the device label
Find the product information label on the back or side of the device, where you can view the SN serial number, MAC address and other information.

Method 2: Obtain via the device client
Go to the Status > Device Information page to view.

Method 3: Obtain via the Smart Tools utility
Use the Milesight Smart Tools utility to scan devices in the local area network to obtain detailed device information.

Q2.3: How to obtain the NVR's diagnostic logs and perform packet capture?

1. System Logs
Go to Logs > Select channel/time/event type > Search > Export

2. Diagnostic Logs
Go to Settings > System > Maintenance > Export Diagnostic File

3. Network Packet Capture
Go to Status > Packet Capture Tool to capture and analyze network data packets.

Q2.4: How to upgrade the NVR's firmware?

Method 1: Online Upgrade
Go to Settings > System > Maintenance > Online Upgrade, the system will automatically detect the latest firmware and perform the upgrade.

Method 2: Local Upgrade

1. Download the corresponding firmware file according to the device model and the prefix of the firmware version number

2. Go to Settings > System > Maintenance > Local Upgrade

3. Select the downloaded firmware file to perform the upgrade

⚠️ Do not power off the device during the upgrade process, otherwise it may cause device damage.

Q2.6: How to switch the language of the NVR?

Switching Method:

Method 1: Switch on the local display interface

1. On the NVR local display interface, right-click to open the main menu

2. Go to System Configuration > System Settings > Language

3. Select the desired language

4. Click Apply, the system will automatically restart to switch the language

Method 2: Switch on the Web

1. Log in to the NVR Web management interface

2. Click the user avatar/language icon in the upper right corner

3. Select the language

4. The interface will switch automatically

Supported Languages:
Chinese, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, etc. (subject to the specific model).

⚠️ Switching the system language of the local display interface requires restarting the NVR. Please ensure that no important operations are in progress.

Q2.7: What does the decoding capability of the NVR mean?

Synchronous Decoding Capability:
Refers to the number of camera channels that the NVR local display can decode and play at the same time, which depends on:

1. Decoding Resolution: The higher the resolution, the greater the decoding pressure

• 4K (8MP) decoding > 1080P (2MP) decoding

2. Number of Decoding Channels: The number of simultaneously displayed screens

3. Decoding Mechanism:

• Real-time preview decoding

• Playback decoding

• Sub-stream priority (automatically switches when bandwidth is insufficient)

⚠️ When the decoding capability is insufficient, the NVR will automatically switch to the sub-stream or reduce the frame rate to ensure smoothness.

Q2.8: What is the RTSP stream format of the NVR?

The RTSP format of Milesight NVR is:

rtsp://IP:RTSP_PORT/ch_xxx

• IP: IP address of the NVR;

• RTSP port: The default RTSP port is 554;

• ch_xxx: The first digit in xxx represents the stream type (1 represents the main stream, 4 represents the sub-stream), and the last two digits represent the channel number (starting from "00", "00" represents channel 1).

Take rtsp://192.168.8.179:554/ch_402 as an example:

• The IP address of the NVR is 192.168.8.179.

• The RTSP port is 554.

• The stream type is the sub-stream.

• The channel number is 3.

Q2.9 How to configure the camera time to synchronize with the NVR

1. When adding a camera under Setting > Camera > Camera Management, select the "Sync Time with NVR" checkbox.

2. Cameras that have already been added can be selected and reconfigured under Setting > Camera > Camera Management > Batch Management.

3. After saving, the camera's NTP server configuration will be updated to the NVR's IP address.

⚠️ Due to differences in timestamp formats, some third-party cameras may experience compatibility issues; if this occurs, you can manually configure the settings on the IPC page.

⚠️ By default, the NVR synchronizes its time with pool.ntp.org using the NTP protocol.

3. Recording and Storage

Q3.1: Which models of hard drives does the NVR support?

Milesight NVR Hard Drive Compatibility Description:

Recommended Hard Drive Types:

• Surveillance-grade hard drives (recommended): such as Seagate SkyHawk, Western Digital Purple, etc. 

• Enterprise-grade hard drives: suitable for high-load scenarios

• NAS hard drives: suitable for long-term continuous operation

• Supports up to 10TB per drive.

Not Recommended:

• Ordinary desktop hard drives (not suitable for 7x24 hour operation)

• SATA SSD solid state drives (high cost, lifespan is affected by the amount of writes)

⚠️ For the complete list of compatible hard drives, please refer to the NVR Hard Drive Recommendation List document officially released by Milesight.
⚠️ It is recommended to use surveillance-grade hard drives to ensure 7x24 hour stable operation.

Q3.2: How to back up recording files from the NVR?

Backup Methods:

Method 1: USB Backup

1. Insert a USB flash drive or mobile hard drive into the USB interface of the NVR

2. Go to Playback > Recording Backup

3. Select the channel and time range to be backed up

4. Select the backup file format

5. Click Start Backup

Method 2: Web Download

1. Log in to the NVR Web management interface

2. Go to the Playback interface

3. Select the channel and time

4. Click the Download button

5. Select the save path

Q3.3 How to Configure Event Recording (Motion Detection/VCA)

Taking Motion Detection as an example:

1. Go to Setting > Event > Motion Detection, select the corresponding camera, and enable the function.

2. Under Setting > Storage > Video Record, select Motion Detection and choose the recording schedule.

3. Copy the schedule to the corresponding IPC channel and save the configuration.

⚠️ Continuous recording includes all event types.

4. Network and Remote Access

Q4.1: How to set up NVR port mapping?

Ports that need to be mapped for the NVR:

• HTTP port: Default 80

• RTSP port: Default 554

• HTTPS port: Default 443

• Service port: Default 8000

Setup Steps:

1. Log in to the router management interface

2. Locate the virtual server/port forwarding settings

3. Add port mapping rules to map external ports to the corresponding ports of the NVR's internal network IP

4. Save the settings

⚠️ It is recommended to use UPnP automatic port mapping, or use the Milesight DDNS service to simplify remote access configuration.

Q4.2: How to configure DDNS on the NVR?

Milesight DDNS Configuration Steps:

1. Log in to the NVR web management interface

2. Go to Network → DDNS Settings

3. Enable DDNS

4. Select Milesight DDNS as the DDNS type

5. Set the domain name prefix

6. Save the configuration

Third-party DDNS:
Supports mainstream DDNS service providers such as DynDNS and No-IP. Select the corresponding type and fill in the account information.

Q4.3: How to enable HTTPS access on Milesight NVR?

1. Settings->System->Network->HTTPS

2. Enable HTTPS

3. Select the certificate type:

• Create a Private Certificate (not recommended for production environments).

• Direct Installation

• Create a Certificate Request

4. Save the settings and restart the Web service.

Q4.4: How to enable P2P access on Milesight NVR?

1. Setting->System->Network->Milesight Cloud->Enable

2. Select the server region based on your country or region.

3. After enabling, wait 1–2 minutes to ensure the Milesight Cloud status shows "Online"; you can then connect via the M-sight Pro.