Contemplating Blue Iris and have a question about PC location

F

flyoverfred

Young grasshopper
Jan 30, 2025
51
13
USA
Hi Folks

Brand new to the whole idea of cameras etc but I'm really interested in a B.I setup but have a question regarding set up. The house is pre-wired with the POE switch terminating in the walk in closet where the router is. Putting the PC in there is a non starter (I have an existing Windows 10 machine I want to use).

So, what is the best practice on getting from the POE to the PC in a different room ?

Thanks
 
Curious why you do not want to put the PC in that closet and run headless? I've got mine in a closet with the hdmi output run to a TV in a nearby room.

Other solution would be to run ethernet from the switch to another room where the PC is.
 
You could put in closet and remote desktop to it as well.

Or you have to run an eithernet from the POE switch to another room.

Or I guess you could try a powerline adapter that runs the data over your existing electric lines.
 
Jessie.slimer said:
Curious why you do not want to put the PC in that closet and run headless? I've got mine in a closet with the hdmi output run to a TV in a nearby room.

Other solution would be to run ethernet from the switch to another room where the PC is.
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The PC gets used sparingly for other things so it's not practical.
What do you mean by headless ? I'm a complete noob :wtf:
 
Headless means just the computer is there - no mouse or keyboard or monitor.

And then you remote into it from another computer and it is just like you are sitting in front of it.

You really should treat a BI computer as a standalone NVR.

Just like you wouldn't surf the internet on an NVR, you shouldn't with a computer being used for BI - using it for other things is how it gets corrupt or something breaks.

Computers are cheap, so buy one for the occasional use or for just BI. A coming off lease 8th gen can be had for $150ish.
 
wittaj said:
Headless means just the computer is there - no mouse or keyboard or monitor.

And then you remote into it from another computer and it is just like you are sitting in front of it.

You really should treat a BI computer as a standalone NVR.

Just like you wouldn't surf the internet on an NVR, you shouldn't with a computer being used for BI - using it for other things is how it gets corrupt or something breaks.

Computers are cheap, so buy one for the occasional use or for just BI. A coming off lease 8th gen can be had for $150ish.
Click to expand...
ok, i'll look into that option, cheers. Thanks for the info
 
That is the preferred way as routers are not designed to keep up with the non-buffering data stream of surveillance cameras.

Most of the time when folks come here with issues of video stutter and drop-outs, etc. it is because the cameras are going thru the router.

You want to be able to unplug your router and the BI computer still see the camera video on the screen.
 
wittaj said:
That is the preferred way as routers are not designed to keep up with the non-buffering data stream of surveillance cameras.

Most of the time when folks come here with issues of video stutter and drop-outs, etc. it is because the cameras are going thru the router.

You want to be able to unplug your router and the BI computer still see the camera video on the screen.
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ok makes sense. So I guess I then just remote into the PC via wifi as and when and if required then. OK, good info, super helpful. Thanks @wittaj
 
That or put a 2nd ethernet port on the computer and one ethernet port is where the POE switch goes to and the other ethernet port is where the internet goes to.

But yeah for the occasional jump into the BI computer so see what is going on, wifi works as well.
 
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wittaj said:
That or put a 2nd ethernet port on the computer and one ethernet port is where the POE switch goes to and the other ethernet port is where the internet goes to.

But yeah for the occasional jump into the BI computer so see what is going on, wifi works as well.
Click to expand...
I'll look into that, not something I've ever needed to do. Thanks.
 
flyoverfred said:
Hi Folks

Brand new to the whole idea of cameras etc but I'm really interested in a B.I setup but have a question regarding set up. The house is pre-wired with the POE switch terminating in the walk in closet where the router is. Putting the PC in there is a non starter (I have an existing Windows 10 machine I want to use).

So, what is the best practice on getting from the POE to the PC in a different room ?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Use the wall jacks in whatever room you want the PC in and connect it to the switch in the closet.
Did they put wall jacks in most of the rooms?
if the master bdrm has a wall jack with an ethernet port and it is labeled ( hopefully for the love of god) with a 1 or Mstrbdrm or something,,,
and whatever other location you use that has a nearby wall jack try and match the cable label with the jack label.
there should be a cable in the closet with the same number of name on the cable.
If the installer was at least semi proficient.
You can connect a pc to the POE switch where the cameras reside.

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other wise you can get a line toner and plug one end into the wall jack you want to use.
and take the probe to the closet and touch the cables listening for a /(the loudest) tone.

 
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Flintstone61 said:
Use the wall jacks in whatever room you want the PC in and connect it to the switch in the closet.
Did they put wall jacks in most of the rooms?
if the master bdrm has a wall jack with an ethernet port and it is labeled ( hopefully for the love of god) with a 1 or Mstrbdrm or something,,,
and whatever other location you use that has a nearby wall jack try and match the cable label with the jack label.
there should be a cable in the closet with the same number of name on the cable.
If the installer was at least semi proficient.
You can connect a pc to the POE switch where the cameras reside.

View attachment 213970
Click to expand...
yep we have them in every room, I'll have to check the labels, surely they must be labelled !!! That would help massively if I could just do that. Thanks for the reply
 
You can put the BI PC anywhere provided you can or have a cable back to the POE switch.

I run my BI PC with dual Ethernet cards and headless, PC is in the attic, my POE switch is also on the attic I then have Ethernet cable running from the PC to my my home network.
 
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Or hire your local low voltage network wiring contractor and run 2 Cat6 cables back & forth from your closet to wherever you put your machine. I wouldn't rely on WiFi to remote into your Blue Iris machine. In a time of crisis where your mind is getting scrambled in a rush due to an emergency, you would not want buffering/slow speeds because your child is uploading YouTube content or WiFi being down.
 
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