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Setting up Axis Camera Companion with LinkStation using dynamically-assigned IP addresses (DHCP)


Required Equipment

  1. Axis cameras (LinkStation supports up to 8 cameras)
  2. Gigabit Ethernet switch (PoE capable if desired)
  3. LinkStation NVR unit
  4. Windows PC for configuration
  5. Network router or other DHCP server
  6. Ethernet cable for each device

Required Software

  1. Axis Camera Companion
  2. NAS Navigator

Setup

  1. Connect all equipment to the switch and power it on.
  2. Install/launch NAS Navigator. The LinkStation should show up in the interface.
    LinkStation in NAS Navigator2
  3. Right-click the icon for the LinkStation and click Settings. This should launch the LinkStation GUI in the default web browser.
    NAS Navigator2 right click
  4. Go through the initial LinkStation setup wizard. The default administrator username is "admin" and the default password is "password". It is recommended that the default password be changed at this time to a more secure one. We're leaving this one at the default for demonstration purposes.
    LinkStation initial wizard
  5. Leave the first share at the default and click Apply.
    first share
  6. Also leave the second share at the default and click Apply.
    second share
    Once the wizard finishes you can close the browser window.
  7. Install/launch Axis Camera Companion.
    Note: If the system running Axis Camera Companion has internet access, you will be asked to create an account with Axis.    
  8. Click Get Started to begin creation of a new camera site.
    Axis get started
  9. Name the site and create a password for the site.
    site name and password
  10. The first screen should tell you to make sure all your cameras are attached to the network and powered up.
    connect cameras
  11. The wizard should locate all attached cameras. If not all the cameras are detected, check to make sure that all cameras have power and are connected to the network. In our example we only have one camera.
    select cameras
  12. Click the Connect Network Share button.
    setup network share
  13. Select the LinkStation and click Next.
    select linkstation
  14. Enter the username and password for the LinkStation. The username will be "admin" and the password will be "password" unless it was changed in step 6.
    network storage username
  15. Select the "Recordings" share and click Next.
    recordings
  16. This is the part of the setup automated by the software. The Camera Companion software will now configure a user and set a quota for each camera in the site. Doing this manually could take 5-10 minutes or more per camera.
    auto configuration
  17. Once the storage configuration is finished the software will display all cameras configured for this share. Click Next.
    setup network share
  18. The wizard will now configure the cameras to access the share using the credentials created earlier. Depending on the number of cameras this step could take several minutes.
    installing cameras
  19. Once the configuration is finished the Camera Companion should go to a live view of all cameras. One camera will be shown in the main section with all cameras shown across the bottom. Since our setup only has one camera, that is all that is shown. Here it shows a view of a cubicle wall.
    setup complete

At this point setup should be finished and the cameras should be recording video to the LinkStation NVR unit. The site can be accessed through Axis Camera Companion to view both live video and recorded video. Recording parameters can be adjusted through Axis Camera Companion as well.

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