Repeating DNSMASQ-DHCP log entry for same MAC

[Ewag]

Image below is from my RT-AX88U running Merlin 384.14_0 (to be clear, this was happening before Merlin too). The MAC is for my 5 year old Zmodo DVR security camera system. The DVR is the only part of the system connected to the ASUS. It has 8 PoE IP cameras that show up on my ASUS device list with unique MACs.

This log goes on indefinitely..... same message, same IP, same MAC so I'm thinking something must be a little out of tune. Here's what I've tried to eliminate this constant messaging. Note that this doesn't happen with any other device, so the only way I can eliminate it is to disconnect my DVR from my ASUS.

1. Have the ASUS assign a static IP to the DVR .... problem still there
2. Remove the static assignment from ASUS and assign an IP to the DVR through it's interface ..... problem still there
3. Remove static assignment from DVR and ASUS and just let the router do DHCP assignments like it would for any other device .... problem still there.

Note in each scenario above, after making the changes I've power cycled the DVR and router.... problem still there.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...2-are-now-available.60585/page-38#post-541672

This link above suggests "set Hide DHCP/RA queries = Yes" to no longer see these kinds of messages, however I think it's strange that it's the exact same device that this is occurring to, continuously, and therefor don't want to simply make a problem go away by not looking at it?

I don't know if something like this actually causes any problems or makes the ASUS work harder than it should, but it sure doesn't seem like it SHOULD be working

 

[ColinTaylor]

2. Remove the static assignment from ASUS and assign an IP to the DVR through it's interface ..... problem still there

The DHCPDISCOVER is coming from a DHCP client on the DVR. If you are configuring its IP address manually there must be something else the client is using DHCP for. DNS server, gateway address, etc.?

 

[Ewag]

Thank you ColinTaylor. I've tried it 3 different ways, the same result no matter how I try to handle it. I actually thought that PERHAPS if I assigned it a static IP, then there'd be no more activity like shown above, but no luck.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Out of interest, what is the make and model of the troublesome DVR?

 

[Ewag]

Out of interest, what is the make and model of the troublesome DVR?

My bad.... it's actually FunLux but I think it's Zmodo with a different sticker on it?
8 Channel Security NVR (NS-S81A-S) from the original Amazon link. I presume the model # is in ( )
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MN5RPNU/?tag=snbforums-20

Purchased Nov. '14 and it's been a heck of a functional system. Ready to replace it, but other than better quality and more bells/whistles I can't really justify giving it up yet. Not bad for something I paid $500 for 5+ years ago and 6 of the cameras are outside.

 

[ColinTaylor]

So is this connecting to the router through WiFi or is it Ethernet?

P.S. I assume your LAN is 10.10.10.0/24

 

[Ewag]

The NVR has ethernet connection to the router, and the IP cameras are all PoE from the NVR. Yes on the LAN question.

 

[Ewag]

Not sure this is relevant, but each of the IP cameras shows up in my device list on the router, each with a unique MAC. However, the only "issue" I'm having is with the NVR, not it's cameras.

I always thought it was strange that the NVR is passing the camera MACs through to the router. I don't really understand why the cameras would be "visible" from a networking standpoint any further than the NVR. When we access the cameras from our phones, it's through the Zmodo app, off of the web, not directly from within our house. In other words, if we lose internet, we are not able to view the cameras on our phones even if we are home and connected to the same router (by WiFi) that that NVR is connected to. Sounds kind of inefficient, but it's works OK now for 5+ years.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Not sure this is relevant, but each of the IP cameras shows up in my device list on the router, each with a unique MAC. However, the only "issue" I'm having is with the NVR, not it's cameras.

Strange stuff, but then I don't know anything about NVR camera systems.

Perhaps the cameras are in effect standalone IP cameras and the NVR is just being used as a dumb switch to connect them to the LAN. That might explain why the DHCP behaviour is different (i.e it works) for the cameras compared to the NVR. That still doesn't really help us fix the NVR's DHCP problem.

Has this ever worked properly with this router? I'm guessing that you had a previous router that it worked fine with. Is this router using the same IP address range as the previous one? It looks like 10.10.10.x.

Probably a question we should have asked in the beginning ... If the NVR can't get a IP address for itself how is it working? Can you log into it or do you never need to do that?

 

[Ewag]

The only reason I even noticed this continual DNSMASQ-DHCP log entry issue is because I've been trying to troubleshoot intermittant "disconnects" of my WAN. Been a ton of investigation on my part. I turned to looking at logs to see if that might help show something, and I was dumbfounded by this issue. I don't think this incessant problem with the NVR is the cause of my WAN dropping out, but it's something I'd like to try to fix nonetheless. It doesn't seem natural for the router and NVR to behave this way, but as far as I know it's not causing any problems either. Was this happening on my prior router (RT-AC87U)?..... I don't know because I wasn't looking this hard for things.

I've never tried too hard to log into the NVR. Best I can tell, there's no computer accessed GUI, only the very limited interface through using the TV monitor and mouse. Interesting question though, I'll try it again and see if I can access it.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Can you do some sort of "factory reset" on the NVR and set it up again. It might clear the problem, but on the other hand it might involve a lot of work.

 

[Ewag]

It's been a few years since I've done that. Might not be that big of a deal. Will noodle on it. Thanks for the feedback on this.