Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

[Bob Sherger]

If money is a factor, I would choose this one over the Netgear. More wattage


Amazon.com: BV-TECH 8 Port 120W 10/100Mbps Power over Ethernet Switch - Designed for IP Camera Use(Gray): Computers & Accessories

Bill

That actually looks pretty good. Is it is a reliable brand?

 

[nayr]

@Bob Sherger , yeah I use patch panels; and im not really the right person to ask about cheap networking gear.. I have next to no experience with it; I use datacenter hardware at home because this is whats in my basement:



Im using a 24 port PowerDsine HiPoe Midspan w/a 48 Port D-Link floor switch

 

[Bob Sherger]

@Bob Sherger , yeah I use patch panels; and im not really the right person to ask about cheap networking gear.. I have next to no experience with it; I use datacenter hardware at home because this is whats in my basement:

View attachment 13429

Im using a 24 port PowerDsine HiPoe Midspan w/a 48 Port D-Link floor switch

That's an awesome setup. Wish I had the room and proper HVAC for something like that. No basement, so my server closet is in a guest bedroom on a Lowes metal shelf, and people already don't like all the blinking lights if they sleep in there. It looks like patch panels will work fine with PoE by looking at your setup.

 

[jazzy1]

interesting...never heard of "PoE WiFi access points"....I have a hard time getting good wifi upstairs and put in a airport express connected to a gigabit powerline...getting around 90MBps download...significant drop from my Comcast 200MBps download...but should be good enough for cams?!....trying to avoid saturating wifi with the 1080p cams...would this PoE wifi access point be better than a powerline setup? what's a good example of the PoE wifi access point?

also, would this handle 4 varifocal turrets?...thinking of starting with 2-3 though:
Amazon.com: NETGEAR ProSAFE 8-Port Gigabit PoE Web Managed (Plus) Switch with 53W 4 PoE Ports (GS108PE-300NAS): Computers & Accessories

should it be "unmanaged or managed"?

Thanks!

GigE is suggested for uplinks between switches; but not required for camera ports.. a single camera wont come close to saturating 100Mbit Fast Ethernet however multiples of them can.. (takes about 6-7 1080p cameras to start saturating FastEthernet).. I consider anything over 50% duty load on average to be fast approaching saturation.

However consider PoE WiFi access points; the latest/fastest models do require GigE PoE Ports so get it if you can afford it.. makes worrying and designing around network bottlenecks pretty much a non-issue for residential environments.

 

[nbstl68]

That would run the Turrets; but if your serious about a PTZ they use PoE+ (802.3AT) that guarantees a minimum of ~24W.. vs ~14W for Standard PoE (802.3AF)

The PTZ is going to require a switch/injector/midspan capable of PoE+, or can power it directly with 24VAC w/out PoE (it comes with a 24VAC PSU)

I'm already running a POE switch, but since a big PTZ would require more power, would I need a separate POE+ switch just for that or could I maybe add a POE+ injector, (since I'd only ever have need for 1, maybe 2 POE+ connections) for the extra power from the POE switch without shorting anything out?
So like:
POE Switch - to POE+ injector - to camera?
I'm not all that familiar with how the switch would react...just want to make sure the POE switch would know I have a POE+ in line and not try to drive power from both and fry the camera or connection or something...

 

[nayr]

@jazzy1, Amazon.com: Ubiquiti Unifi Ap-AC Lite - Wireless Access Point - 802.11 B/A/G/n/AC (UAPACLITEUS): Computers & Accessories but it requires a poe adapter to run it with your switch (uses ubiquiti 24v poe)

Ive got 3 of em on every level of my house in the ceiling or wall w/clear LoS, All running low power, main network is 5GHz only and all my devices get nearly GigE speeds wirelessly (>300Mbit) and I have a legacy network for older devices.. roaming works pretty well, at least on 5Ghz.

I put one in my sisters living room hooked to a PowerLine network, her home office was on other end of the house and her living room wifi was ~10Mbit out of 30Mbit, near the game console/smart tv it was like 2Mbit.. after putting the UniFi in her living room (above the TV) and disabling the 2.4G network on her comcast she got her full 30Mbit everywhere she needed it and I took her video streaming devices off the wifi.. Speed tests showed she had about 250Mbit local performance over WiFi and PowerLine, think the powerline was the choke.

 

[jazzy1]

looks interesting!....but, my cams will be around the exterior of the house, then all run into the garage and connect to POE switch...so, the access point won't help in this case since garage has a door between it and the living space...will this wireless access point perform better than my powerline ethernet setup you think?

@jazzy1, Amazon.com: Ubiquiti Unifi Ap-AC Lite - Wireless Access Point - 802.11 B/A/G/n/AC (UAPACLITEUS): Computers & Accessories but it requires a poe adapter to run it with your switch (uses ubiquiti 24v poe)

Ive got 3 of em on every level of my house in the ceiling or wall w/clear LoS, All running low power, main network is 5GHz only and all my devices get nearly GigE speeds wirelessly (>300Mbit) and I have a legacy network for older devices.. roaming works pretty well, at least on 5Ghz.

I put one in my sisters living room hooked to a PowerLine network, her home office was on other end of the house and her living room wifi was ~10Mbit out of 30Mbit, near the game console/smart tv it was like 2Mbit.. after putting the UniFi in her living room (above the TV) and disabling the 2.4G network on her comcast she got her full 30Mbit everywhere she needed it and I took her video streaming devices off the wifi.. Speed tests showed she had about 250Mbit local performance over WiFi and PowerLine, think the powerline was the choke.

 

[Bob Sherger]

interesting...never heard of "PoE WiFi access points"....I have a hard time getting good wifi upstairs and put in a airport express connected to a gigabit powerline...getting around 90MBps download...significant drop from my Comcast 200MBps download...but should be good enough for cams?!....trying to avoid saturating wifi with the 1080p cams...would this PoE wifi access point be better than a powerline setup? what's a good example of the PoE wifi access point?

also, would this handle 4 varifocal turrets?...thinking of starting with 2-3 though:
Amazon.com: NETGEAR ProSAFE 8-Port Gigabit PoE Web Managed (Plus) Switch with 53W 4 PoE Ports (GS108PE-300NAS): Computers & Accessories

should it be "unmanaged or managed"?

Thanks!

I believe in running an ethernet cable to anything that is stationary (desktops, servers, cameras) and leaving wireless for devices that move (laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.). I used to run wireless bridges across my house and ran into interference issues just doing video streaming and the like.

Unless you want a highly configurable switch (i.e. - VLAN trunking and 802.1q, STP, SNMP, remote SSH/web interface, etc.) and wish to pay more, then unmanaged is suitable for something like this. I'm mainly used to dealing with Cisco for managed switches (command line interface) so I don't know how good the Netgear managed interface will be; it's probably a crappy web interface but maybe the advanced features are worth the extra money if you use them. nayr was saying that each varifocal is 9W so it sounds like the 53W switch will handle four of them.

 

[reverend]

Thanks Andy as got my camera in the UK today - these really are a great camera and I'm just having a rethink over where I was going to put it. I was going to put the Starlight in a dark passage way we have at the side of the house but I'm thinking now swap it out with the Dahua 4MP I have and take advantage of the Starlight to see the garden better

I use a couple of the Unifi AP-AC Pro here as well - I went with the Pro purely so they'd work with the Avaya POE switches I have without having to use the adaptors and like @nayr I have a great experience with this setup. I also added an outdoor access point but to be honest that one was overkill for my setup.

You can pick up the Avaya / Nortel 48 port switches really cheap these days and they're advanced for the money.

The Unifi's do have a lot of firmware releases so you may find you encounter an issue that is already fixed in the latest firmware release.

 

[nayr]

the PoE Wifi lets you put the wifi where its most beneficial, like cameras you dont often have power where the radio's will work the best so they get shoved under a desk on one side of the house and everyone tolerates crap speeds.

since the WiFI Access point is now powered over Ethernet you run an ethernet line to someplace like the center of your living room ceiling so everyone on the sofa is just a few feet away with unobstructed line of sight.. I have one right between living room and dining room, another in my office on the wall above my desk, and another in the hallway right outside all 3 bedroom doors.. each run at low power so my mobile devices always see the closest one as the most powerfull and they gracefully roam between access points as we move about, so you get full speeds everywhere and always.

You can get WiFI speeds greater than Powerline speeds easily, but WiFi can fall apart with alot of devices on it if you dont add more access points/channels so its best to keep your wireless spectrum free for the devices that really need it (ie, battery powered devices that are truly wireless, if its always plugged into a wall at the same point then it deserves a wire)

 

[nayr]

I'm mainly used to dealing with Cisco for managed switches (command line interface) so I don't know how good the Netgear managed interface will be; it's probably a crappy web interface but maybe the advanced features are worth the extra money if you use them. nayr was saying that each varifocal is 9W so it sounds like the 53W switch will handle four of them.

I believe its the same UI on my 48 port (DGS-1210-48), its quite tolerable.. not great, but Ive seen far far worse.. I threw out my Cisco Managed switch because I wanted a 48 port floor switch that ran off like 15W of power, instead of 150W

when you got to keep everything up on battery power at some point you have to seriously consider how much power it'll take to keep the basic infrastructure online.

 

[TechBill]

That actually looks pretty good. Is it is a reliable brand?

I never used that brand before and I don't remember seeing this brand before on Amazon when I was checking PoE switches in the past.

However I do buy no-name brand products from Amazon often as long it have good reviews from verified buyers. From reading the reviews, it look good for the price it offering at.

Amazon always been good to me when it come to returning stuffs that I don't think with work out for me too.

That why I pasted that link, low cost but seem to have positive review, they even sell 16 ports PoE

I think it would be the same quality as ones found in NVR that have built in PoE which is good enough for cameras but not something you would use for your main networking at home or office if you get what I am saying

Bill

 

[hmjgriffon]

that 8 port prosafe is rated at 44W, it will not run 8 Starlight Cameras that require 9W each.. You'll want a PoE switch with >80W ceiling to run 8 Turrets off it.

Have you used a kilowatt or something on one? the website says <8.5 so I'm wondering if they actually even pull 8.5.

 

[hmjgriffon]

I believe its the same UI on my 48 port (DGS-1210-48), its quite tolerable.. not great, but Ive seen far far worse.. I threw out my Cisco Managed switch because I wanted a 48 port floor switch that ran off like 15W of power, instead of 150W

when you got to keep everything up on battery power at some point you have to seriously consider how much power it'll take to keep the basic infrastructure online.

What about loudness, that's another problem, finding a good sized switch that doesn't sound like an airplane taking off haha.

 

[nayr]

its very quiet, but it dont have PoE.. I use a midspan for that.. the midspan is audible but not bad.

 

[nayr]

Day, IR@Max, While Focusing w/IR@MAX


The 9W is probably the most it would draw but it wont sit there all the time, my wattage monitoring is not high frequency.. it only checks every few seconds and I would not see any spikes.

 

[hmjgriffon]

its very quiet, but it dont have PoE.. I use a midspan for that.. the midspan is audible but not bad.

the midspan thing is just a big poe injector right? not an actual switch.

Day, IR@Max, While Focusing w/IR@MAX
View attachment 13434 View attachment 13433 View attachment 13432

The 9W is probably the most it would draw but it wont sit there all the time, my wattage monitoring is not high frequency.. it only checks every few seconds and I would not see any spikes.

True true.

 

[nayr]

yeah but mine's a managed midspan, I needed a 48p floor switch but I didnt want to pay for a PoE one that was acceptable on its own power usage.

PowerDsine 9024G, its GigE and capable of 36W per port out all ports the same time


ive got several devices offline right now so normally the ports are more than that but I pulled several phones out for an update over the holidays and got them back up yet.. plus a couple cameras are down for rewiring.

Got it from a recycler for $100 shipped, works great.. paid ~$70 for the 48p Netgear switch from another recycler.

 

[hmjgriffon]

yeah but mine's a managed midspan, I needed a 48p floor switch but I didnt want to pay for a PoE one that was acceptable on its own power usage.

PowerDsine 9024G, its GigE and capable of 36W per port out all ports the same time
View attachment 13437

ive got several devices offline right now so normally the ports are more than that but I pulled several phones out for an update over the holidays and got them back up yet.. plus a couple cameras are down for rewiring.

Got it from a recycler for $100 shipped, works great.. paid ~$70 for the 48p Netgear switch from another recycler.

Do you have the link for that site? I'm gonna need some bigger gear here before too long.

 

[nayr]

i got it off ebay, the guy had a bunch of em and mis-listed the price.. he honored my $100 purchase but doubled the price for the other dozen he had to offload.

just gotta be on the eye for deals.. paid $150 for my whole house amp and used they typically sell for $400-500 still