CCTV Troubleshooting Hub
Troubleshooting hub for common CCTV, NVR, PoE, recording and remote viewing faults. Use this page as a starting point before moving to a specific wiring diagram.
Safety note: Troubleshooting should be done within your competence. Isolate power where required and follow the manufacturer instructions for the actual equipment.
General troubleshooting workflow
Confirm the symptom
Reproduce the fault and identify whether it affects one device, one circuit, one cabinet or the whole system.
Check power first
Verify mains, power supply, PoE, battery, fuse and polarity before changing programming.
Check cabling and terminations
Inspect labels, patching, pinout, continuity, distance and environmental damage.
Check configuration
Confirm addressing, zones, relay mapping, VLANs, recording schedules or user permissions.
Document the fix
Update the as-built notes so the same fault can be diagnosed faster in future.
Common problems
- No image from one camera: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
- Camera not discovered by NVR: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
- PoE camera keeps dropping offline: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
- Remote viewing not working: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
- NVR not recording: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
- Poor night image: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
- Wrong time or timestamp: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
- Motion events not triggering: start with power, cable continuity, device status, programming and the relevant diagram before replacing hardware.
Quick checks before replacing parts
Physical checks
- Cable seated and labelled correctly
- Correct voltage or PoE class available
- No water ingress, crushed cable or loose terminal
- Correct polarity where DC or bus wiring is used
Configuration checks
- Correct device address, IP or zone number
- Correct relay, lock, siren or output assignment
- Correct user permission or schedule
- Correct gateway, DNS or cloud/app registration where relevant
Relevant product categories
CCTV cameras, NVRs, hard drives, PoE switches and related accessories are common product categories available from SecurityWholesalers.