Expanding Dahua NVR for Remote Cameras with 5GHz Radio Link

[Alaska Country]

Using a Dahua 16 port POE NVR with 4 wired Dahua cameras on the POE ports. Have an application to add another 4 cameras to a location 200 feet away.

Reviewing Ubiquiti, EnGenius and Mikrotik for the appropriate 5 GHz full duplex micorwave link system.

The remote side will consist of one half of the RF link, POE adapter to power the link plus a 4 port POE switch to combine the data from the 4 cameras plus camera POE power.

Looking for suggestions on a good way to add the 4 remote cameras to the NVR. Channels 1/2/3/4 are in use for the wired POE Dahua cameras. The remaining 12 ports are not in use. The NVR has one 10/100/1000 Ethernet port.

The NVR Ethernet port is presently connected to a 4 port router to allow local/internal access for playback, live view and camera settings using Smart PSS on two desk top local Window computers.

It is a matter of adding a 4 port switch or router (wireless not desired) to the NVR side? If so, how are the additional ports of 5/6/7/8 assigned in the NVR to the appropriate remote cameras when using the switch or router connected to the NVR Ethernet port?

Any suggestions are most appreciated.

Jim

 

[bigredfish]

Not a networking guru but plenty of experience using Dahua NVRs

1- most here would recommend Ubiquity radios
2- yes add a switch to the NVR side. (I’d go with an 8 port switch to allow future expansion)
NVR ethernet port - -> switch - -> Router

Connect the cameras to the switch along with the NVR. Router assigns NVR and remote cameras IPs on the LAN network.

You end up with a mix of cameras using the NVR PoE ports (existing 4) as well as the remote cameras using the LAN IPs. The NVR doesn’t care but it wont assign IPs or ports to the 4 remote cameras. Works fine and I’ve done it many times.

 

[genelit]

Hi,

Here's a simple diagram, i hope it'll make things clear.
What's important is that you have the cameras in the same IP-range as the NVR, ex 192.168.1.x.
In the NVR you will connect directly to the cameras, it works great mixing cameras powered by the POE-ports of the NVR with other cameras in your network.

And, like @bigredfish said, i would go for a Ubiquiti solution (in the sketch below it's Nanostation). I have only positive experience from them. Mikrotik and other brands will probably make you as happy.

 

[bigredfish]

You'll manually add the LAN cameras and you'll see something like this on the NVR Registration page

*Note because Dahua cameras all default to 192.168.1.108 you will want to add them one at a time, then access the camera GUI and assign it a different IP before connecting the next one. My example below shows the Color 4K camera still assigned the default .108 address.

Same goes for the NVR. Assign it a static IP other than .108 on your network.

 

[bigredfish]

Hi,

Here's a simple diagram, i hope it'll make things clear.
What's important is that you have the cameras in the same IP-range as the NVR, ex 192.168.1.x.
In the NVR you will connect directly to the cameras, it works great mixing cameras powered by the POE-ports of the NVR with other cameras in your network.

And, like @bigredfish said, i would go for a Ubiquiti solution (in the sketch below it's Nanostation). I have only positive experience from them. Mikrotik and other brands will probably make you as happy.

View attachment 101178

Actually I add a switch between the router and NVR… but I guess the Nano acts as a switch ?

 

[sebastiantombs]

I wouldn't run any video through the router. ISP routers generally don't have the bandwidth to handle constant, never ending, video streams. Either plug the Nano directly into the NVR or add a switch to one of the NVR ports and connect the Nano to that switch.

 

[genelit]

I agree with you guys!
I skipped that detail to simplify the drawing. But, here it is

@Alaska Country , using this solution you can also utilize the infrastructure for your "normal" LAN, hooking up accesspoints etc.

 

[Alaska Country]

Appreciate the comments.

Looks like an 8 port non POE switch on the receive end is the preferred way. Would think that most any 10/100/1000 switch would work well as the RF link is maxed out at 450 Mbps. The switch would take care of the 4 remote cams plus the NVR would continue working with the existing 4 POE cams with all 8 available on the NVR. As a side note, the cams are set for main stream (no sub-stream) motion only recording.

As a second question for the remote end. Could a desk top computer with Smart PSS be connected to the remote POE router (assuming a free port) to allow for live and playback functions at the remote end? That system could have it own NVR login to limit access to certain cameras as implemented on the Dahua NVR. Would this type of connection impact any security issues so that there would be no access to other desk top computers attached to the LAN side of the router?

The diagram works well to explain the setup. Appreciate the effort to draw and post.

There are price differences between the Ubiquiti and the Mikrotik products. Often times the lower price does not equal quality or technical assistance.

Looks like this RF link could possibility work.

Ubiquiti AirMAX PowerBeam AC, 5 Ghz, Bridge - $119
High-performance 5 GHz Point-to-Point (PtP) bridge with integrated dish reflector. Provides up to 450+ Mbps data throughput.



Thank you,

Jim
Anchorage, Alaska

 

[Flintstone61]

I wonder if one could simplify the amount of devices on the remote end with an inexpensive POE NVR and just plug the cams in there... and view from a PC or an App.
Like connect the Ubiquiti to the WAN port of NVR and view the NVR interface at it's IP address across the wireless connection.
I have a remote NVR set up with a pair of Ubiquiti Nano 2.4 Ghz. transmitters. Amcest 4108 POE NVR with 2 cams plugged into it. The Wan Port of the NVR goes to the Ubiquiti radio transmitter device. On the other end the 2nd Ubiquiti is plugged into my Big 24 port switch. I can see all the cameras in either Blue iris, or from the NVR GUI at a static address I assigned of 192.168.1.207.
But I'm also using a computer on the switch, So i have the added option to type in IP addresses and view DVR's and NVR's on the network. Clear as mud.

 

[Flintstone61]

I always wondered how the NVR's "see" the camera's that are not plugged directly into it. It sounds like from Bigredfish, that the NVR won't assign an internal IP address to the Cams on a switch but will still display and record them internally on the HDD?

 

[bigredfish]

Correct. It simply sees them via their IP on the network exactly like a non-PoE NVR would, but
with its own internal switch it can also isolate cameras to their own private subnet.

 

[Alaska Country]

Put together a basic list of what is perhaps needed for a 5 GHz link to remote 4 Dahua cameras. Added one managed switch to the NVR side to provide some level of security protection. That would appear to a better location than the remote side.

2 - AirMax NanoBeam AC 5 GHz Bridge NBE-5AC-US $99 each
2 - AirMax Dish Mounts $9.99 each
1 - Netgear 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet GS108LP100NAS 8 Port Switch 4 POE - 4 Non POE - Unmanaged - $87.99
1 - Netgear 8-Port 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Plus Managed Switch GS108E-300NAS No POE - $35.99
3 - Dahua Camera Mounts $16.00 each
3 or 4 - Dahua Security Cameras $125 to $235 each

Any suggestions on missing items or comments about using managed vs unmanaged switches would be appreciated.

Jim
Anchorage, Alaska

 

[sebastiantombs]

A PoE switch at the remote end is fine. In reality the only managed switch that might be needed, depending on your network topology, would be at the "business end" of the link. If you're using a second NIC in the VMS machine, a managed switch isn't necessary to provide isolation for the remote cameras assuming a different IP subnet is used.

 

[Alaska Country]

Thank you for the information on the managed switch.

The present system is very unsophisticated. An older Asus 4 port router with connections to a cable modem (internet), desktop computer and the NVR. By adding the managed switch, on the Asus end, it should be possible to obtain isolation between the remote cameras, their remote desktop with Smart PSS and my desktop computer.

 

[usaf_pride]

I know it is Alaska and digging may be difficult due to rock, but 200' is not all that far for ethernet wire. Assuming you could dig/get to where you want to be, you could bury a 1" conduit and pull a couple of ethernet cables or even a fiber (which would give you the most bandwidth).

 

[Alaska Country]

Would love to run cable between the two locations. Inexpensive and it works to around 100 meters. Being in a residential area with diagonal access to the other residential location separated by a city street with underground utilities negates this idea. In the country it would be a winner for sure.