Tapo C500 and C320WS showing wrong time when connected to third-party NVR via ONVIF — SOLVED
he problem: Both my Tapo C500 (fw 1.3.1) and C320WS (fw 1.5.3) were showing incorrect time — 7-8 hours behind real time — every single day when connected to a third-party NVR (AEeye N6200-8E) via ONVIF.
What I tried that did NOT work:
- Disabling NTP on the NVR
- Changing time zone in Tapo app
- Factory reset on C500
- Changing router DNS to 8.8.8.8
- Various GMT offset adjustments
Root cause: The NVR was sending incorrect time to the cameras via ONVIF SetSystemDateAndTime command every time it reconnected. The cameras were accepting the NVR time instead of using their own NTP sync.
Solution: TP-Link engineering team released custom firmware that disables the NVR time override. After updating, cameras use only their own NTP time and ignore time sent by the NVR.
Custom firmware versions:
- C320WS: 1.5.3 Build 260513 Rel.5557n
- C500: 1.3.1 Build 260513 Rel.37226n
Important: After installing, go to Camera Settings → Firmware Update and turn OFF Auto Update to prevent these modifications from being overwritten.
My advice: If you have the same problem, contact TP-Link support and ask them to escalate to the engineering team. Mention that the NVR overrides camera time via ONVIF SetSystemDateAndTime. They can provide the custom firmware.
Special thanks to Ryan.L from TP-Link Technical Support for resolving this!
