BI & Routers vs Switches

Been running BI for several months now on an old dsl router I had (2 cameras). Mostly "path of least resistance" but I got tired of the constant error messages as the modem wasn't connected. I had a unmanaged Netgear switch I tried, however, it only seems to work for a few hours and the lan just stops. If I connect the old dsl router to the switch, even though the cameras are physically connected to the netgear switch, the lan/BI will run indefinitely. Wish my network knowledge was a little better, I'm sure I'm overlooking something basic here. Any help appreciated!

Usually a home network will have a modem connected to a router, and the router to a switch, and the cameras likewise are connected to the switch. Are you saying you are connecting the modem to the switch and it only works that way for a few hours?

It sounds like your old DSL router may be your dhcp server. What do you have connected between the netgear switch and the internet? Do you have a modem or a modem/router?

The old dsl modem/router is the dhcp server but as far as I know I've turned all it would apply to in BI off. There's no internet connection and I turned off all the email and webserver pages off in BI. Guess I wasn't as clear as I wanted to be but the switch is connected directly to the pc as are the cameras. However unless I also connect the old dsl router to the switch (the router has no other connection) the cameras/network will only stay working a few hours. If there is a log to enlighten where/why it's shutting down I don't know of it. BI itself gives no clue.

Sorry if this is obvious but have you set the cameras to static ip addresses?