Hikvision DS-7716NI-M4 networking help

Jul 18, 2016
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I have a Hikvision DS-7716NI-M4 set set up at work. It was fairly easy to set up with all 4 cameras wired directly into the NVR.

I have purchased another to set up at home. I don't want to put the NVR in the attic and I also don't want to have lots of cables running from the attic to the NVR.

I was wondering if I can run the soffit mounted cameras to a POE network switch. I would then like to connect the POE network switch to an access point in the attic. The NVR I could then be placed anywhere I can wire it into another access point.

Is this set up feasible? If so can anyone recommend POE network switch capable of running 5-6 cameras?

Thanks in advance.
 
By "access point" do your mean wireless?
 
By "access point" do your mean wireless?
My intention was to have a wireless access point in the attic and wire the POE network switch into that.

I currently have a TP-Link Archer BE230 Router and use a TP-Link TL-WR1502X to connect my PC. I don't use it to extend my wireless network, as the BE230 does a decent job. As I have no issues with this I hoped I could place another TP-Link access point in the attic.

I want to test the setup before installation, so I need to purchase the POE network switch. I don't want to do this if it's a total no go.

Another option is there is a cat5 cable in the attic that connect an upstairs bedroom to a port near the router. I have never used this. I think the cable is cat5 and not cat5e. Would this matter to connect a POE switch to the router? I have made data cables before and have the tools, so I could tap into this cable and do it that way. I would still want the NVR connected elsewhere though.
 
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Is your intent to have the cameras connected to wireless access point #1 in the attic which is wirelessly connected to access point #2 that is connected to the NVR?
 
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Another option is there is a cat5 cable in the attic that connect an upstairs bedroom to a port near the router. I have never used this. I think the cable is cat5 and not cat5e. Would this matter to connect a POE switch to the router? I have made data cables before and have the tools, so I could tap into this cable and do it that way. I would still want the NVR connected elsewhere though.
Ethernet is almost always better than wireless, even a CAT-5 @ 10/100Mbps would be better. I'd give it a try.

Also, try to avoid running cams through a router to get to the NVR; go CAMERAS => POE SWITCH => NVR LAN and ROUTER => POE SWITCH
 
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Many thanks for all the replies.

To answer TonyR, yes there would be a wireless in there with the attic access point and the NVR access point being connect to the router wirelessly. I would like to place the NVR in my office and I have no easy way to run cables from anywhere into my office. I understand wireless may be flaky, but I don't need it to be bullet proof. It's mainly to keep an eye on what's going on outside e.g. when was our cat around if she has been gone for a while or if one of our cars gets tampered with.

Would wireless give enough bandwidth to link around 5 cameras to NVR? I also have a Ring alarm and camera setup, so this is just an extra level of security.

I have a mixture of DS-2CD2387G2H-LISU/SL and DS-2CD2387G2-LSU/SL cameras. Data sheets show power draw of 8.5W and 9W. It appears most 8 port POE network switches can provide 62-65W, so I should be ok with up to 6 cameras, or should I not max out the POE?

I was looking at something like these:


 
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Would wireless give enough bandwidth to link around 5 cameras to NVR? I also have a Ring alarm and camera setup, so this is just an extra level of security.

It depends on several factors: camera settings such as encoder, resolution and bit rate, what else is using that wireless SSID, local wireless interference, wireless network bandwidth capacity.

I would be surprised if it was reasonably dependable considering the number of cameras and the type of wireless link. Purpose-built, wireless layer 2 transparent bridges use proprietary protocol and narrow channel width to accomplish much more dependable wireless links between devices.
 
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Between the 2 you linked, I'd go with the TP-LINK POE switch.
 
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If you already have a Ring alarm and cameras, then why use these better cameras just for cat watching? Use the Rings for that.

Wifi and cameras do not go together.

There are always ways if you don't want to run an ethernet cable.

You need power anyway, so go with a powerline adapter to run the data over your electric lines..

Maybe you are fine now one day with wifi cams, but one day something will happen. A new device, neighbors microwave, etc.

Cameras connected to Wifi routers (whether wifi or not) are problematic for surveillance cameras because they are always streaming and passing data. And the data demands go up with motion and then you lose signal. A lost packet and it has to resend. It can bring the whole network down if trying to send cameras through a wifi router. At the very least it can slow down your entire system.

Unlike Netflix and other streaming services that buffer a movie, these cameras do not buffer up part of the video, so drop outs are frequent, especially once you start adding distance. You would be amazed how much streaming services buffer - don't believe me, start watching something and unplug your router and watch how much longer you can watch NetFlix before it freezes - mine goes 45 seconds. Now do the same with a camera connected to a router and it is fairly instantaneous (within the latency of the stream itself)...

The same issue applies even with the hard-wired cameras trying to send all this non-buffer video stream through a router. Most consumer grade wifi routers are not designed to pass the constant video stream data of cameras, and since they do not buffer, you get these issues. The consumer routers are just not designed for this kind of traffic, even a GB speed router.

So the more cameras you add, the bigger the potential for issues.

Many people unfortunately think wifi cameras are the answer and they are not. People will say what about Ring and Nest - well that is another whole host of issues that we will not discuss here LOL, but they are not streaming 24/7, only when you pull up the app. And then we see all the people come here after that system failed them because their wifi couldn't keep up when the perp came by. For streaming 24/7 to something like an NVR or Blue Iris, forget about it if you want reliability.


This was a great test that SouthernYankee tried and posted about it here:

I did a WIFI test a while back with multiple 2MP cameras each camera was set to VBR, 15 FPS, 15 Iframe, 3072kbs, h.264. Using a WIFI analyzer I selected the least busy channel (1,6,11) on the 2.4 GHZ band and set up a separate access point. With 3 cameras in direct line of sight of the AP about 25 feet away I was able to maintain a reasonable stable network with only intermittent signal drops from the cameras. Added a 4th camera and the network became totally unstable. Also add a lot of motion to the 3 cameras caused some more network instability. More data more instability.
The cameras are nearly continuously transmitting. So any lost packet causes a retry, which cause more traffic, which causes more lost packets.
WIFI does not have a flow control, or a token to transmit. So your devices transmit any time they want, more devices more collisions.
As a side note, it is very easy to jam a WIFI network. WIFI is fine for watching the bird feed but not for home surveillance and security.
The problem is like standing in a room, with multiple people talking to you at the same time about different subjects. You need to answer each person or they repeat the question.

Test do not guess.

For a 802.11G 2.4 GHZ WIFI network the Theoretical Speed is 54Mbps (6.7MBs) real word speed is nearer to 10-29Mbps (1.25-3.6 MBs) for a single channel


And TonyR recommends this (which is the preferred way IF you want to do wifi)

The only way I'd have wireless cams is the way I have them now: a dedicated 802.11n, 2.4GHz Access Point for 3 cams, nothing else uses that AP. Its assigned channel is at the max separation from another 2.4GHz channel in the house. There is no other house near me for about 300 yards and we're separated by dense foliage and trees.

Those 3 cams are indoor, non-critical pet cams (Amcrest IP2M-841's) streaming to Blue Iris and are adequately reliable for their jobs. They take their turns losing signal/reconnecting usually about every 12 hours or so for about 20 seconds which I would not tolerate for an outdoor surveillance cam pointed at my house and/or property.

But for me, this works in my situation: dedicated AP, non-critical application and periodic, short-term video loss.... if any one of those 3 conditions can't be achieved or tolerated, then I also do not recommend using wireless cams. :cool:
 
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It depends on several factors: camera settings such as encoder, resolution and bit rate, what else is using that wireless SSID, local wireless interference, wireless network bandwidth capacity.

I would be surprised if it was reasonably dependable considering the number of cameras and the type of wireless link. Purpose-built, wireless layer 2 transparent bridges use proprietary protocol and narrow channel width to accomplish much more dependable wireless links between devices.
Can you suggest anything that would work better, apart from wires of course? I wouldn't activate the wireless SSID capability, just as I don't with my PC access point. It would just be connected to the router the wirelessly and the network switch would be wired in. I could wire the NVR to my office access point.

EDIT: I was writing before seeing the replies above. Many thanks.
 
Can you suggest anything that would work better, apart from wires of course? I wouldn't activate the wireless SSID capability, just as I don't with my PC access point. It would just be connected to the router the wirelessly and the network switch would be wired in. I could wire the NVR to my office access point.

Yep. In my wall of text post LOL.

Use a powerline adapter that runs data over your existing electric lines. Much better than wifi.
 
Can I please ask what may seem a daft question. If I am able to run 1 cable from an attic POE switch to the NVR to connect the camera to the NVR will this work? My work system has the 4 camera wired into the individual POE ports. If I can the cameras would then have no issues or dropouts recording to the NVR. I could then still use wireless access point to connect NVR to LAN.

If I do this would it be best to use cat5e or cat6? I used cat5e for my work cameras, but that was 1 cable per camera. This will need to potentially run up 7 or 8 camera if I add anymore.
 
Can I please ask what may seem a daft question. If I am able to run 1 cable from an attic POE switch to the NVR to connect the camera to the NVR will this work? My work system has the 4 camera wired into the individual POE ports. If I can the cameras would then have no issues or dropouts recording to the NVR. I could then still use wireless access point to connect NVR to LAN.

If I do this would it be best to use cat5e or cat6? I used cat5e for my work cameras, but that was 1 cable per camera. This will need to potentially run up 7 or 8 camera if I add anymore.

It should.
Cameras would need to be assigned unique, static IP's in the same subnet as the NVR's LAN but OUTSIDE of the router's DHCP pool then added to NVR.
CAT-5e OK for now, 6 better, especially if going to 8 cameras in future.
 
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I just thought I would update this. I have decided to run cables, so no wifi will be required.

Is it worth having a dedicated run from nvr to a single router port? Or is it ok to go via a switch?

Also I just want to clarify. Cameras to poe switch to nvr camera port? And not cameras to poe switch to router?

Thanks again.
 
You will be happier.

It should be all the cameras to a POE switch and that POE switch connected to the NVR via the WAN/LAN port not a camera port.

Then connect internet to the same switch.
 
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